EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS (France, Strasbourg).

If you have not achieved legality and justice in the courts on the territory of the Russian Federation, then you still have the opportunity to adequately defend your legal rights and interests - in the European Court of Human Rights. Lawyers of the Shpilevoi-Shatskii & Partners Law Office will help you to resolve your issues in this international judicial body. No need to be afraid, you need to act, and boldly defend your rights!

The European Court of Human Rights is located in Strasbourg (France) and was established on the basis of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocol No. 11. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights was enacted on November 4, 1950 and entered into force on 3 September 1953. Russia ratified the Convention on March 30, 1998, and since May 5, 1998, has accepted the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

ORGANIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the European Court of Human Rights is divided into Sections, the composition of which is approved for three years and must be geographically and gender balanced and must represent the various legal systems of the States Parties to the Convention. Sections from the judges included in them form arms of the Court, which directly consider complaints. The European Court of Human Rights carries out its activities by forming Committees, Chambers and the Grand Chamber.

Committees are set up to deal with specific complaints on issues of admissibility. The committee consists of three judges. The judges who are members of the Committee may by unanimous decision reject a complaint as inadmissible, i.e. not meeting all the requirements for a complaint. The decision of the Committee cannot be appealed, it is final.

If the judges who are members of the Committee have not reached a unanimous decision that the complaint is inadmissible, then the complaints are referred to the Chamber. The Chamber is composed of seven judges, one of whom is the judge of the country against which the complaint is filed. The Chamber again examines the application for admissibility and, if it finds the application admissible, reviews it on the merits.

The Grand Chamber is composed of seventeen judges, including a judge from the country against which the case is pending, as well as the President of the European Court of Human Rights. The competence of the Grand Chamber includes a clearly defined range of issues. First, the Grand Chamber holds the function of appeal court if the parties do not agree with the decision of the Chamber and declared it within three months. Secondly, the Grand Chamber reviews on the merits appeals, the resolution of which may affect the previous precedents of the Court and make decisions that contradict existing ones. Thirdly, the Grand Chamber considers interstate complaints.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR YOUR COMPLAINT

There are ten conditions for the admissibility of an application submitted to the European Court of Human Rights:

• It is possible to apply to the European Court of Human Rights only if the right guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been violated.
• Exhaustion of all effective domestic remedies (with regard to Russia, an effective remedy is the use of judicial mechanisms of protection, including cassation and appeal (if applied) proceedings.
• 6-month period for applying to the European Court from the date of the last judgment must pass (with some exceptions).
• Substantiation of the complaint: the applicant is obliged to prove the violation of his right by the state.
• Anonymity of the complaint is inadmissible.
• It is inadmissible to file a complaint on the same issue at the same time with the European Court and with some other international organizations.
• It is inadmissible to use offensive statements in the complaint.
• The violation of the right must take place in the territory under the jurisdiction of one of the states-parties to the European Convention.
• A complaint can only be filed by the person whose rights have been violated.
• The infringement of the right must occur after the ratification of the European Convention by the respondent State, except for continuing infringements.

It should be noted that these criteria are set out very briefly and schematically, without taking into account some of the nuances, and therefore, in order to avoid any errors, it is recommended to have a preliminary consultation with a lawyer specializing in representing interests in the European Court.