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issued by the Registrar of the Court ECHR 015 (2026) 20.01.2026 Forthcoming judgments and decisions The European Court of Human Rights will be notifying in writing four judgments on Tuesday 27 January 2026 and 22 judgments and / or decisions on Thursday 29 January 2026. Press releases and texts of the judgments and decisions will be available at 10 a.m. (local time) on the Court's Internet site (www.echr.coe.int). Tuesday 27 January 2026 Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan (no. 4) (applications nos. 71556/16 and 74112/17) The applicant, Khadija Rovshan gizi Ismayilova, is an Azerbaijani national who was born in 1976 and lives in Baku. The case concerns criminal proceedings brought against the applicant, a well-known journalist and activist. She had a number of charges brought against her in 2014-15; she was ultimately convicted of tax evasion and illegal entrepreneurship, specifically for carrying out journalistic activities for foreign media without accreditation. The criminal case against the applicant was the subject of another European Court judgment Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan (no. 2) in 2020. Relying on Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights, she argues in this case that accreditation was not a legal requirement for journalists, including for those working with foreign media, under the national law at the time and that she could not therefore have known that her freelance work would result in a criminal sanction. She also alleges that her trial and conviction were a sham and that the charges had been fabricated to punish her for and prevent her from investigative reporting, in breach of Article 6 � 1 (right to a fair trial), Article 10 (freedom of expression) and Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights). Thursday 29 January 2026 Vovk v. Ukraine (no. 54353/20) The applicant, Pavlo Vyacheslavovych Vovk, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1978 and lives in Kyiv. The case concerns an allegation by Mr Vovk, at the relevant time president of the Kyiv Circuit Administrative Court, that a public smear campaign was conducted against him by the National AntiCorruption Bureau of Ukraine ("the NABU"). This campaign took place against the background of several sets of criminal proceedings brought against Mr Vovk, and other judges of the same court. These proceedings were initiated on the basis of information uncovered during an investigation into the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests. In that context Mr Vovk's office and telephone were wiretapped. The NABU disclosed information from the investigation in a series of publications on various online platforms, in particular in 2019 and 2020. Mr Vovk lodged a criminal complaint with the State Bureau of Investigation to complain about the NABU's publications and the smear campaign against him, which he alleged was a threat to the independence of Ukraine's judicial system. The criminal proceedings against Mr Vovk are still pending. Relying on Article 6 � 2 (presumption of innocence), Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention, Mr Vovk complains that the NABU publications gave the impression that he was guilty of the alleged criminal offences and damaged his reputation. Also relying on Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the Convention, he alleges that the publications and the charges against him had an ulterior motive, that is to discredit him and exert pressure on the judiciary. The Court will give its rulings in writing on the following cases, some of which concern issues which have already been submitted to the Court, including excessive length of proceedings. These rulings can be consulted from the day of their delivery on the Court's online database HUDOC. They will not appear in the press release issued on that day. Tuesday 27 January 2026 Name Zyberi v. Albania Shivikova and Shikova v. Bulgaria Stajkovi v. Serbia Main application number 24267/16 672/21 56944/17 Thursday 29 January 2026 Name Santrac v. Bosnia and Herzegovina Avdanei and Others v. Romania Bnu and Others v. Romania Buzatu and Others v. Romania Cacuci and Others v. Romania Chirianu and Others v. Romania Con and Others v. Romania Filimon and Others v. Romania Goia v. Romania Grigoroiu v. Romania Ichim and Others v. Romania Kolcza and Others v. Romania Lctu and Others v. Romania Linguraru and Others v. Romania Luca and Others v. Romania Manole and Others v. Romania Opariuc and Others v. Romania Ruja and Others v. Romania Stnescu and Others v. Romania Teranschi and Others v. Romania Schuller v. Slovenia Main application number 13501/24 1087/23 444/23 10197/22 37224/22 23880/24 35251/23 19982/24 27673/19 9443/23 8321/23 3774/24 36846/23 38879/23 33905/24 52/23 374/23 41188/23 32617/23 18018/23 36387/22 This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. Follow the Court on Bluesky @echr.coe.int, X ECHR_CEDH, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Contact ECHRPress to subscribe to the press-release mailing list. Where can the Court's press releases be found? HUDOC - Press collection Press contacts [email protected] | tel.: +33 3 90 21 42 08 We are happy to receive journalists' enquiries via either email or telephone. Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 35 30) Denis Lambert (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 41 09) Inci Ertekin (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 55 30) Jane Swift (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 29 04) Claire Windsor (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 24 01) The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. 3