Transcript The European Court of Human Rights

UNIT 13
The European Court of
Human Rights
The Council of Europe
 the first and most widely based European political institution
 an international intergovernmental organization
 established on 5 May 1949 by 10 countries; based in Strasbourg
 comprises 47 member states; covers virtually
the entire European continent (800 million people)
Main bodies:
 Committee of Ministers
 Parliamentary Assembly
 European Court of Human Rights
 Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
 The Commissioner for Human Rights
 The Conference on International NGOs
The Council of Europe – main goals
Primary aim
to create a common democratic and legal area throughout the whole of
the continent, ensuring respect for its fundamental values:
Human Rights... Democracy... Rule of Law
Main goals
 safeguarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law
 promoting social and economic rights

combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance
 promoting cultural diversity in Europe
 finding common solutions to society’s problems
 developing democratic citizenship through educational, youth, sport
and heritage initiatives
It is active in all areas affecting European society except defence.
The European Convention on Human
Rights – ECHR
Official name = The Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
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an international treaty - leading international legal
instrument safeguarding human rights
signed on 4 November 1950 in Rome by members of the
Council of Europe (15 countries)
entered into force on 3 September 1953 after it had been
ratified
today - 47 state parties/contracting parties – signatories to
the convention
the Convention and additional protocols oblige signatories to
guarantee various civil and political freedoms
The Convention SECURES in
particular:
 Right to life (Pravo na život)
 Right to liberty and security (Pravo na slobodu i sigurnost)
 Right to a fair hearing/trial (Pravo na pravično suđenje)
 Right to respect for private and family life (Pravo na
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poštovanje privatnog i porodičnog života)
Freedom of expression (Sloboda izražavanja)
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Sloboda
mišljenja, savjesti i vjeroispovijesti)
Protection of property (Zaštita imovine)
Right to marry (Pravo na sklapanje braka)
.....
The Convention PROHIBITS in
particular:
 torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment
 slavery and forced labour
 arbitrary and unlawful detention
 discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and
freedoms set out in the Convention
ECHR- Application and Enforcement
-the Convention is applicable at national level
-it has been incorporated into the legislation of the States
Parties
Courts with the jurisdiction to enforce the Convention:
 domestic courts
 the European Court of Human Rights
The Convention evolves …
 it evolves
- when protocols add new rights: (eg. Protocol No. 13
concerning the abolition of death penalty in all
circumstances, or Protocol No. 12 on non-discrimination)
- by means of the interpretation of its provisions by the
European Court of Human Rights -through its case-law the
Court has made the Convention a living instrument
Protocols to the Convention
 texts which add one or more rights to the original
Convention or amend certain of its provisions
 protocols which add rights to the Convention are binding
only on those States that have signed and ratified them (a
State that has merely signed a protocol without ratifying it
will not be bound by its provisions)
 to date – 14 additional protocols have been adopted
(signed and ratified)
The European Court of Human Rights
– Establishment and Aim
 judicial organ of the Council of Europe
 set up under the Convention and its Protocols in 1959
AIM = to ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the
Parties
- supervises implementation of the European Convention on Human
Rights in member states
- examines violations of the European Convention on Human Rights
 based in Strasbourg in the Human Rights Building
JURISDICTION
- to resolve all disputes concerning the interpretation and application of
the Convention and the protocols
Applications
 two types of application:
A) individual applications (lodged by any person, group of
individuals, company or NGO claiming to be the victim of
a violation by one of the Contracting Parties of the rights
set forth in the Convention or the protocols)
A) inter-state applications (brought by one State against
another – any Contracting Party may refer to the Court
any alleged breach of the provisions of the Convention
and the protocols by another High Contracting Party)
Procedure before the Court
 two main stages
1) ADMISSIBILITY STAGE (certain requirements must be met)
2) MERITS STAGE (examination of the complaints / actual
violations of rights from the convention)
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committee finding that an application is not admissible will
declare the case inadmissible
Admissibility criteria
 the application must be brought against a state which has ratified the
convention (not against any third State or against an individual)
 the application must concern an event that occured after the ratification of the
convention by the state concerned
 domestic remedies must be exhausted
 an applicant’s allegations must concern one or more of the rights defined in the
Convention
 applications must be lodged within six months following the last judicial
decision in the case
 the applicant must be, personally and directly, a victim of a violation of the
Convention
 the applicant must have suffered a significant disadvantage
(VIDEO ON ADMISSIBILITY CONDITIONS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcbDDhs5ZVA&list=PLT6qb4oU5fhzKQdkQk6O7UPNhSuAWsB9)
Judges of the Court
 the number of judges on the Court equals the number of
Contracting Parties (47 at present)
 elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe from lists of three candidates proposed by each
State for a non-renewable term of 9 years
 sit on the Court in their individual capacity - hear cases as
individuals and do not represent their States - fully
independent and impartial
Judges - Terms of office and
dismissal (Article 23)
1 The judges shall be elected for a period of nine years. They may
not be re-elected.
2 The terms of office of judges shall expire when they reach the
age of 70.
3 The judges shall hold office until replaced. They shall, however,
continue to deal with such cases as they already have under
consideration.
4 No judge may be dismissed from office unless the other judges
decide.
Judges to the Court
Cases are heard by judges sitting in:
1. Single-judge formation – (rules on admissibility of individual
applications)
2. Three-judge Committees – (rule on admissibility; declarations of
inadmissibility by a unanimous vote; a final decision or judgment
based on case-law of the court))
3. Seven-judge Chambers (rule on the admissibility and merits of a case
- by a majority vote)
4. The Grand Chamber of 17 judges (the President of the Court , the
Vice-Presidents, the Presidents of the Chambers and other judges
chosen in accordance with the rules of the Court)
- hears cases referred to it either
1-after relinquishment by a Chamber or
2-when a request for referral has been accepted
Relinquishment of jurisdiction to the Grand
Chamber
a) where a case pending before a Chamber raises a serious
question affecting the interpretation of the Convention or the
protocols thereto, or
b) where the resolution of a question before the Chamber might
have a result inconsistent with a judgment previously delivered
by the Court
 the Chamber may, at any time before it has rendered its
judgment, relinquish jurisdiction in favour of the Grand
Chamber, unless one of the parties to the case objects
Procedure before the Court
 cases can be brought directly by individuals (assistance of a
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lawyer is not necessary at the start of the proceedings)
it is sufficient to send the Court a duly completed application
form with the requisite document
the registration of an application by the Court is no
guarantee that it will be admissible or successful on the
merits
“easy” access to the Court - no fees for proceedings before
the Court
the procedure is adversarial and public
Judgements
 judgments finding violations are binding on the States concerned and
they are obliged to execute them – the execution of decisions is
controlled by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
APPEALS ?
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inadmissibility decisions by Committees and Grand Chamber
judgments are final and cannot be appealed against
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the parties have three months following the delivery of a Chamber
judgment to request REFERRAL OF THE CASE to the Grand Chamber
for fresh consideration
The Languages of the Court
 official languages – English and French
 applications – drafted in one of the official languages of the
Contracting States
 when application declared admissible- the procedure
continues in the Court’s official languages
 exceptionally President of the Grand Chamber may allow
use of the language of application
CROATIA and the Council of Europe
- a member state of the Council of Europe since 1996
(accession on 6 November 1996)
- Committee of Ministers – representative Miro
Kovač,Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
- Parliamentary Assembly - 5 representatives + 5 substitutes
- ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights
on 5 November 1997
- judge to the European Court of Human Rights – Ksenija
Turković since 2 January 2013 (professor at the Faculty of
Law in Zagreb)
Reading comprehension:
1. Read the text on p. 60, 61 and do the following
exercise:
 Exercise 1, p. 62
2. Translate Article 6 from the European Convention
on Human Rights into Croatian.
Essential
expressions
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to draft an application = sastaviti zahtjev
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to lodge /bring an application(with the
Court) = podnijeti zahtjev
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to come/enter into force = stupiti na
snagu
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bring a case / an application = podnijeti
zahtjev
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Member states of the Council of Europe
= zemlje članice Vijeće Europe
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to declare a case admissible/inadmissible =
proglasiti predmet osnovanim/neosnovanim
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states parties / contracting parties of a
convention/a treaty / signatories to the
convention = zemlje potpisnice
konvencije / međunarodnog ugovora
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Three-judge committee – odbor od tri suca
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Seven-judge Chamber – Vijeće od sedam
sudaca
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To execute a judgement = provesti presudu
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merit of case = osnovanost zahtjeva
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relinquishment = ustupanje nadležnosti
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referral of the case = podnošenje predmeta
(Velikom vijeću)
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to refer a case = podnositi/proslijediti
predmet
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to safeguard = štititi, osigurati, jamčiti
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to accede – accession = pristupiti,
pridružiti se – pristupanje, pridruživanje
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to ratify - ratification = ratificirati ratifikacija
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a complaint = žalba
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to breach / violate / infringe a right – a
breach / violation / infringement = kršiti – 
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krštenje prava
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to observe a right – observance =
poštivati – poštivanje prava
term of office = mandat
to apply / to be applicable =
primijeniti/primjenjiv, važeći
Vocabulary practice - Collocations
What do we do with RIGHTS?
Sort the verbs according to their POSITIVE or NEGATIVE meaning?
to protect; to observe; to violate; to diminish; to acquire; to guarantee; to
abuse; to grant; to respect; to restrict; to ensure
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Vocabulary practice – Word formation
 Turn the following verbs into nouns.
VERB
to accede
to apply
to admit
to enforce
to enter into force
to expire
to implement
to observe
to ratify
to refer
to violate
NOUN
accession
Vocabulary practice – Answer key
VERB
to accede
to apply
to admit
to enforce
to enter into force
to expire
to implement
to observe
to ratify
to refer
to violate
NOUN
accession
application
admission
enforcement
entry into force
expiry
implementation
observance
ratification
referral
violation
Case analysis
Rajak v. Croatia
Read the judgement and discuss the following questions with
your partner.
What was Rajak’s complaint about?
2. What did the Court find concerning the conduct of the
Croatian authorities?
3. Which rights were violated?
1.
Translation
Translate Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death
penalty in all circumstances
ARTICLE 1
Abolition of the death penalty
The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be
condemned to such penalty or executed.
ARTICLE 2
Prohibition of derogations
No derogation from the provisions of this Protocol shall be made under Article
15 of the Convention.
ARTICLE 3
Prohibition of reservations
No reservation may be made under Article 57 of the Convention in respect of the
provisions of this Protocol.