Right to liberty of movement (Article 2 of Additional Protocol No. 4 to the ECHR)

(1) Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.

(2) Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.

(3) No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are in accordance with law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety for the maintenance of ‘ordre public’, for the prevention of crime, for the protection of rights and freedoms of others.

(4) The rights set forth in paragraph 1 may also be subject, in particular areas, to restrictions imposed in accordance with law and justified by the public interest in a democratic society.

Article 2 of Additional Protocol No. 4 to the ECHR guarantees to the individual the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his/her residence provided that he/she lawfully stays within the territory of a State. Consequently, this right guarantees also the right to everyone to leave a country, if he/she wishes to do so. Therefore, the notion “free choice of place of residence” does not encompass the right of a person to be allocated an apartment or accommodation. Consequently, as to the cases involving disputes over apartments, there is no interference with the right to liberty of movement under Article 2 of Additional Protocol No. 4 to the ECHR.²⁰⁴²

The right to renounce citizenship may be derived from this internal and external right to liberty of movement under Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of Additional Protocol No. 4 to the ECHR. A number of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina have lodged such a request in order to acquire citizenship of other countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, and to settle permanently in those countries. In addition, a right to renounce certain citizenship can be found neither in the other parts of the ECHR nor in any other international agreement applied in connection with the protection of human rights and freedoms.²⁰⁴³

In cases where a violation of Article 5 of the ECHR is established, there is no need to establish a violation of Article 2 of Additional Protocol No. 4 to the ECHR since the former encompasses the latter.²⁰⁴⁴