Applicants
Apply to the Court
The Court is continuing to examine applications against the Russian Federation, including those lodged in the Russian language. Due to the interruption of the international postal services to and from Russia and where the only means of delivery of the Court’s decisions and judgments to the applicants is by post, the Court has exceptionally decided to notify the applicants about decisions and judgments adopted by its Chamber and Committee judicial formations after 1 March 2022 in respect of applications against Russia only via its HUDOC database. For the same reasons, the Court notifies decisions issued by the Single Judge in cases lodged by applicants with a postal address in Russia only if they provide the Court with an email address. Prior to contacting the Court about the state of the proceedings in a case, applicants and their representatives are encouraged to consult the Court’s SOP search tool for information. Since 1 March 2023, the Court has simplified the procedure for applications raising issues that fall under its well-established case-law and where no observations are required from the parties. The parties in such cases are no longer informed by letter about the notification of an application under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court. Instead, a document entitled “Subject matter and Statement of Facts” is published on HUDOC. This document also contains a reference to an information notice which describes all arrangements relating to the procedure in question. Judgments and decisions adopted by the Court in these cases are notified to the parties through publication on HUDOC. Such publication constitutes delivery of the judgment or notification of the decision.
How to make a valid application
If you decide to apply to the Court, please ensure that your application complies with Rule 47 of the Rules of Court, which sets out the information and documents that must be provided.
Failure to provide any of the information or documents required by Rule 47 §§ 1 and 2 will result in the complaints not being examined by the Court. It is imperative that all fields in the application form are filled in.
A valid application will be examined by the Court; this does not mean that the application will be declared admissible.
Interim Measures
The Court may indicate an interim measure under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a Convention right. More info
How to lodge an application
The application form should be downloaded, completed, printed out and sent by post to the Court with the necessary documents. No other form must be used.
Admissibility Checklist
The admissibility checklist is designed to allow potential applicants to check whether, on the face of it, they satisfy the main admissibility criteria for lodging an application with the Court. However, the checklist is intended purely for guidance and has no legal force.
How to download the application form
1. Save a copy of the form
- Right-click on the link or icon above
- According to your browser, choose one of available options “Save target as”, “Save Link As” or “Download Linked File As…”
- Save the form on your computer in a chosen location.
2. Fill in the form
- Open the saved copy of the form in Adobe Reader from the chosen location
- Fill in the form and save it.
- Once you have completed the form, you should print it, sign it and post it to the Court.
Grouped applications
Where there are more than 10 applicants, the representative should provide, in addition to the application forms and documents, a table setting out the required identifying details for each applicant.
How to download the authority form
The form will work correctly only with Adobe Reader 9 upwards and are only supported under the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. Please ensure you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer (download available from www.adobe.com).
1. Save a copy of the form
- Right-click on the link or icon above
- According to your browser, choose one of available options “Save target as”, “Save Link As” or “Download Linked File As…”
- Save the form on your computer in a chosen location.
2. Fill in the form
- Open the saved copy of the form in Adobe Reader from the chosen location
- Fill in the form and save it.
- Once you have completed the form, you should print it, sign it and post it to the Court.
How to complete the application form
If your application is incomplete the Court will not examine it, so it is essential that you meticulously fill in every part of the application form.
Sending applications
Applications to the Court must be sent by post to the following address:
The Registrar
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
67075 Strasbourg Cedex
FRANCE
Please note that sending an application by fax does not interrupt the four-month time-limit.
Procedure before the ECHR
This flow chart indicates the progress of a case by judicial formation.
Depending on the case, applications are allocated to one of the Court’s judicial formations, namely:
- a single judge
- a Committee
- a Chamber
Procedure after communication
Communication is the notification of the application to the respondent Government.
The proceedings may then be divided into two consecutive phases. During the non-contentious phase, the parties are invited to explore the possibility of a friendly settlement, within a period of 12 weeks. If they do not reach an agreement, the proceedings enter a contentious phase during which they exchange their observations.
The proceedings may also consist in a single phase if such division is not appropriate, in which case the question of a possible friendly settlement and the exchange of observations will be dealt with simultaneously.
Non-contentious proceedings
The Court has introduced a non-contentious procedure from the communication of the case, the point where notice of the application is given to the respondent Government. This mechanism allows the parties to reach a friendly settlement, with the aim of reducing case-processing time and ensuring speedier resolution of the dispute.
eComms - Communication with the Court
eComms is a tool enabling applicants’ representatives to communicate with the Court by electronic means. This method of sending and receiving documents electronically may be put in place at the Court’s initiative only at the procedural stage of communication, i.e. when the application has been communicated to the respondent Government.
State of proceedings
The search engine SOP - State of Proceedings - allows anyone to find out what stage has been reached in the proceedings concerning an application.
Submitting pleadings
To be read together with the
Useful documents
Official texts
Admissibility Guide
The Practical Guide on Admissibility Criteria is intended mainly for lawyers who wish to bring a case before the Court. It describes the conditions of admissibility which an application must meet.
Questions and answers
The Questions & answers provide information to future applicants.
Your application to the ECHR
This pamphlet, describing the various stages of the procedure by which the Court examines an application, is intended to answer the main questions that applicants might ask, especially once their application has been sent to the Court.
Useful videos
Video on lodging an application
This video clip is a tutorial explaining how the application form must be completed in order to be examined by the Court. Please note that although this video correctly reflects the main points on lodging an application, some information needs to be updated according to the latest reference documents.
COURTalks- disCOURs
The fifteen-minute video provides judges, lawyers and other legal professionals, as well as civil society representatives, with an overview of the admissibility criteria which all applications must meet in order to be examined by the Court.
Film on the Court
Aimed at a wide audience, the film explains how the Court works, describes the challenges faced by it and shows the scope of its activity through examples from the case-law.
Interim Measures
What are Interim Measures?
Under the Convention system, interim measures may be indicated under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to a Convention right.
The Court indicates interim measures, as a matter of principle, only in exceptional cases and on the basis of a rigorous examination of all the relevant circumstances. In most of those cases, the evidence available points to a clearly arguable case of a genuine threat to life and limb, with the ensuing real risk of grave harm in breach of the core provisions of the Convention.
Useful Links
- Information in other languages
- Not to be confused
- Signatures and ratifications
- Reservations and Declarations
- Practice Directions
- Execution of judgments
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