Change of the time limit for applying to the ECHR! From 01.02.2022 the new time limit will be from 6 to 4 months from the final decision!

From 1 February 2022 the time-limit for submitting an application to the European Court of Human
Rights will be reduced from six months to four months from the final domestic judicial decision in
the case (usually a judgment of the highest court in the country concerned).

The change to the time-limit for applying to the Court arises out of Protocol No. 15 to the European
Convention on Human Rights, which has been signed and ratified by the 47 member States of the
Council of Europe. This text amending the Convention entered into force on 1 August 2021 but
provided for a transition period before the change became effective. As the transition period ends
on 1 February 2022, from that date onwards applicants and their lawyers will have to comply with
the new time-limit; if they do not, their application will be declared inadmissible.

The four-month time-limit for applying to the Court after the final domestic decision is one of the
admissibility criteria laid down in Article 35 of the Convention. If even one of these criteria is not met
the application will be declared inadmissible, which is why it is essential to comply with all the
requirements when submitting an application to the Court.

Protocol No. 15, amending the European Convention on Human Rights, entered into force on Sunday
1 August 2021.

This Protocol amends the Preamble to the Convention, which now includes a reference to the
subsidiarity principle and to the margin of appreciation doctrine. In addition, the 6-month time-limit
for submitting an application to the Court after the final national decision will be reduced to four
months, starting from 1 February 2022.

This Protocol also makes the following changes to the Convention:

– concerning the admissibility criterion of “significant disadvantage”, the second condition, namely
that a case which has not been duly considered by a domestic tribunal cannot be rejected, has been
amended and this proviso is now deleted;

– the parties to a case may no longer object to its relinquishment by a Chamber in favour of the
Grand Chamber;

– candidates for a post of judge at the Court must be less than 65 years of age at the date by which
the list of three candidates has been requested by the Parliamentary Assembly.

Adopted in 2013, Protocol No. 15 has been ratified by all the member States of the Council of
Europe.