Below is a brief introduction to the procedure that can be brought before the European Court of Human Rights.
Once all the national instances in defense of what we consider to be a violation of a fundamental right have been exhausted, there is a period of six months to be able to file a lawsuit in relation to our claim that a violation of Human Rights be recognized.
The first thing to do is go to the content of the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols and check whether the rights contained therein have indeed been violated in our case.
For this reason, it is very important to invoke, if possible, the violations of the European Convention on Human Rights immediately once detected before the national jurisdictions and, thus, prepare the potential appeal before the ECHR from the beginning.
It is also advisable to review in depth the Jurisprudence of the ECHR (‘HUDOC’), which may be cited in the lawsuit, and prepare an opinion based on this study, before presenting this supranational lawsuit.
As its admission for processing is very rigorous, an in-depth analysis of the requirements and formal questions that may arise is also recommended, as well as being very respectful of the established deadline.
Therefore, the form provided by this court must be completed very rigorously. As the ECHR Guide for Lawyers advises, it is not enough to invoke, in an abstract manner, one or several violations of articles of the Convention. On the contrary, the claim must ensure that it duly indicates where and when the violation of a fundamental right, a right protected by a specific article of the Convention or one of its protocols, has been committed.
English and French are the languages admitted for this procedure, although the claim can be written in any of the languages of the countries that have ratified the Convention.