EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM

CONTENTS

The Council of Europe

European Human Rights Instruments

Human rights protection

European Court of Human Rights

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Founded in 1949 by the Treaty of London, the Council of Europe (CoE) seeks to develop

throughout Europe common and democratic

principles based on human rights and the rule of

law.

The CoE was established to ensure that the horror and suffering of the two world wars would never be

repeated.

For a state to join the CoE, it must demonstrate both a respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Member states

47 member states

5 observers (the Holy See, the United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico)

Belarus is the only European country that is not a member state of the CoE due to its lack of respect

for human rights and democratic principles.

Aims

To protect human rights, pluralist democracy, and the rule of law

To promote awareness and encourage the development of Europes cultural identity and diversity

To find common solutions to the challenges facing European society: terrorism, discrimination, human

trafficking, organized crime and corruption

To consolidate democratic stability in Europe by backing political, legislative and constitutional reform

Organs of the Council of Europe:

Committee of Ministers: the decision-making body (policies, activities, budget), composed of the 47 Foreign Affairs Ministers

Parliamentary Assembly: political driving force, comprised of parliamentarians (appointed by national parliaments) to debate policies for adoption

Secretary-General (elected by PA): administrative body to ensure that various offices function properly and fulfill their mandates.

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities: comprises of local and regional authorities to nurture local and regional democracy.

MAIN CONVENTIONS

The CoE has created over 200 treaties to promote human rights and the rule of law.

Conventions are the pillars on which the Council of Europe is built. They are legally binding agreements

with which a member state is obliged to comply

once it has signed and ratified them. Compliance

with many of these conventions, in particular the

newer ones, is monitored by a number of bodies.

The European Convention on Human Rights:

Established in 1950, this Convention is a unique and powerful propagator of civilised values and

democratic growth. It guarantees the right to life,

liberty, security, a fair trial, family life and freedom of

thought, conscience, religion and expression.

The European Social Charter:

Introduced in 1961 and revised in 1996, the Charter works to protect the economic and social rights of

Europes citizens. It safeguards rights regarding employment, social and legal protection, housing,

health, education, free movement and non-

discrimination

The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment (1987)

The Convention on Cybercrime (2004)

The European Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2008)

The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1977)

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION

European Court of Human Rights was established in 1953 with the entry into force the European

Convention.

It has jurisdiction over CoE member states that have opted to accept the Courts optional jurisdiction.

All the Court decisions and judgments are binding.

The original structure of the Court and mechanism for handling cases provided for a two-tier system,

which included the European Commission on

Human Rights (now obsolete) and the Court.

The Commissions purposes were to investigate conflicts and mediate friendly settlements.

The Commission could accept complaints from individuals and NGOs as well as states.

The Commissions jurisdiction was default, while the Courts was optional.

The Commission and the Court handled the cases well until the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

The CoE started accepting Eastern European countries as members, which led to the immense

increase in individual applications.

As a result, the two bodies were not able to deal with the case loads.

In response to this, the CoE adopted Protocol 11 in 1998 and into force in 1999.

Protocol 11:

Abolished the Commission

Made the Court full-time and permanent

Gave the Court responsibility for pursuing friendly settlements

Made the judgments of the Court final

Restructured the Court into committees and chambers (including the Grand Chambers)

Although Protocol 11 helped reduced the delays to some degree, the number of applications

continued to grow and soon outstripped the ability

of the Court to cope.

Thus, the CoE adopted Protocol 14 to further reform the system in 2004, but it entered into force in 2010.

Its aim is to improve the efficiency of the Court and to reduce its workload. The ultimate aim is to enable

the Court to concentrate on those cases that raise

important human rights issues.

Protocol 14 introduces changes:

Reinforcement of the Courts filtering capacity to deal with clearly inadmissible cases (a single judge

will be able to reject plainly inadmissible

applications and the decision is final)

A new admissibility criterion (the applicant has suffered a significant disadvantage)

PROCESSES OF THE COURT

Application to the Registry Single Judge (Rapporteur) to decide on admissibility and

the decision is final Exhaustion of domestic remedies Complaints based on the European Convention Significant disadvantage 6-month deadline for applying to the Court (after domestic

remedies)

3 judge committee to decide on admissibility and merits (based on well-established case law)

7 judge Chamber to decide on admissibility and merits 17 judge Grand Chamber (3 months after the decision

of the Chamber) to decide the case, award just satisfaction and send to the Committee of Ministers

EXECUTION OF JUDGMENTS

The Committee of Ministers has responsibility for supervising the implementation of the judgment of

either the chamber or the grand chamber.

The Courts decisions are binding.

However, the enforcement is dependent on the will of states.

Expulsion is the only sanction used when a state fails to comply with the Courts judgment.

Qs and As