ECHR lawyer in Strasbourg: applying to the European Court

The Court’s role

First determine whether Strasbourg is the right forum.

The European Court of Human Rights is not an additional level of appeal. Its task is to determine whether a State Party is responsible for a violation of a right protected by the European Convention on Human Rights or its Protocols.

A useful preliminary analysis connects the facts, the domestic decisions and the Convention right relied upon. It also identifies which complaints were raised before the national courts and whether an effective domestic remedy remained available.

Article 34 and Article 35

Admissibility must be addressed before the merits.

The admissibility criteria are cumulative and fact-sensitive. The following points are only an orientation, not a determination of admissibility.

• The applicant must normally claim to be a victim of the alleged violation.
• The complaint must concern responsibility attributable to a State Party.
• Effective domestic remedies must ordinarily have been exhausted.
• The application must, in principle, be lodged within four months of the final domestic decision.
• The complaint must fall within the Court’s jurisdiction and disclose an arguable Convention issue.
• Other procedural bars, including duplication and abuse of the right of application, must be considered.

Rule 47

Build a self-contained and complete application.

The Court’s official instructions require use of the current application form. The facts, alleged violations and compliance with the admissibility criteria must be stated concisely and legibly, with the required signatures and supporting documents.

1. 01Reconstruct the full domestic chronology.
2. 02Identify the final decision and notification evidence.
3. 03Link each complaint to a Convention right.
4. 04Organise decisions and evidence in a clear annex list.

According to the Court’s current guidance, the form should be downloaded, completed, printed, signed and sent by post with the necessary documents. Applicants should verify the official instructions immediately before filing.

After sending

From sending the application to execution of the judgment.

What follows applies to an application that has already been sent, or is about to be. The procedure is written: it is the Court that contacts the applicant when it needs a document or a reply. It gives no average processing time and deals with cases in an order of priority that takes into account the importance and urgency of the issues raised.

Nine steps, from sending to execution

1. 01A complete application (Rule 47 of the Rules of Court). Except in the cases provided for by that Rule, only a complete form interrupts the four-month time limit. If it is incomplete, the application is in principle not examined, and time continues to run.
2. 02Registration and correspondence. The number allocated means that the application has been registered, not that it has been accepted. Report any change of address and any relevant fact (Rule 47 § 7), and reply within the time allowed: otherwise the Court may close the case and destroy the file or, at a later stage, strike the application out of its list.
3. 03Filtering and allocation. A filtering section of the Registry sorts applications in order to direct them to the appropriate judicial formation, or to reject at administrative level those that do not comply with Rule 47. Where the material submitted is sufficient to disclose that the application is inadmissible, it is examined by a single judge, unless there is a special reason to proceed otherwise (Rule 49).
4. 04Communication to the Government. An application that is not rejected at the outset may be brought to the notice of the respondent State, whose written observations call for a reply from the applicant (Rule 54). Admissibility and merits are then in principle examined together, the parties also making submissions on just satisfaction (Rule 54A). A hearing remains optional. Only at this stage, and on its own initiative, does the Court open electronic exchanges through eComms, except where postal services to certain countries are interrupted: give an email address.
5. 05Representation becomes compulsory. Optional when the application is lodged, it becomes compulsory once the application has been communicated, unless the President of the Chamber decides otherwise (Rule 36). Legal aid from the Court and its conditions are covered in the frequently asked questions of the French page.
6. 06Friendly settlement or unilateral declaration. After communication, the parties first explore a friendly settlement for twelve weeks, in confidential negotiations (Rule 62 § 2). If one is reached, the case is struck out; the Committee of Ministers supervises its execution (Article 39 of the Convention, distinct from Rule 39 of the Rules of Court). If the applicant refuses a proposal, the State may acknowledge the violation in a unilateral declaration with an undertaking to provide adequate redress; the Court may then strike the application out, even against the applicant’s wishes (Rule 62A).
7. 07The judgment and just satisfaction (Article 41 of the Convention). The judgment, which does not quash the domestic decision, carries no automatic compensation: the finding of a violation may in itself constitute sufficient just satisfaction, and nothing is awarded beyond what is claimed. The claim must in principle be quantified (except for non-pecuniary damage), itemised and substantiated within the time allowed for observations on the merits; otherwise the Chamber may reject it in whole or in part (Rule 60).
8. 08Referral and final judgment. Within three months of a Chamber judgment, any party may, in exceptional cases, request referral to the Grand Chamber (Article 43 of the Convention). It is not an appeal: a panel of five judges accepts the request only for a serious question, on the existing file alone (Rule 73). If there is no referral, the Chamber judgment becomes final (Article 44 of the Convention).
9. 09Execution (Article 46 of the Convention). The final judgment is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers, which supervises its execution. The State, which is bound to abide by it, in principle chooses the means — individual or general measures — and reports on them through an action plan and then an action report; the Court indicates the type of measures to be taken only in certain particular circumstances. The applicant may submit written observations; a final resolution closes the supervision. Reopening of proceedings in France: see the frequently asked questions of the French page.

The content of the form, the documents to enclose and the signature rules are set out, in French, on the page Préparer le formulaire de requête CEDH.

Urgency

Interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.

Primary sources

Use the Court’s current documents.