Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights

ECHR & CPT

European Organisations and their Member States

OSCE 56Belarus

KazakhstanKyrgyzstan

TajikistanTurkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Holy SeeUSA

Canada

COUNCIL OF EUROPE 47Iceland, Norway

Russian FederationGeorgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia

Ukraine, Moldova

Turkey, Albania,Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia,

Andorra, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, San Marino, Monaco

EU 27Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic,

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,

Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands,

Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom,

• Considerable standard-setting activity within the CoE (211 treaties)

• Human Rights Conventions

- European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

- (Revised) European Social Charter (ESC)

- European Convention for the Prevention of Torture (ECPT)

- European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

and others

• Other Standard-Setting activities are carried out by the European Commissioner for Human Rights, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), different committees of the Parliamentary Assembly, Steering Committees of the Committee of Ministers etc.

Standard-setting in the Council of Europe

Committee of Ministers

47

Parliamentary Assembly European Court Secretary General

318 of Human Rights Thorbjørn Jagland

47 (Norway)

Congress of Local and Commissioner for Director General of

Regional Authorities Human Rights Human Rights and 318 Legal Affairs

Thomas Hammerberg Philippe Boillat(Sweden)

(Switzerland)

Bodies of the Council of Europe

• Opened for signature in Rome (ETS No. 5): 4 November 1950

• Entry into force: 3 September 1953

• 47 states parties

• 1954: establishment of the European Commission of Human Rights (up until October 1999, 11th Additional Protocol)

• 1959: establishment of the European Court of Human Rights

• 11 November 1998: entry into force of the 11th Additional Protocol; establishment of a new single and permanent European Court of Human Rights

European Convention For The Protection Of Human Rights And Fundamental Freedoms

(ECHR)

Ratification of the ECHR

ECHR 1950/53: ETS No. 5, 47 states parties• Article 2 Right to life• Article 3 Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment• Article 4 Prohibition of slavery and forced or compulsory labour• Article 5 Right to liberty and security of person• Article 6 Right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time• Article 7 Prohibition of retroactive criminal laws (nulla poena sine lege)• Article 8 Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence• Article 9 Freedom of thought, conscience and religion• Article 10 Freedom of expression• Article 11 Freedom of assembly and association• Article 12 Right to marry and found a family• Article 13 Right to an effective remedy• Article 14 Accessory prohibition of discrimination

Contents of the ECHR and the Additional Protocols

1st AP 1952/54: ETS No. 9, 45 states parties• Article 1 Right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions• Article 2 Right to education and free choice of education• Article 3 Right to free elections by secret ballot

4th AP 1963/68: ETS No. 46, 43 states parties• Article 1 Prohibition of detention for debt• Article 2 Freedom of movement• Article 3 Prohibition of expulsion of nationals • Article 4 Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens

6th AP 1983/85: ETS No. 114, 46 states parties• Article 1 Abolition of the death penalty in times of peace

Contents of the ECHR and the Additional Protocols

7th AP 1984/88: ETS No. 117, 42 states parties• Article 1 Procedural safeguards relating to expulsion of aliens• Article 2 Right of appeal in criminal matters• Article 3 Compensation for miscarriage of justice• Article 4 Right not to be tried (ne bis in idem) or punished twice• Article 5 Equality between spouses

12th AP 2000/2005: ETS No. 177, 18 states parties• Prohibition of discrimination

13th AP 2002/2003: ETS No. 187, 42 states parties• Article 1 General abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances

14th AP 2004/2010: ETS No. 194, 47 states parties• Amending the control system of the Convention

Contents of the ECHR and the Additional Protocols

Conditions of Admissibility (article 35 ECHR)

• Exhaustion of domestic remedies

• Application lodged within six months after the final national decision

• No anonymous applications

• No application that is substantially the same as a matter that has already been examined by the Court or that has been submitted to a comparable international procedure

• No application that is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention, manifestly ill-founded or an abuse of the right of application

• The alleged violation must be to the applicant’s personal detriment (victim requirement, no actio popularis)

• The event must have occurred after the Convention’s entry into force for the state concerned

Individual Complaints Procedure

The European Court of Human Rights

Committee of Ministers

(supervising)

European Court of Human Rights

Judgement (optional)

Committee of Ministers

Resolution (mandatory)

Report

European Commission of Human Rights

admissibleInadmissible

Decision

Complaints Procedures until 1998

Inter-state complaint (mandatory)

Individual complaint (optional)

The European Court of Human Rights

• 1 November 1998: entry into force of the 11th OP to the ECHR:

• Restructuring of the Strasburg complaints procedure: new single full-time European Court of Human Rights

• Aim of the reform: simplifying the procedure (in view of the increase of the applications registered – 1981: 404, 1997: 4750)

- Shortening the length of proceedings

- Strengthening the judicial character of the system

- Abolishing the Committee of Ministers’ adjudicative role

- Dissolving the European Commission of Human Rights

- Removing optional clauses concerning individual complaints and the jurisdiction of the Court

Complaints Procedures Reform 1998

The European Court of Human Rights

Procedure before the Court: 11th AP to the ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights

Procedure before the Court: 14th AP to the ECHR

Inter-State Complaints

States Date of Admissibility Decision of

Commission

Application No Final Decision

Greece v. United Kingdom I

2.6.1956 176/56 Friendly settlementCM Resolution (59) 12 of 20.4.1959

Greece v. United Kingdom II

12.10.1957 299/57 Friendly settlementCM Resolution (59) 32 of 14.12.1959

Austria v. Italy 11.1.1961 788/60 CM Resolution (63) DH 3 of 23.10.1963

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands v.

Greece I

24.1.1968, 31.5.1968 3321/67 – 3323/67, 3344/67

CM Resolution DH (70) 1 of 15.4.1970CM Resolution DH (74) 2 of 26.11.1974

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands v.

Greece II

16.7.1970 4448/70 Struck from the register as proceedings were suspended due to concurring party applications,

report of the Commission of 4.10.1976

Ireland v. United Kingdom 1.10.1972 5310/71 Court Judgment of 18.1.1978

Cyprus v. Turkey I 26.5.1975 6780/74 CM Resolution DH (79) 1 of 20.1.1979

Cyprus v. Turkey II 26.5.1975 6950/75 CM Resolution DH (79) 1 of 20.1.1979

Cyprus v. Turkey III 10.7.1978 8007/77 CM Resolution DH (92) 12 of 2.4.1992

France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Nether-lands v.

Turkey

6.12.1983 9940-9944/82 Friendly settlement: Report of Commission of 7.12.1985

Cyprus v. Turkey IV 28.6.1996 25781/94 Court Judgment of 10.5.2001

Denmark v. Turkey 8.6.1999 34382/97 Friendly settlement: Court Judgment of 5.4.2000 (struck out of the list)

Georgia v. Russia (I) 30.06.2009 13255/07

Georgia v. Russia (II) 38263/08

Individual Complaints 1955–2009

Source: CoE

Individual Complaints 1955–2009

Source: CoE

Individual Complaints 1959–2009

Source: CoE

Source: CoE

Pending allocated cases

Source: CoE

Source: CoE

European Convention for the Prevention of Torture

• Emphasis on the prevention of torture through a system of preventive visits to places of detention

„The ECPT is based on the simple assumption that the greatest risk of being tortured is during detention, especially in the first few hours or days of having been arrested [...] Therefore, if an independent body is given the competence to visit and inspect any given place of detention without prior warning, that visit in itself would have a preventive effect“

• Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), established in 1989, carries out periodic country visits and ad-hoc visits

• Competences of the CPT- access to all places of detention, and all detainees- access to all relevant information- unanounced visits and private interviews

• Publication of reports on country visits and standard-setting

CPT – Visits

Overall 296 visits:

178 periodic visits118 ad hoc visits

247 CPT Reports published

Source: CPT

CPT – Visits in 201025/11/2010 - 07/12/2010 Germany

18/10/2010 - 29/10/2010 Bulgaria

21/09/2010 - 01/10/2010 “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”

05/09/2010 - 16/09/2010 Romania

07/09/2010 - 16/09/2010 Czech Republic

21/07/2010 - 27/07/2010 Moldova

20/06/2010 - 21/06/2010 United Kingdom

14/06/2010 - 18/06/2010 Lithuania

14/06/2010 - 18/06/2010 Italy

08/06/2010 - 15/06/2010 Serbia (Kosovo)

10/05/2010 - 21/05/2010 Albania

10/05/2010 - 21/05/2010 Armenia

13/04/2010 - 18/04/2010 Russian Federation

15/03/2010 - 26/03/2010 United Kingdom

05/02/2010 - 15/02/2010 Georgia

25/01/2010 - 05/02/2010 Ireland

26/01/2010 - 27/01/2010 Turkey