(ENG) ECHR - Film on the European Court of Human Rights (English Version)
Summary
TLDRThe video explains the European Court of Human Rights, which allows individuals to hold states accountable for violations of human rights. Established in 1959 under the European Convention on Human Rights, the court has jurisdiction over nearly 50 countries, affecting the lives of millions. It handles cases ranging from torture to discrimination and fair trial violations. The court’s judgments have far-reaching impacts, leading to changes in national laws and protecting fundamental rights, making it a last resort for justice across Europe.
Takeaways
- 🏛️ The European Court of Human Rights was established in 1959 to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe.
- 🌐 Initially signed by 12 states, the court now has almost 50 member states, reflecting its growing influence and importance.
- 👥 The court is composed of one judge per member state, elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ensuring independence and impartiality.
- 📑 The court receives a high volume of applications, but only a small fraction meets the criteria for admissibility, leading to a judgment on the merits.
- 🏥 The court's decisions can have significant impacts on everyday lives, including issues like the right to life, prohibition of torture, and fair trials.
- 💡 The court's rulings have led to changes in national legislation, affecting millions of people across Europe.
- 🌍 The court's jurisdiction can extend beyond Europe's borders, holding states accountable for actions outside their territory.
- 🏢 The court has addressed modern issues like environmental concerns and freedom of expression on the internet.
- 🏛️ The court's judgments are binding, and states are obliged to comply with them, ensuring the protection of human rights.
- 🔄 The court faces challenges with repetitive applications due to states not effectively applying the convention or enacting legislation to safeguard rights.
Q & A
What is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and why was it created?
-The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was established to hold states accountable for human rights violations. It was created in 1959 as part of the European Convention on Human Rights, following the atrocities of World War II, with the goal of promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe.
How are judges selected for the ECHR, and what is their role?
-Judges for the ECHR are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with one judge from each member state. These judges are independent and do not represent any national interests. Their role is to evaluate cases and make rulings on whether there have been violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
What is the process for handling applications submitted to the ECHR?
-Applications are sorted and dispatched to the registry, where they are prepared for the judges. Most decisions are based on written submissions, though in rare cases, public hearings are held. The vast majority of applications are rejected at the admissibility stage because the applicants have not fulfilled the criteria, such as exhausting domestic legal remedies.
What types of cases does the ECHR typically handle?
-The ECHR handles cases involving violations of fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial, and freedom of expression. Cases often concern unfair trials, inhuman treatment, or failure to execute judicial decisions, among others.
Can the ECHR hold states accountable for actions taken outside their territory?
-Yes, in some cases the ECHR has held states accountable for actions outside their borders. For example, the UK was found in violation of the Convention due to civilian deaths during security operations in Iraq, as the court ruled that the UK should have conducted an investigation into the deaths.
What are some notable examples of the ECHR's rulings on discrimination and human rights?
-The ECHR has made landmark rulings on discrimination, including cases related to gender-based violence, such as a case against Turkey, and cases involving the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, such as the decriminalization of homosexuality and the right to organize Gay Pride marches.
How does the ECHR deal with cases involving politically sensitive issues?
-The ECHR handles politically sensitive cases by focusing on human rights violations, regardless of the political context. For example, it ruled that the detention of Julia Tymoshenko, former Ukrainian prime minister, was arbitrary and unlawful, despite the political nature of the case.
What is the principle of subsidiarity in the context of the ECHR?
-The principle of subsidiarity means that the ECHR should only intervene when the fundamental rights of individuals have not been upheld at the national level. It emphasizes that human rights protections should first be enforced by national governments before cases reach the ECHR.
How does the ECHR ensure that its judgments are enforced?
-The enforcement of ECHR judgments is overseen by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which monitors the compliance of states with the court’s rulings. The Committee ensures that necessary measures are taken to prevent future violations and that the judgments are respected.
What impact have ECHR rulings had on national laws and individual rights in Europe?
-ECHR rulings have led to significant changes in national laws, ensuring stronger protections for individual rights. For example, they have led to retrials after unfair trials, closure of polluting factories, and compensation for victims of human rights violations. These rulings directly affect the lives of millions across Europe.
Outlines
🏛️ Introduction to the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a vital institution allowing individuals to hold states accountable for human rights violations. Established after World War II in 1949 by the Council of Europe, it aimed to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The court, created in 1959, was part of a unique system that allowed individuals from member states to file cases against their governments. Currently based in Strasbourg, the court includes nearly 50 judges, one from each member state. The court’s structure involves a registry and judicial units that help process cases. Judges hear cases in various formations, and public hearings are rare but webcast when held. The court faces a high volume of applications but rejects most due to admissibility issues, delivering judgments on only a small proportion of cases.
🌍 The Court’s Global Reach and Violations Beyond Borders
The ECHR has a broad impact, even beyond European borders. Non-Europeans, such as refugees within member states’ jurisdictions, are also protected. For instance, Italy violated the convention by forcibly returning Somalians and Eritreans to Libya. Similarly, the UK was found in breach during security operations in Iraq. States can also be held accountable for acts of other states within their territory, such as Macedonia's case where CIA agents tortured a terrorism suspect on its soil. The court’s protection of fundamental rights includes cases related to life protection, conflict zones, and violations within domestic settings, like Turkey’s failure to protect women from domestic violence. It has also ruled on end-of-life decisions, as seen in a case from France.
⚖️ Fair Trials, Prison Conditions, and the Right to Life
Many of the court’s cases revolve around fair trials, especially concerning delays in national proceedings. The court receives numerous applications from individuals facing prolonged delays in their legal processes, sometimes exceeding 20 years. Additionally, many cases deal with the failure of states to enforce domestic judicial decisions. The example of Anatoli Bof, a worker from Chernobyl, illustrates how Russia delayed compensating him for health issues. The ECHR ensures states cannot cite financial issues as an excuse for not fulfilling judicial decisions. The court also focuses on humane treatment, condemning overcrowded prisons and poor detention conditions, and emphasizing the need for timely legal remedies.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡European Court of Human Rights
💡Fundamental Rights
💡Council of Europe
💡Human Rights
💡Judicial Review
💡Admissibility
💡Violation of the Convention
💡Financial Compensation
💡Subsidiarity
💡Reform
💡Human Rights Protection
Highlights
The European Court of Human Rights allows individuals to hold states accountable for human rights violations.
The court was established in 1959 as part of the Council of Europe, founded in 1949 to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
The European Convention on Human Rights created a unique, binding supervisory mechanism for human rights protection.
The court is composed of judges from almost 50 member states, elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Most applications are rejected at the admissibility stage due to not meeting criteria, such as not first raising the case before national courts.
In exceptional cases, the court’s jurisdiction can extend beyond Europe, as seen in cases involving military operations abroad.
States can be held accountable for acts committed within their jurisdiction by another state, such as Macedonia's case involving torture by CIA agents.
The prohibition of the death penalty is upheld across all Council of Europe member states.
The court has ruled on sensitive issues such as discrimination, women's rights, and violence, finding Turkey in violation of the right to life.
It has ruled on end-of-life decisions, such as in France, regarding the withdrawal of artificial nutrition for a person in a vegetative state.
Overcrowded prisons and inhuman detention conditions have been frequent violations identified by the court.
The right to a fair hearing, especially in cases of excessive delays in domestic proceedings, is one of the most common issues the court addresses.
The court has ruled that states cannot use budget constraints as an excuse for failing to execute judicial decisions.
Modern societal issues, such as freedom of expression and technology, are interpreted by the court in relation to today's context.
The principle of subsidiarity emphasizes that cases should only reach the court if fundamental rights are not recognized at the national level.
Transcripts
[Music]
fore
[Music]
each year tens of thousands of people
who consider that their fundamental
rights have been breached turn to the
European Court of Human
Rights what is this court which for over
half a century has allowed individuals
to have States held to account and whose
decisions May ultimately affect our
everyday
lives it was in
1949 in the aftermath of the second
world war that a number of countries
joined forces to set up the Council of
Europe in order to promote human rights
democracy and the rule of law across
[Music]
Europe they adopted the European
convention on human rights setting up a
system that was unique at that time
including a binding supervisory
mechanism that was how the court came
into being in
1959 reflecting the member states desire
never again to experience the atrocities
committed in the mid 20th
Century 12 states signed up initially
now there are almost 50 of
them the court is based in Strasburg in
the human rights building it is composed
of one judge for each member state of
the Council of Europe the judges who are
elected by the Parliamentary assembly of
the Council of Europe are fully
independent and do not represent any
national interests in dealing with cases
the judges are assisted by the registry
which employs qualified staff from all
the member
states the court receives hundreds of
letters and phone calls every day when
applications arrive at the court they
are sorted and then dispatched to one of
the units of the registry which prepare
the files for the
judges all the decisions are taken by
the judges sitting as a single judge
formation a three judge committee a
seven judge chamber or a grand chamber
of 17 judges for the most important
cases the procedure is conducted in
writing but in a very few cases the
court also holds public hearings all of
which are filmed and can be viewed via
webcast
the court receives a huge number of
applications every year however the vast
majority of them are rejected at the
admissibility stage because the criteria
for applying to the court have not been
met for example because the applicants
have not first raised their case before
the national
Courts for that reason the court
delivers judgment on the merits in only
a small proportion of the cases brought
before
it it then rules on whether or not there
has been a violation of the convention
and it may award financial
compensation since it was first set up
the court has completed the examination
of hundreds of thousands of
cases this is hardly surprising given
that the number of individuals covered
by the system totals around 820 million
people that is the number of potential
applicants living in the countries which
have undertaken to complete
with the
convention in reality however there are
even more potential applicants non
Europeans whether they are refugees or
other individuals who happen to be
within the jurisdiction of a member
state are also
protected for instance the court found a
violation of the convention by Italy
following the forced return of Somalians
and eritreans to Libya from where they
had originally set out by boat for
Europe the Court held that they would be
at risk of ill treatment if they were
repatriated in exceptional cases the
scope of the convention can also extend
beyond Europe's
borders the court found the United
Kingdom to be in breach of the
convention following the deaths of
civilians in Iraq during security
operations carried out by British forces
the Court held that as an occupying
power responsible for maintaining
Security in the region concerned the
United Kingdom should have conducted an
investigation into civilian deaths in
which British soldiers were
involved a state can thus be held
responsible for events occurring outside
its
territory but states can also be held
accountable for acts committed within
their jurisdiction by another state if
they were aware of
them this was the case with the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which was
found to be in breach of the convention
because a person suspected of terrorism
was tortured while on that State's
territory the torture had been committed
by CIA agents but in the presence of
officials of the state
concerned numerous rights are protected
under the convention the most
fundamental is the right to life and the
death penalty is no longer applied in
any member state of the Council of
Europe some cases concern the treatment
to which the population is subjected in
Conflict
zones other cases relate to the state's
failure to protect
individuals the court found a violation
by turkey for an infringement of the
right to life and discrimination against
women the case concerned physical
assaults carried out repeatedly by a man
on his wife and his mother-in-law the
husband later killed his
mother-in-law the court has also had to
rule on the sensitive issue of the end
of life in a case against France it held
that there would not be a violation of
the convention in the event of
implementation of a decision by the
French courts to authorize the
withdrawal of artificial nutrition and
hydration from a person in a vegetative
state another fundamental right is the
prohibition of torture and inhuman or
degrading treatment
Greece was found to be responsible for
the torture of an unlawful migrant from
Turkey whose boat was stopped by Greek
Coast Guard officials while he was
attempting to reach Italy the man had
then been beaten and sexually assaulted
by one of the
officials in numerous other cases
brought against various countries the
court has identified problems with
overcrowding in prisons and in human and
degrading conditions of detention
but most of the cases coming before the
court concern the right to a fair
hearing and especially the length of
domestic proceedings the court has
received thousands of applications from
individuals who in some cases have
waited more than 20 years for a final
judgment in their own
country there are also very many cases
concerning the failure to execute final
judicial
decisions for example Anatoli bof who
worked on the Chernobyl site following
the nuclear disaster had to wait several
years before the Russian authorities
paid him the compensation awarded by the
domestic Courts for his health
problems the court in Strasburg held
that a state could not site budget
shortages as a reason for not executing
a Judicial
decision the rights and freedoms
contained in the convention are set out
in general terms and the court has to
interpret them in the context of today's
society
in order to avoid the convention
becoming a document that is out of touch
with contemporary
[Music]
issues for instance the court has
delivered judgments in several cases
concerning discrimination against
homosexuals whether in the context of
the criminalization of homosexuality the
ban on homosexuals in the armed forces
or the organization of Gay Pride marches
and with regard to civil
Partnerships it has also had to rule on
Environmental mental
issues in a case which led to a finding
against Italy and subsequently to the
closure of a hazardous industrial plant
the court found that the authorities had
not informed people living near the
plant about the risks and the procedure
to follow in the event of an accident
even though there had already been one
explosion and numerous cases of
poisoning the court has also ruled on
issues that were unimaginable when the
convention was adopted
for example in cases concerning new
technology in one case it found that
turkey had breached the convention by
blocking access to the entire Google
sites internet hosting service the Court
held that restricting access to the
internet in this way was a breach of
freedom of
expression some of the cases dealt with
by the court relate to politically
sensitive
issues one such a example was the case
brought by Julia timoshenko the former
prime minister of Ukraine and leader of
one of the country's main opposition
parties she was charged with abuse of
power following the change of government
and was placed in pre-trial detention
the court found that Miss timoshenko's
detention had been arbitrary and
unlawful that it had not been the
subject of a proper review and that it
had been motivated by reasons other than
the suspicions against her
some cases provoke a strong reaction
from members of the
public the rights set forth in the
convention apply to everyone including
individuals who have committed very
serious
offenses many people find this difficult
to
understand in a case against Germany
which resulted in a finding of a
violation the Court ruled that it is not
permissible to threaten someone with
torture even if another person's life is
at stake
German police officers had threatened to
torture an individual who had abducted
and murdered an 11-year-old boy in order
to force him to reveal the location of
the victim whom they belied to be still
alive these are just a few examples of
cases the court has found many thousands
of
violations the court may find that a
state has indeed breached the convention
but in Practical terms what is the
impact of a judge J M finding a
violation the repercussions are very
far-reaching as states are bound to
comply with and execute the judgments
that concern
them ensuring that the Court's judgments
are respected and that the necessary
remedial action is taken to prevent
similar violations of the convention in
future is the task of the Council of
Europe's executive arm the committee of
ministers this committee is made up of
the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the
council's member state
or their permanent
Representatives the committee of
ministers meets regularly to verify the
execution of Court judgments and cases
remain on its books until it is
satisfied with the measures taken by the
state
[Music]
concerned the judgments delivered in
Strasburg have led to numerous changes
in National legislation affecting the
lives of
everyone they have also opened the way
for retrials of individuals convict Ed
following an unfair trial for the
restitution of expropriated properties
to their owners or the payment of
compensation for the closure of
factories causing pollution and for the
release of individuals who have been
detained
unlawfully in recent years several high
level conferences on the future of the
Court have emphasized the importance of
the principle of
subsidiarity under this principle cases
should only reach the court when the
fundamental rights of the individuals
concerned have not been recognized
directly at National
level however the court still receives a
great many similar repetitive
applications because states have not
applied the convention or have not
enacted legislation to implement and
Safeguard the rights it
protects a number of reforms have been
implemented to enhance the Court's
Effectiveness ultimately however it is
at National level that the convention
has to be
applied governments must take action to
ensure that the convention is respected
in their
country in the meantime the court
continues to serve as the Bastion of
human rights in Europe a last resort for
millions of people as it has been for
over half a century
[Music]
[Music]
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