European Court of Human Rights

Description

The European Court of Human Rights is an international court of the Council of Europe that interprets and enforces the European Convention on Human Rights.

It hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached rights set out in the convention or its protocols. The court is based in Strasbourg, France. It was established in 1959 and issued its first judgment in 1960.

Individuals, groups of individuals, non-governmental organisations and contracting states can bring applications against a state accused of violating the convention. The court also gives advisory opinions, at the request of the Committee of Ministers or, since 2018, the highest courts of a member state. Judges are elected for a nine-year term by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, one judge per contracting state. Cases are handled by a single judge, a committee of three, a chamber of seven, or a Grand Chamber of seventeen judges for the most serious questions.

An application is first checked for admissibility. If admitted, it is communicated to the government concerned for observations, then decided on its merits after written and sometimes oral proceedings. The court can award financial compensation, called just satisfaction, and can order interim measures when there is imminent danger to life. Judgments are public and binding on the state concerned, and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises how they are carried out.