PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICABLE LAW ONLINE PLATFORM
Application to the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has been a permanent international judicial body since 1998, deciding on complaints from natural and legal persons concerning violations of civil and political rights on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights, ratified by 47 countries.
A natural or legal person may lodge an appeal with the ECtHR if:
- all the conditions of Article 47 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court are met,
- the complaint alleges infringement of at least one of the rights set out in the Convention or the Protocols,
- the complainant complains against a state that has ratified the Convention and the protocols (not all states have ratified all protocols, so the list of ratifications should be checked),
- the violation is alleged against the authorities - the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. The ECtHR has no jurisdiction over individuals and persons governed by private law.
- is timely - the alleged violation occurred after the date on which the State ratified the Convention or the Protocols,
- this is a direct violation of a fundamental right (you are a personal and direct victim) and consequently suffering actual damage or creating a significant disadvantage,
- all national remedies before national courts have been exhausted beforehand,
- is timely - it must be filed with the ECtHR within 6 months of a properly served final decision of the highest competent national court. The deadline for filing with the ECtHR expires, even if the last day of the deadline (six months) falls on a Sunday or public holidays. Protocol no. 15 h of the Convention, however, shortens the time limit for lodging an appeal with the Court after exhaustion of legal remedies, from six months to four months. The new four-month deadline will take effect on 1 February 2022, after the end of the transitional period.
- is perfect
- may attach, with justification and explanation, solid evidence (documents, decisions, medical reports, witness statements, etc.),
- an unjustified interference with a fundamental right may be proved but the ECtHR does not act as a court of appeal vis-à-vis national courts and therefore has no jurisdiction to set aside or amend decisions of national courts if the appellant considers that the decision of the national court is unjustified or incorrect,
- the complaint has not yet been dealt with by any other international body,
- the complaint has not yet been dealt with by the ECtHR,
- it is not a repeated, meaningless, inappropriate, insulting or trivial complaint,
- it is about new human rights issues and not ones already addressed by the national court.
Additional instructions:
- all fields on the prescribed application form must be filled in,
- complaint should be written legibly, concisely, concisely and without the use of abbreviations or symbols, and it is best to type the text,
- the official languages of the court are English and French. However, the complainant may also write in the language of the State party to the Convention. Correspondence will be conducted in the language in which the appellant lodged the appeal, but in the case that the court requests the comments of the national authority (government), further correspondence between the ECtHR and the participants of the process will be in English or French,
- if you want to have a representative, the appeal (or later, if there are changes) must be filled out and accompanied by a power of attorney to represent on the prescribed form - Authority form,
- in the case of a group complaint, additional instructions must be followed. If there are more than 10 complainants, the representative must enclose a transcribed excel table in addition to the complaint forms and documents. If the representative is a lawyer, he must also send the prescribed excel table in e-format (on CD-ROM or USB stick). However, the Court can provide even more additional instructions that must be followed, otherwise the appeals will not be considered.
- some additional explanations on the filing of the complaint and its handling are also published in a short brochure,
- appeals to the ECtHR must be physically sent by post to The Registrar, European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe, 67075 Strasbourg cedex, FRANCE.
The ECtHR also refers the matter to the Government against which the complainant is complaining. Two phases usually follow;
- the first phase is called the non-contentious phase, in which the ECtHR invites the participants of the proceedings to examine within 12 weeks whether there is a possibility of an amicable settlement. At this stage, it is generally necessary for the appellant to have legal representation, unless the Court decides otherwise. There is also the possibility of self-representation, which, on the basis of an application and in accordance with Article 36 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, is decided by the President of the Chamber. According to the Rules of Court, there is also the possibility of obtaining free legal aid, but the aid granted is not comprehensive, but merely a contribution to the full cost of representation. If the settlement phase fails, follow
- the second phase, called the contentious phase. At this point, the opposing parties exchange views, substantiate it with documentation and agree on a claim for just satisfaction. For the appellant, legal representation is necessary in the dispute phase, but there is still the possibility of self-representation on the basis of an application, which will be decided by the President of the Chamber.
However, when a two-phase process is not appropriate, a friendly settlement and exchange of views takes place as single phase.
Proceedings before the ECtHR are free of court fees.
The public may have access to all the data and documents in the case, except for documents which are subject to a friendly settlement procedure. However, the complainant has the possibility, on a reasoned request, to ask the ECtHR to restrict public access in whole or in part.
eComms is an online tool that enables electronic communication and the sending and receiving of documents between the ECtHR and the complainant's legal representative. Instructions for using the eComms tool are presented in video content in English.
The SOP - State of Proceedings is a web search engine that allows participants of the process to freely search for the stage of the proceedings in which the appeal case is located, but only if the case is not anonymous, pending and assigned to a court panel.
Due to the principle of transparency and accessibility, the public has access to:
- statistics,
- data by country,
- data for Slovenia,
- a database providing access to case law - HUDOC. Also available:
- a database providing access to documents related to the enforcement of ECtHR judgments - HUDOC EXEC. Written instructions (user manual) for using the HUDOC EXEC database are also available.
- database by areas - Factsheets,
- ECtHR decisions according to various criteria (according to violations, novelties, key words, by cases and types of decisions) on the portal of the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Slovenia - avaliable only in Slovene,
- decisions of the ECtHR on the basis of complaints filed by Slovenian citizens via the PIS portal - Legal Information System of the Republic of Slovenia.
A natural or legal person may lodge an appeal with the ECtHR if:
- all the conditions of Article 47 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court are met,
- the complaint alleges infringement of at least one of the rights set out in the Convention or the Protocols,
- the complainant complains against a state that has ratified the Convention and the protocols (not all states have ratified all protocols, so the list of ratifications should be checked),
- the violation is alleged against the authorities - the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. The ECtHR has no jurisdiction over individuals and persons governed by private law.
- is timely - the alleged violation occurred after the date on which the State ratified the Convention or the Protocols,
- this is a direct violation of a fundamental right (you are a personal and direct victim) and consequently suffering actual damage or creating a significant disadvantage,
- all national remedies before national courts have been exhausted beforehand,
- is timely - it must be filed with the ECtHR within 6 months of a properly served final decision of the highest competent national court. The deadline for filing with the ECtHR expires, even if the last day of the deadline (six months) falls on a Sunday or public holidays. Protocol no. 15 h of the Convention, however, shortens the time limit for lodging an appeal with the Court after exhaustion of legal remedies, from six months to four months. The new four-month deadline will take effect on 1 February 2022, after the end of the transitional period.
- is perfect
- may attach, with justification and explanation, solid evidence (documents, decisions, medical reports, witness statements, etc.),
- an unjustified interference with a fundamental right may be proved but the ECtHR does not act as a court of appeal vis-à-vis national courts and therefore has no jurisdiction to set aside or amend decisions of national courts if the appellant considers that the decision of the national court is unjustified or incorrect,
- the complaint has not yet been dealt with by any other international body,
- the complaint has not yet been dealt with by the ECtHR,
- it is not a repeated, meaningless, inappropriate, insulting or trivial complaint,
- it is about new human rights issues and not ones already addressed by the national court.
Additional instructions:
- all fields on the prescribed application form must be filled in,
- complaint should be written legibly, concisely, concisely and without the use of abbreviations or symbols, and it is best to type the text,
- the official languages of the court are English and French. However, the complainant may also write in the language of the State party to the Convention. Correspondence will be conducted in the language in which the appellant lodged the appeal, but in the case that the court requests the comments of the national authority (government), further correspondence between the ECtHR and the participants of the process will be in English or French,
- if you want to have a representative, the appeal (or later, if there are changes) must be filled out and accompanied by a power of attorney to represent on the prescribed form - Authority form,
- in the case of a group complaint, additional instructions must be followed. If there are more than 10 complainants, the representative must enclose a transcribed excel table in addition to the complaint forms and documents. If the representative is a lawyer, he must also send the prescribed excel table in e-format (on CD-ROM or USB stick). However, the Court can provide even more additional instructions that must be followed, otherwise the appeals will not be considered.
- some additional explanations on the filing of the complaint and its handling are also published in a short brochure,
- appeals to the ECtHR must be physically sent by post to The Registrar, European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe, 67075 Strasbourg cedex, FRANCE.
The ECtHR also refers the matter to the Government against which the complainant is complaining. Two phases usually follow;
- the first phase is called the non-contentious phase, in which the ECtHR invites the participants of the proceedings to examine within 12 weeks whether there is a possibility of an amicable settlement. At this stage, it is generally necessary for the appellant to have legal representation, unless the Court decides otherwise. There is also the possibility of self-representation, which, on the basis of an application and in accordance with Article 36 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, is decided by the President of the Chamber. According to the Rules of Court, there is also the possibility of obtaining free legal aid, but the aid granted is not comprehensive, but merely a contribution to the full cost of representation. If the settlement phase fails, follow
- the second phase, called the contentious phase. At this point, the opposing parties exchange views, substantiate it with documentation and agree on a claim for just satisfaction. For the appellant, legal representation is necessary in the dispute phase, but there is still the possibility of self-representation on the basis of an application, which will be decided by the President of the Chamber.
However, when a two-phase process is not appropriate, a friendly settlement and exchange of views takes place as single phase.
Proceedings before the ECtHR are free of court fees.
The public may have access to all the data and documents in the case, except for documents which are subject to a friendly settlement procedure. However, the complainant has the possibility, on a reasoned request, to ask the ECtHR to restrict public access in whole or in part.
eComms is an online tool that enables electronic communication and the sending and receiving of documents between the ECtHR and the complainant's legal representative. Instructions for using the eComms tool are presented in video content in English.
The SOP - State of Proceedings is a web search engine that allows participants of the process to freely search for the stage of the proceedings in which the appeal case is located, but only if the case is not anonymous, pending and assigned to a court panel.
Due to the principle of transparency and accessibility, the public has access to:
- statistics,
- data by country,
- data for Slovenia,
- a database providing access to case law - HUDOC. Also available:
- a database providing access to documents related to the enforcement of ECtHR judgments - HUDOC EXEC. Written instructions (user manual) for using the HUDOC EXEC database are also available.
- database by areas - Factsheets,
- ECtHR decisions according to various criteria (according to violations, novelties, key words, by cases and types of decisions) on the portal of the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Slovenia - avaliable only in Slovene,
- decisions of the ECtHR on the basis of complaints filed by Slovenian citizens via the PIS portal - Legal Information System of the Republic of Slovenia.