How to file a claim at the ECtHR?

Grounds for appeal to the European Court of Human Rights:

1. You intend to challenge the behavior of the state that itself violated your right or freedom or did not ensure their protection (this is a violation of a right or freedom guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights);

2. You have exhausted all effective national means of legal protection available to you;

3. You have not missed the deadline for applying to the Court;

4. Your case has not yet been considered by the Court on the same grounds and you do not use another international mechanism to protect your rights.

The official languages of the Court are English and French, but if you wish, you can contact the Secretariat of the Court in the official language of one of the states that have ratified the Convention. At the initial stage of the proceedings, the Court may also correspond with you in this language. However, if the Court does not find the application inadmissible on the basis of the documents sent, but decides to invite the Government to express its position on the applicant's complaints, the Court will conduct correspondence in English or French, and you or your representative will, as a general rule, send further observations in English or French language

The court accepts only those statements that are sent by mail (not by phone). If you send your application by e-mail or fax, you must duplicate it by regular mail. There is also no need to be personally present at the Court for an oral presentation of the circumstances of the case.

Letters and documents sent to the Court should not be stapled, glued or fastened in any other way. All pages must be numbered consecutively.

Content of the statement

According to the provisions of Rule 47 of the Rules of Court, the statement must:

• give a concise statement of the facts about which you complain and the essence of your complaints;

• indicate the rights guaranteed by the Convention or its protocols, which, in your opinion, have been violated;

• name the national means of legal protection that you used;

• provide a list of court decisions (or other state bodies) in the case, indicating the date of each decision and the body that issued it, as well as brief information about the content of this decision. Copies of the decisions themselves must be attached to the letter (the Court does not return documents sent to it, therefore only copies should be sent, not originals).

Rule 45 of the Rules of Court requires that the application be signed by you as the applicant, or by your representative.

If you do not wish to disclose your identity, you must state this in your application to the Court and state the reasons for justifying such a departure from the general rule of public disclosure of proceedings in the Court. In exceptional and justified cases, the President of the Chamber of the Court may grant permission for anonymity.

Court address

All correspondence regarding the complaint should be sent to:

The Registrar

European Court of Human Rights

Council of Europe

F–67075 STRASBOURG CEDEX

FRANCE - FRANCE.