Individual Application to the European Court of Human Rights

The individual application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is an international legal remedy that allows individuals, non-governmental organizations, or groups of persons to bring a case before the Court when they believe their rights guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its Additional Protocols have been violated by a Contracting State. This application constitutes a fundamental element of the Convention’s monitoring mechanism.

Right of Application and Conditions

To apply to the ECtHR, certain personal, subject-matter, and procedural conditions must be met. The primary sources governing the procedure before the Court are the European Convention on Human Rights and the Court’s Rules of Court, as adopted by the Court. In addition, the President of the Court may issue practical guidelines to clarify procedural matters.

Who May Apply?

Any individual, non-governmental organization, or group of persons who considers that their rights under the ECHR and its Additional Protocols have been violated by a state that has signed the Convention has the right to apply to the ECtHR. The applicant must be able to assert that they are the “victim” of the alleged violation under Article 34 of the Convention. Victim status may encompass direct victims, indirect victims, and in certain cases, potential victims.

Subject Matter and Scope of Application

Applications must be based on allegations that rights recognized under the ECHR and the Additional Protocols to which Türkiye is a party have been violated by a public authority. The Court’s jurisdiction must be compatible with the Convention’s provisions regarding subject matter (ratione materiae), person (ratione personae), territory (ratione loci), and time (ratione temporis).

Basic Admissibility Criteria

Under Article 35 of the ECHR and the Rules of Court, the following basic conditions must be satisfied for an application to be found admissible:

• Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies: The applicant must have exhausted all available, effective, and accessible remedies under national law in relation to the alleged violation. The purpose of this rule is to give national authorities the first opportunity to rectify the violation.

• Four-Month Rule: An application to the ECtHR must be submitted within four months from the date of the final domestic decision (or from the date the applicant became aware of that decision). This period was reduced from six months to four months by Protocol No. 15 to the Convention.

• Anonymous Applications: The Court does not examine anonymous applications. However, upon reasoned request, the Court may decide not to disclose the applicant’s identity to the public.

• Substantially the Same Matter: Applications that have already been examined by the ECtHR or submitted to another international investigation or settlement body without introducing new information are not admissible.

• Absence of Abuse of the Right of Application: Circumstances such as providing misleading information to the Court, using offensive language, or breaching the confidentiality of friendly settlement discussions may be considered an abuse of the right of application.

• Incompatibility with the Convention Provisions: An application is inadmissible if the right invoked falls outside the scope of the Convention or its Protocols (subject-matter incompatibility), if the application is directed against a non-Contracting State (person incompatibility), if the applicant is not a victim (person incompatibility), if the alleged violation occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Contracting State (territory incompatibility), or if the alleged violation relates to events occurring before the Convention entered into force for the relevant state (time incompatibility).

• Manifestly Ill-Founded: If the application contains no plausible indication that rights under the Convention have been violated, it may be found manifestly ill-founded. This criterion is particularly relevant for “fourth-instance” complaints; the ECtHR is not a court of appeal on national decisions.

• Lack of Significant Harm: An application may be found inadmissible if the applicant has not suffered significant harm, unless the case raises issues concerning respect for human rights that require examination of the application’s merits or if the matter has not been properly examined by a national court.

The Application Procedure

• Application Form and Content: Applications must be submitted in writing using the official application form available on the ECtHR’s website. The form must be completed in full and include the applicant’s or representative’s identity and contact details, the respondent State, a summary of the facts, the Convention articles alleged to have been violated, relevant explanations, confirmation of compliance with admissibility criteria, and copies of all relevant documents (especially final judicial decisions). Failure to comply with procedural rules (Rule 47 of the Rules of Court) may result in the application not being examined.

• Address for Submission: Applications must be sent by post to the following address: “Cour Européenne des Droits de L’Homme, Conseil de L’Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg-Cedex/FRANCE”. Faxed applications do not suspend time limits; the original signed form must be sent by post.

• Language: The initial application may be submitted in any of the official languages of the Contracting States. After the application has been served on the respondent Government, correspondence is generally conducted in the Court’s official languages, English or French.

• Representation: Legal representation is not mandatory when filing an application. However, after the application has been served on the Government, the applicant must be represented by a lawyer unless the President of the Chamber decides otherwise.

• Legal Aid: After the application has been served on the Government, legal aid may be requested if the applicant lacks sufficient financial means and such aid is necessary for the proper conduct of the case. In Türkiye, applications for legal aid may also be made to bar associations.

• Interim Measures (Rule 39 of the Rules of Court): The Court may indicate interim measures to a State if there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm to the applicant’s fundamental rights, such as life or physical integrity. These measures are typically applied in cases involving expulsion or extradition where risks under Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention are present. Interim measures are binding on States.

• Examination of Applications: After registration, applications are examined by a single judge, a committee, a Chamber, or the Grand Chamber. The Court encourages friendly settlements between the parties. The respondent State may also issue a unilateral declaration accepting the applicant’s allegations and offering redress.

Judgments and Enforcement

• Judgments: The Court delivers judgments on the admissibility and merits of applications. If a violation is found, the Court may award “just satisfaction” (compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and costs) to the injured party under Article 41 of the Convention. The finding of a violation alone may also constitute sufficient just satisfaction.

• Binding Nature and Enforcement of Judgments: Final judgments of the ECtHR are binding on the respondent State, which is obligated to comply with them. Enforcement of judgments is supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The enforcement process may include both individual and/or general measures aimed not only at paying just satisfaction but also at ending the violation and preventing similar violations in the future.

• Access to Judgments: ECtHR judgments are published on the Court’s official website (www.echr.coe.int). Turkish translations of judgments concerning Türkiye are available on the website of the Directorate of Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice (www.inhak.adalet.gov.tr).