PAGE 3 - What to do if you feel your rights have been violated, where to complain and how to make a case

REGIONAL PROCEDURES

Taking a case to the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR)

The European Convention of Human Rights was adopted by the Council of Europe (Not to be confused by the Council of the European Union) in 1950 and led to the creation of the European Court on Human Rights. As I mentioned in a previous section, Ireland is party to this convention. The main rights under the convention are as follows:

Article 2: Right to Life

Article 3: Inhuman treatment

Article 4: Slavery

Article 5: Right to Liberty

Article 6: Right to a fair trial

Article 7: Retrospective crimes

Article 8: Right to privacy and family life

Article 9: Freedom of conscience

Article 10: Freedom of Expression

Article 11: Freedom of Assembly

Article 12: Marriage and the family

Article 14: Discrimination

The following information is taken from an excellent guide to Human Rights from the OneFamily organisation - “The Act puts a duty on the Organs of the State to perform their duties in a way that is compatible with the Convention. Organs of the State include health boards and local authorities, for example. Under the 2003 Act, if these bodies fail to perform their functions in a way that is compatible with the Convention, a complainant can go to the courts in Ireland and damages can be sought. The Act also requires the courts to interpret domestic legislation in a manner consistent with the Convention. The courts must therefore pay attention to any relevant judgment or opinion of the European Court of Human Rights when making a decision. The Convention also gives the High Court or the Supreme Court the power to declare any statutory provision to be in breach of the Convention. This does not declare the law in question invalid but it does place an obligation on the Taoiseach to put that law in front of the Oireachtas within 21 days. The Oireachtas does not have to change the law but it is likely that it will.”

But when or how do you make an application to the ECHR? There are three main conditions that are required:

1. You must be a victim of a violation of one or more of the articles of the Convention. You might claim for instance that you can’t maintain a favorable family life due to the stress created because of lack of services.

2. Before you make an application to the ECHR you must pursue any proceedings that you could take in Ireland that are capable of providing you with an adequate remedy for the breach of your Convention rights. 

3. You must make your application to the ECHR within six months of the conclusion of any court proceedings that you have taken could have provided you with a remedy or, if there were no proceedings that it was reasonable to expect you to take, within six months of the event which gives rise to your application.
When you make an application to the ECHR you will be asked to complete one of the ECHR’s application forms. However, it is not necessary to fill out one of these forms to meet the six month rule. All you need to do is to get a letter to the court within the six months setting out:

1. Your details (name, address and nationality).
2. The country against which you are making your application.
3. The facts that have given rise to your application.
4. The article or articles of the Convention that you say have been breached.

You should send your letter to:

The Registrar
European Court of Human Rights
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: 00 33 3 88 41 27 30

When it has received your letter the ECHR will send you one of its application forms to complete. If there is not enough space on the form you can set out your case in a longer document which you attach to the form. It is important that you submit your completed application form within any deadline set by the ECHR or, if no deadline is set, within a few weeks of receiving it. If you do not submit the form speedily you run the risk that the ECHR will decide that you have not met the six month deadline. If you cannot meet any deadline that is set you should contact the ECHR and try to agree an extended deadline.

Once the ECHR has acknowledged receipt of your application form it may be some time (months if not years) before you hear anything further. More information about this can be found under www.yourrights.org.uk or by visiting the ECHR’s website directly at www.echr.coe.int/echr/

Please click on the PDF Logo to download Human Rights and One Parent Families

Please click on the PDF Logo to download the full European Convention of Human Rights document.


*News - Launch of Irish-funded Programme to broadcast the European Court of Human Rights public hearings on the internet (25/06/2007)

Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., Minister for Foreign Affairs, today welcomed the launch of a programme to broadcast the public hearings of the European Court of Human Rights on the internet. The project is being funded by Irish Aid at a total cost of €290,000 over two years.

www.echr.coe.int/echr/

Minister Ahern said:
“Ireland has been an active member of the Council of Europe since its foundation in 1949 and strongly supports the work of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.

“The European Court of Human Rights, which ensures the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, is the most important forum for the protection of human rights in Europe. Its judgments have guided not only member states of the Council of Europe, but other countries throughout the world. 

“In Ireland, we are very familiar with the work of the Court. This is not the case everywhere, above all in the Council of Europe’s newer member states in Eastern Europe. We are therefore very proud to support this project, which will help to improve the visibility of the Court and promote a wider understanding of countries’ civil and human rights obligations of countries bound by the European Convention on Human Rights.” Sourced from the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland) - http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.aspx?id=28839

For more information about any of the above, please don’t hesitate in contacting Shane O’Halloran, Development Officer for Aspire on development@aspire-irl.org.  

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INTERNATIONAL PROCEDURES

Complaints under the International Human Rights Treaties.

Anyone may bring a human rights problem to the attention of the United Nations and thousands of people around the world do so every year. What kinds of complaints about alleged human rights violations does the United Nations receive and how does it deal with them?

Regarding the seven core international rights treaties listed above (which Ireland is also party to), only four of the Treaty Bodies may, under certain circumstances, consider complaints or communications from individuals who believe their rights have been violated by a State party. These are as follows:

(i)         Civil and political rights, set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

(ii)        Torture and cruel treatment, defined in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

(iii)       Racial discrimination, proscribed by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and

(iv)       Sex discrimination, defined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Each of these treaties establishes a quasi-judicial committee to examine complaints. The complaint mechanisms are designed to be uncomplicated and accessible to the layperson. You do not need to be a lawyer or even familiar with legal and technical terms to bring a complaint before the bodies concerned. On the contrary, the system is intended to be as straightforward as possible.

(Although I have compiled the above information from various sources, most of the information under this particular section has been sourced from the website of The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights.
The following page on their site deals with complaints procedures www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs7.htm#partI. This link will bring you to a fact sheet explaining the procedures open to individuals and 
grou ps who want the United Nations to take action on a human rights situation of concern to them.) 

For more information about any of the above, please don’t hesitate in contacting Shane O’Halloran, Development Coordinator for Aspire on development@aspire-irl.org.  

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