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
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