The functioning of the Court during the period of confinement

The Court has already extended certain procedural time-limits to take account of the difficulties
faced by parties during the COVID-19 crisis (see press releases nos. 094, 103 and 108).

In addition, in order to comply with the measures adopted by the French authorities and with a view
to pursuing its own policy and that of the Council of Europe of seeking to protect its staff from
contracting and potentially spreading COVID-19, the Court has taken a number of steps designed to
reduce to the minimum the physical presence of staff in the Human Rights Building. The great
majority of staff are able to work remotely, even if for certain activities presence is required, notably
for processing urgent cases and requests for provisional measures, dealing with incoming mail and
maintaining the IT service necessary to allow the Court to function in so far as possible remotely.
However, certain tasks that cannot be carried out remotely and which are not critically urgent have
had to be deferred during the confinement period since they would have necessitated increased
physical presence. This has had the following effects on the way the Court functions:

Single Judge decisions of inadmissibility

Single Judge decisions will continue to be taken but they will not be notified to the applicant until
the end of the confinement period.

Communications

Applications will not be formally notified (communicated) to respondent States during the
confinement period except for important and urgent cases.

Deliberations of judicial formations
The Grand Chamber, Chambers and Committees will continue to examine cases under a written
procedure in so far as possible.

Notification of decisions and judgments
Decisions and judgments will be signed by the (Deputy) Section Registrar only and will be notified to
the parties electronically, in other words for Governments via the secure sites and for applicants via
the eComms platform. Where applicants have not availed themselves of the eComms platform, the
judgment or decision will not be notified to either party during the confinement period, with the
exception of urgent cases. Judgments and decisions notified electronically will continue to be
published on HUDOC on the day of delivery.