The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is rightly considered the last frontier of defense of rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Created and operating under the aforementioned Convention, this body acts as an arbiter in resolving conflicts between people and public authorities when national remedies have been exhausted. In our country, one of the saddest pictures in terms of compliance with the Convention is observed.
How much is?
The picture is becoming even darker due to the legal illiteracy of the population, despite the apparent simplicity of the process. “Almost 95% of complaints received by Russian citizens to the court’s office are declared inadmissible and are not submitted for consideration precisely because of incorrect filling out,” says Sergei Shtukaturov, lawyer for the European Court of Human Rights for Russia. And here is the continuation of statistics: almost 99% of correctly completed and verified complaints are resolved in favor of the plaintiff. So that the complaint was not just filed, but successfully passed the test, the average person who does not know the legal subtleties of the issue will have to contact a specialist.
This work requires checking the case from all sides and takes some time, so the price for this service from a Russian lawyer starts at 50,000 rubles. It can become higher due to the employment and popularity of a specialist. For example, Oleg Anishchik takes 60,000 rubles for filing a complaint, and Ulrich Solmer, a German lawyer, works for a fee of three thousand euros or more.
Regardless of the price, each lawyer involved in the preparation of complaints gives a guarantee that it will be tested, so there is no difference if you pay 50 thousand or 250, the main thing is only an agreement, which will state the issue of refund if the complaint fails . Be sure to pay attention to this, no matter how "promoted" the lawyer may be!
Representative participation
The application form at the ECHR is not too difficult to fill out, and the Court does not consider that a plaintiff will need a representative for this. However, if the case is accepted for production, the participation of a qualified lawyer is highly desirable, therefore, if the plaintiff does not have the financial ability to hire a representative, the Court offers the possibility of paying legal expenses at the expense of the Council of Europe. To do this, you must fill out an application posted on the website of the European Court of Human Rights, enclosing information about the income of the plaintiff and his spouse over the past year.
Compilation of a complaint to the ECHR
Unlike applications to courts of the national level, drawn up in any form in compliance with the requirements of regulatory acts regulating procedural procedures, a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights is made by filling out a form, which can be downloaded from the ECHR website. It should be noted that the form is regularly updated, and filling out the old form is one of the reasons for refusing to consider the case. In addition, the document is in PDF format, and for opening and editing you need to install the latest version of the program to view pdf-documents. The form is completed in any of the official languages of one of the member states of the Council of Europe.
In section A, it is necessary to fill in the data about the plaintiff, individual or organization. Moreover, it is the plaintiff that is indicated, and not his representative. In section B, the respondent State is required to be noted. It is allowed to put a few notes if a complaint is filed against several states. Section C shall indicate the representative of the plaintiff - an individual - if any. Pay attention to field C.3. - approval of authority. There must necessarily be two signatures, the plaintiff himself and the trustee.
Section D is intended for representatives of legal entities. Section E should state the facts of the violations. The court recommends that the facts be stated briefly, concisely, clearly, in chronological order, to refrain from value judgments and to fit into the three pages allotted for this section. Section F is intended to indicate the violated articles of the Convention on Human Rights, and what exactly the actions of the respondent state violate these rights.
Section G is necessary to confirm compliance by the plaintiff with the requirement to exhaust national remedies and a six-month period for appeal to the ECHR. Section H is required to indicate whether the plaintiff referred to other international proceedings. Section I is for a list of appendices to the complaint. The completed and signed form is sent to the Court: The Registrar, European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg cedex.
Common mistakes in making a complaint
The ECtHR regularly issues recommendations and instructions on how to properly fill out a complaint, including a list of the most common mistakes. Oddly enough, the first place in the list of errors is neglected by the requirement to use a special form. In addition, plaintiffs often ignore sections E, F, and G of the form. Sometimes they forget to attach the necessary documents to the complaint, confirming the violations committed and the exhaustion of the national level of ways to protect violated rights. If the plaintiff is unable to obtain any necessary documents, it is necessary to describe the obstructive circumstances in the complaint. Another mistake is using a fax to send a complaint. Although internal court documents are often certified by facsimile, the complaint must bear the original signature. If the organization acts as the plaintiff, the form field indicating the official and authorized representative must be filled in.
Sometimes, having described the facts of violations of his rights, the plaintiff forgets to indicate which rights he considers to be violated and what actions. If the plaintiff has a representative, his data and signature must be on the form, a separate power of attorney or other credentials certifying documents are not accepted for consideration. The European Court of Human Rights also warns that it is not worth sending documents at the end of the six-month appeal period, because if you find any formal errors in the complaint, you may not have time to contact the ECHR again. By the way, in the event of a repeated appeal, it should be borne in mind that no documents are stored by the court on the complaint, which is declared inadmissible, and the complaint must be filed in full, and not the missing materials sent.
Procedure for preparing a complaint for consideration
The trial of the European Court of Human Rights takes place in several stages. The complaint first goes to the central post office. Every day, the court receives about one and a half thousand letters, so the processing of correspondence takes some time. The post office sends a complaint to the legal unit dealing with the affairs of the respondent state. Employees of the department speak the official language of this state and are familiar with its legislation. The complaint is assigned a number and is studied by a lawyer. However, this does not mean that the case is accepted for production, the employee simply collects and prepares information for the judges who will consider the case. This process can take quite a long time, since the European Court of Human Rights receives more than fifty thousand complaints annually.
Court appeal
When all the necessary information on the complaint is collected, the specialist submits it for consideration and decision by the European Court of Human Rights. If the issue raised in the complaint clearly has no prospects for consideration, it is referred to the sole judge for adjudication. If the complaint concerns issues on which the court has already ruled repeatedly on the respondent state, the case is considered by a committee of three judges. If the European Court of Human Rights has not previously made decisions on such complaints, the case will be considered by a chamber of seven judges. In exceptional cases, a chamber of seven judges may cede jurisdiction to a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. Cases are never sent directly from a specialist to the Grand Chamber, only a judge can decide on this.
Ruling
Having examined the merits of the complaint, the European Court of Human Rights can decide either that there is no violation of human rights in the actions of the respondent state, or that the rights were actually violated. In the latter case, the court awards compensation to the victim. All decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are final and not appealed, with the exception of the decision of the Small Chamber. The specified decision can be appealed to the Grand Chamber within three months from the date of the decision, however, such complaints are accepted for consideration only in exceptional cases.