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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
Video clip about the Convention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOcmUQTgjCw&feature=plcp&context=C335a35cUDOEgsToPDskI6W3znOYbNheSgWr1z38n3
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 2010 - 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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdoe02cY0U
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.
Thank you for your attention!