The European Court of Human Rights

The Council of Europe The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg (France), now covers virtually the entire European continent, with its 47 member countries. Founded on 5 May 1949 by 10 countries, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.

Human Rights The protection of human rights is a basic goal of the Council of Europe Main aims: to reinforce European solidarity while guaranteeing respect for individuals, their rights and freedoms To identify new threats to human rights and dignity To promote public awareness of the importance of human rights

The European Convention on Human Rights Drawn up within the Council of Europe Starting point was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Signed in Rome on November 4, 1950 by Ministers of 15 European countries Entered into force on September 3, 1953

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Establishment of the Court The Convention established an international judicial organ with jurisdiction to find against the States that do not fulfil their undertakings The Court is a supranational court

Importance of the Convention The most effective human rights treaty in the world A treaty by which the member states of the Council of Europe have sought to guarantee fundamental human rights to all those within its jurisdiction The protection machinery set up in Strasbourg

The rights and freedoms protected by the Convention The right to life, liberty and security of person The right to a fair trial in civil and criminal matters Freedom of thought, conscience and religion Freedom of expression (including freedom of the press)

Prohibitions The Convention prohibits: Torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment The death penalty Slavery and forced labour Discrimination in the enjoyment of rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention Expulsion of a state’s own nationals

Protocols A protocol to the Convention is a text which adds one or more rights to the original Convention or amends certain of its provisions To date, 14 additional protocols have been adopted 1 June Entry into force of the Protocol No. 14, whose aim is to guarantee the long- term efficiency of the Court

Evolution of the Convention The Convention evolves especially by means of the interpretation of its provisions by the European Court of Human Rights. Through its case law, the Court has extended the rights afforded and has applied them to situations that were not foreseeable when the Convention was first adopted

Organisation of the Court Composed of a number of judges equal to that of the contracting states (currently 47) Judges are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a renewable term of six years Judges are impartial arbiters, rather than representatives of any State

The Registry The Registry is the body of staff that provides the Court with legal and administrative support in its judicial work. It is made up of lawyers, administrative and technical staff and translators

The Court’s budget The Court’s expenditure is borne by the Council of Europe For 2009 the Court’s budget amounted to 56 million euros and it covered salaries of judges and staff and various overheads (travel, translation, publications etc.)

Functions of the Court The Court applies the Convention Its task is to ensure that States respect the rights and guarantees set out in the Convention It does this by examining complaints known as “applications” lodged by individuals or States

The Court’s composition Cases are heard by one of three main formations: Three –judge Comittee (manifestly inadmissible applications; unanimous vote) Nine-judge Chamber (rules by a majority vote, mostly on the admissibility and merits of a case) – expanded from seven originally The Grand Chamber of 21 judges (formerly 17)

The Court’s jurisdiction The Court has jurisdiction to hear allegations of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and does so on receiving individual or inter-State applications The Court cannot take up cases of its own motion

Applications Individual applications are lodged by any person, group, company or NGO having a complaint about a violation of their rights State application is brought by one State against another Almost all applications so far have been lodged by individuals

Proceedings before the Court The admissibility stage (the application must meet certain requirements) The merits stage (the examination of the complaint) If the application is declared admissible (1 out of every 20 cases), the Court advocates reaching a friendly settlement, which ranges from a change in the law(s) to compensation The procedure is adversarial (the parties to a case have to find the evidence themselves) and public

Judgments Where the Court finds that a member State has violated one or more rights and guarantees, the Court delivers a judgment Judgments are binding: the countries concerned are under an obligation to comply with them

What is the Court not able to do The Court does not act as a court of appeal The Court will not intercede directly on your behalf with the authority you are complaining about The Court will not help you find or pay a lawyer to draw up your application The Court cannot give you any information on legal provisions in force in the State against which your complaint is directed

The application The application can be written in one of the Court’s official languages (English and French) or in the language of one of the States that have ratified the Convention It must contain a brief summary of the facts, and indication of the Convention rights that have allegedly been violated, the remedies already used, copies of the decision given in the case and the signature of the applicant

Rules for applications A non-anonymous petitioner must bring the case to the Court within six months of the final domestic ruling on it The issue must be a violation of a guarantee set forth in the European Convention The applicant must be a “victim”

The Court’s activity Over 30,000 new applications are lodged every year 64% of the violations found by the Court concern Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) or Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property)

Vocabulary Council of Europe – Vijeće Europe Treaty – međunarodni ugovor Jurisdiction – nadležnost The death penalty – smrtna kazna Expulsion – progon Parliamentary Assembly – Parlamentarna Skupština Term of office – mandat Violation of human rights – kršenje ljudskih prava Adversarial procedure – akuzatorni postupak Binding judgment – obvezujuća presuda

ECHR The conscience of Europe U U When was ECHR set up? What is the most common complaint to ECHR? Which social issues has it dealt with so far?

Translate the following: ARTICLE 2 Right to life 1. Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. 2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary: (a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence; (b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; (c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.

Vocabulary Execution of a sentence of a court – izvršenje presude Conviction of a crime- osuda za kazneno djelo In contravention of – u suprotnosti s Unlawful violence – protupravno nasilje Lawfully detained person – osoba zakonito lišena slobode To quel a riot – suzbiti pobunu Insurrection - ustanak

Translation ČLANAK 2. Pravo na život 1. Pravo svakoga na život zaštićeno je zakonom. Nitko ne smije biti namjerno lišen života osim u izvršenju sudske presude na smrtnu kaznu za kazneno djelo za koje je ta kazna predviđena zakonom. 2. Nije u suprotnosti s odredbama ovog članka lišenje života proizašlo iz upotrebe sile koja je bila nužno potrebna: a) pri obrani bilo koje osobe od protupravnog nasilja; b) pri zakonitom uhićenju ili pri sprečavanju bijega osobe zakonito lišene slobode; c) radi suzbijanja pobune ili ustanka u skladu sa zakonom.

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