The most distinctive feature of the European Convention on Human Rights is the optional procedure under Article 25, whereby an individual application claiming to be a victim of a violation of one of the rights guaranteed by the Convention may present a complaint against his own (or another) government to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for investigation. Thus the individual is given direct access to an international tribunal and is recognized as having the standing necessary to pursue his rights under international law.

Turkey has signed the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It contains a catalogue of certain fundamental rights and freedoms. These, inter alia, include the right to life, freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial and the right to property.

Criteria for lodging an application

An application can be lodged exclusively against the states who are signatories of the Convention. The ECHR cannot consider all types of complaints. Its jurisdiction is limited by the admissibility criteria stated in the Convention, which define who may apply, when and in relation to what. The ECHR rejects around 90% of the applications it considers as inadmissible. For this reason, you need to check whether your complaints meet the admissibility criteria.

You can lodge an application with the ECHR only by regular post (not via telephone). This means that you need to send a paper copy of the application form with the applicant’s and/or authorised representative’s original signatures. Receipt of the application form via fax is not considered to be a full application because the ECHR needs to receive the original copy of the signed application form.

To find out about these criteria, as well as how to lodge an application, you can contact of our attorney at law or peruse the instructions on filling out the application form.

Admissibility criterias

When all appeals before the Turkish national courts have been exhausted, we prepare a comprehensive advice on a potential application to the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) and the chances of success before the Court. The advice identifies clearly the time limit for applying to the Court, which is currently six months from the date of the final Turkish national decision (a period which will be reduced to four months when all Member States have ratified Protocol 15). The advice includes a review of the latest relevant judgments in the Court’s HUDOC database. We carefully and honestly explain the prospects of a finding of admissibility and any foreseeable difficulties. In doing so, we consider and explain key topics such as the single judge procedure, inadmissibility statistics, the length of proceedings in Strasbourg, the estimated costs of proceedings (lawyers’ fees and expenses) and the rules on just satisfaction. It is important to tell clients clearly and repeatedly that the Court is not a further appeal or ‘fourth instance’.

A case should always be appealed to a State’s highest court before an application is made to the Court to avoid the risk that the Court may otherwise declare the application inadmissible because of a failure to exhaust domestic remedies, as required by Article 35(1) of the Convention.

Subsidiarity

Violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”) must be pleaded throughout the proceedings before the Turkish national court, so that a potential application to the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) can be prepared from the outset of the proceedings. Moreover, where a case involves violations of fundamental rights, we seek to have those violations established by the Turkish national court: if the national court finds that there is a violation, no subsequent application to the European Court of Human Rights will be required. Violations of Articles of the Convention must be pleaded substantively at first instance, with specific reference to the applicable Convention Articles. It is essential to plead the same Convention arguments on appeal, then to the highest Turkish national court, or any other constitutional court or court of cassation which acts as a court of last resort. The principle of subsidiarity requires that national courts must have the opportunity to prevent, detect and redress the alleged violation(s) themselves. If they fail to provide redress, an application may be made to the Court.

Advise clients

We address specific issues and advise our client if they arise. Such issues include interim measures, proceedings before the Grand Chamber, pilot judgments, the execution of a judgment after a finding of a violation, legal aid, friendly settlements, requests for anonymity, unilateral declarations, and which languages may be used, as well as procedural ECHR Guide CCBE 4 problems which may arise, such as coordination when several lawyers are instructed, and communication with the Court.

We can help you to obtain justice if you have suffered abuse or an infringement of your human rights by individuals/organisations in Turkey or another country. Our Human Rights Practice has been recognized as one of the best private international human rights practices in Turkey. We represent individuals who have been victims of torture, human trafficking, forced and slave labor, sexual violence, and other violations of international law. Our goal is to deliver justice. 

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