Applying to the European Court of Human Rights: conditions and time limits

Most applications to the European Court of Human Rights are rejected without the merits being examined. The reason is usually not a weak claim but a procedural condition that was missed. The rules on the road to Strasbourg are strict, and a single omission closes the whole application.

Against whom, and about what

The application is made against a state that is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. The respondent is always the state; no application can be made against an individual, a company or a court. The claim must be that the state has violated a right guaranteed by the Convention or by an additional protocol to which Türkiye is a party.

The articles most often relied on in applications arising from criminal proceedings are:

• The right to life and the duty to conduct an effective investigation
• The prohibition of torture and ill-treatment
• The right to liberty and security — detention exceeding a reasonable time, detention ordered without adequate reasons
• The right to a fair trial — the rights of the defence, equality of arms, trial within a reasonable time
• Respect for private and family life
• Freedom of expression, assembly and association
• The prohibition of discrimination

A right that does not appear in the Convention cannot be the subject of an application, even where Turkish law recognises it.

Domestic remedies must be exhausted

The Court is subsidiary: national authorities are expected to put the violation right first. For Türkiye, exhaustion of domestic remedies means that, alongside the ordinary remedies, an individual application to the Constitutional Court has been made and concluded. Files taken straight to Strasbourg without an individual application are rejected on this ground.

The substance of the complaint is also expected to have been raised before the national authorities. A remedy that can be shown on the facts to be ineffective need not be exhausted, but the burden of showing that lies with the applicant.

The time limit: four months

The application must be made within four months of the date of the final domestic decision. This period used to be six months; it was reduced to four when Protocol No. 15 came into force. The period is calculated from the date on which the final decision, together with its reasons, was served.

The period is absolute and cannot be extended. A completed application form must reach the Court within it; an incomplete letter or a draft does not stop time running.

Grounds of inadmissibility

• Domestic remedies have not been exhausted
• The four-month period has passed
• The application is anonymous
• The same matter has already been examined by the Court or submitted to another international investigation body
• The application is manifestly ill-founded
• The applicant has not suffered significant disadvantage
• The right of application has been abused

How the application is made

The application is made on the Court's official form and sent by post. The form must be completed in full, the facts set out briefly and in chronological order, and each article said to have been violated shown separately. Copies of the supporting documents are attached, the final decision above all.

At the application stage the case may be conducted in Turkish; once the application has been communicated to the government, correspondence is conducted in the Court's official languages and representation by a lawyer becomes the rule at that stage. No fee is charged for an application.

Making an application does not of itself suspend the implementation of the decision taken by the national authorities. Where there is an imminent and irreparable risk to a person's life or physical integrity, an interim measure can be requested; such requests are granted only in narrow circumstances.

After the judgment

Where the Court finds a violation, it may award just satisfaction if it considers this necessary. The execution of judgments is supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

For Turkish law the important consequence is this: a final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights finding a violation is one of the grounds for reopening criminal proceedings. That request has its own time limit, running from the date the judgment became final.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter. Time limits and procedural rules may be updated by changes to the protocols.