THE PATH TOWARDS THE ECHR
The procedure in order to apply before the Court has several stages and is “built” so that every citizen can stand before it, easily and quickly, wherever he/she lives and his/her financial situation.
CONDITIONS
In order to apply before the Court, the followings must be met:
A. EXHAUSTION OF DOMESTIC REMEDIES
You must have used all the remedies in the State concerned that could provide redress for the situation you are complaining about (usually this will mean an application to the appropriate court, followed by an appeal, where applicable, and even a further appeal to a higher court such as the supreme court or constitutional court, if there is one).
B. FOUR MONTH TIME-LIMIT
You have only four months from the date of the final decision at domestic level (generally speaking, the judgment of the highest court) to lodge an application. After that period your application cannot be accepted by the Court. In case there is no available remedy for a complaint, the four-month time-period starts from the date of the action, event or decision at issue.
C. THE APPLICANT MUST HAVE SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE
If the above conditions are not met, the appeal will be dismissed as inadmissible.
COST
The proceedings before the ECtHR are FREE. That is to say, in order to lodge an appeal before the Court, the applicant is not subject to legal costs, fees, court registration and fees. If his application is dismissed either as inadmissible or as unfounded, the applicant is not ordered to pay the costs. The only costs are those of the correspondence with the Court (registered letters or courier) and, of course, the remuneration of one’s lawyer.
REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE ECHR
A person can appeal directly, without being required to be represented by a lawyer at the initial stage of the proceedings. However, as history has shown – more than 90% of the applications before the ECtHR are rejected – the assistance of a lawyer, especially in the relevant field of law, also increases the success rate of the victory, which is the applicant ‘s desire.
EXAMINATION OF THE APPLICATION
An application may follow different routes when it is examined by the Court:
The Court may dismiss the application as inadmissible where it considers it unreasonable. This is something particularly crucial as the decision of the Court cannot be challenged as it is final and cannot be reversed.
The Court may refer the case to the requested State by asking it questions to receive clarifications. It is open to the applicant to answer these observations. An auditive procedure takes place only in exceptional cases. Finally, giving regard to the comments made by the State and the person concerned, the Court adopts a decision which is not definitive until after the expiry of the three-month period within which the applicant or the Government may request referral of the case to the Grand Chamber for review. If the referral is accepted by the Board of the Grand Chamber, the case shall be re-examined, if necessary, by a hearing. The decision issued by the Grand Chamber is irrevocable.
DURATION
We cannot say in advance how long it will last. The Court tries to examine cases within three years after the application has been lodged. Some applications can be described as urgent and considered as a matter of priority.
