03 May European Court Of Human Rights
What is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)?
The European Court of human rights is an international judicial body established in 1959 with the aim of protecting certain fundamental rights and freedoms. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) regulates rights and freedoms protected by the jurisdiction of the court. The ECHR is the most basic human rights document that sets the limits of both the individual right of application and the jurisdiction of the ECHR.
In order to apply to the European Court of Human Rights, all usual domestic remedies must be exhausted. Even if all domestic remedies are not exhausted at the time of the application, the application will also be examined if the internal remedies have been exhausted after the application has been made until the date of the ECtHR’s decision on the individual application.
The application to the ECHR is made using the “ECHR Individual Application Form”. The application form must be filled out properly, otherwise the application may be rejected.
Who can apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)?
In accordance with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, natural or legal persons and communities having the right to make individual applications to the ECHR are as follows::
A right protected in the convention (ECHR) by another contracting state
states that feel violated have the right to apply to the ECHR.
Individuals who feel their rights protected by the convention have been violated have the right to make an individual application.
Private law legal persons have the right to apply.
An application must be made on behalf of the children by their parents, whose legal status is appropriate.
Non-governmental organisations and groups of persons have the right to apply to the ECHR. Religious communities, trade unions, political parties, associations, de facto communities which are gathered around the same interests and therefore do not have legal personality, who feel that one of the rights defined in the convention has been violated, have the right to apply to the ECHR. Non-governmental organisations and groups may apply only for damages suffered by the organisation or group. Non-governmental organizations or communities cannot apply to represent them due to individual grievances of members of the organization or group.
If the individual applicant dies during the application process, his / her heirs may continue the application by submitting the certificate of inheritance.
It is not mandatory for the application to be made by a lawyer. However, the court requests that the application be carried out through a lawyer after the admissibility decision has been made. For this reason, it is beneficial that the application is made and executed by a lawyer from the very beginning in order to avoid any problems that may arise and prevent the application from being rejected for a purely formal reason.
Time and method of application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
The application period to the ECtHR is 6 months from the date when the domestic remedies have been exhausted or the violation of Rights has occurred.
The official languages used by the ECHR are French or English. However, the first application can also be made using the official language of the contracting state. For example, a citizen living in Turkey can fill out an individual application form in Turkish. Translation of the documents to be added is not required.
After the admissibility decision has been made regarding the individual application, the application shall be forwarded to the government of the state against which the application has been submitted to inform its opinion. English or French correspondence must be made as a rule after the application has been notified to the government. However, at this stage, after obtaining permission from the president of the court, the applicant may continue to make correspondence with the official language of the contracting state. English or French will be the letters and decisions sent to the applicant by the court.
In order to make an application to the ECHR, the application form prepared by the court format, filling and signing the application form, if the application is made by the representative, the authorization document prepared by the court format must be signed by the applicant and his representative, the documents to be added and the court decisions must be added to the form by The application is also requested to include a photocopy of the applicant’s identity. The application form and other documents must be placed in the envelope without being punched or punched, inserted into a file or folder. Individual applications and attachments should be returned and registered by mail to the following address of the ECHR::
ECtHR postal address: European Court of Human Rigts, Council of Europe, 67075 Starsbourg Cedex-FRANCE
The ECtHR’s review of the application and the decision process
Once the individual application has reached the ECHR, the applicant will receive a letter stating that the application has been received and recorded. If there is a deficiency in the application in this letter, it may also be requested to complete the deficiency.
In the first examination, the ECtHR may decide the individual application to be inadmissible due to any other reason determined by the court, due to the duration of the application, the lack of internal legal means, the trivial nature of the application, and the lack of basis. The decisions made by the ECtHR on inadmissibility are final.
If a decision of inadmissibility is not made after the initial review of the application, the subject and importance of the file are often referred to both parties, namely both the applicant and the government of the contracting state, by sending a “DECLARATION”, asking for the opinions of the parties regarding the conclusion of the case through amicable settlement. If the parties submit to the court the declaration they have signed, together with a letter stating that they have accepted the declaration, the court concludes the application by deciding that the amount of compensation specified in the declaration shall be paid to the applicant by the contracting state. If the parties do not accept the declaration, they must send a letter to the court stating that they have not accepted the declaration.
Letters sent to the ECtHR should be written with the name and number of the application and should be sent with a registered return, in case the letters are lost. One copy of the letters and documents sent to the ECtHR must remain in the applicant’s own file.
If it is not possible to resolve the file by amicable resolution, the ECtHR informs the relevant government of the application in its admissibility decision by stating which articles of the contract may be violated according to the content of the application and requests the answers of the contracting government on this matter.
The ECtHR, after receiving the answers of the government, sends these answers to the applicant in a letter attachment and is asked to inform the applicant of the answers against the answers of the government, the demands for compensation, the costs incurred for the application and the lawyer’s fee to claim at the latest on the date specified in the letter. Documents relating to the compensation, costs and Attorney’s fees requested must also be sent. The ECtHR demands that a copy of the self-employment receipt be sent if a lawyer’s fee is required. Otherwise, they do not charge a lawyer’s fee or usually set a low amount that they consider appropriate. It is sufficient to send a copy of the documents to be sent.
One of the errors frequently made in applications to the ECHR is:;
The applicant writes the amount of compensation that he / she will ask for on the application form, and he / she does not re-request it in the reply petition which must be sent later, i.e. after the answers of the government have been received. The ECtHR does not consider the amount of compensation to be written on the application form. The government’s response to the response petition calls for the rewriting of financial and non-pecuniary compensation amounts. Therefore, even if the requested amount of compensation is written in the application form, at the stage where the government answers and requests for fair compensation are requested, the requested amount of financial and moral compensation must be rewritten, and documents relating to Attorney’s fees and expenses must be sent. Otherwise, compensation will not be decided, even if the court has decided the violation. In fact, the request section of the application form is sufficient to determine the violations mentioned in the application form and to request the removal of the material and moral damages suffered due to the violation.
Request for urgent application and injunction to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
If there is a violation of the right to life and Prohibition of torture, or if there is a possibility that the applicant’s right to life and Prohibition of torture will be violated in the country where the applicant will be sent in case of deportation, it is possible to make an urgent application and request for measures. In this case, the court requests information as soon as possible by notifying the government of the application. The ECtHR May, if it deems necessary, request the implementation of the measures taken from the relevant government by taking a temporary measure to prevent the violation.
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