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 nondiscrimination

 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