The applicant is a Pakistani national whose identity was checked by police in Csongrád. The applicant admitted that he crossed the Hungarian border illegally. The next day he applied for asylum and was placed in detention for five months and a half as he did not have any identity documents. In the meantime, he was interviewed for his asylum application, which was rejected and he was granted subsidiary protection.

Under Article 5 § 1 of the Convention, the applicant argued that his detention had not been lawful or justified. The Government argued that the detention measure was justified under Article 5 § 1 (f) (“to prevent his effecting an unauthorised entry into the country”). In this case the Court attached particular importance to the reasonable length of the detention. It observes that a detention lasting five‑and-a-half months raises concerns, even irrespective of the conditions of detention. The Court found that the authorities' reliance on the need to confirm the applicant's identity and nationality, and the need to ensure his presence for the asylum procedure were initially justified, but with the passage of time they were no longer sufficient, also considering that in August 2013 the case had been declared admissible. Thus, the Court found a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention.