How to Fill Out the ECHR Application Form?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is an international court established in 1959 under the umbrella of the Council of Europe, an international body. The court monitors whether states have violated fundamental rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and its additional protocols. To facilitate this monitoring, the court has established a mechanism called individual application. Through this mechanism, individuals and legal entities can apply to the European Court of Human Rights in cases of rights violations, within a specific procedure and set of rules.

For detailed information on what to consider when applying to the European Court of Human Rights, you can read our article on European Court of Human Rights Applications.

This article will focus on the most fundamental and important aspect of the application process: how to fill out the application form.

I. European Court of Human Rights Application Form

The most important aspect of applying to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the application form. It is crucial that the application form is up-to-date. To do this, you need to download the application form from the ECHR’s official website. You can access the application form via the link: European Court of Human Rights Application Form. The form can also be completed in Turkish. However, after the application is served on the state against which the application was made, specifically the Turkish government, the ECHR will request the applicant to submit their compensation claims. From this point onwards, correspondence must be conducted in English or French, which are official languages ​​of the Council of Europe. However, if the applicant’s request to use Turkish is granted, or if the Chamber President gives permission, the application can be submitted in Turkish.

An effective application requires that events be presented in chronological order and supported by documentation.

It must be clearly stated which right has been violated and for what reason.

The procedure for completing the form is specified in Article 47 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECHR. The absence of any deficiencies listed in Article 47 on the application form constitutes grounds for administrative refusal. It should be noted that administrative refusal decisions do not suspend the application period. That is, if an administrative refusal decision is given within the 4-month application period, the application can be renewed and resubmitted. However, if the decision is given after the 4-month period, there is no way to remedy the deficiency. For this reason, we recommend that the application not be left until the last months, but preferably submitted within the first two months.

Applicant and Representative Information

The first page of the form requires the applicant’s identity and contact information (whether natural or legal person). Even if the applicant has a representative, the applicant’s own contact information should be included, considering the possibility of the representative withdrawing. The applicant is responsible for notifying the court of any changes to their address or contact information.

If the applicant is a natural person, an identity document or a copy of their civil registry record must be attached.

The second page of the form requires the applicant to indicate the state that committed the violation. It is possible to select more than one state.

The applicant is not obligated to be represented by a lawyer or representative. They can apply in person. However, if applying through a lawyer or other representative, the representative’s title, identity, and contact information must be provided. If represented by a lawyer, a notarized power of attorney is not required. It is sufficient for the applicant and the lawyer to sign and date the power of attorney box in the relevant section of the form.

While the applicant is not obligated to apply through a lawyer, as a rule, the applicant is required to be represented by a lawyer once the application has been sent to the relevant government. However, in exceptional cases, the applicant can also track their application themselves.

If the applicant wishes to track their application through the eComms system, they must enter the email address they can use with the system in the relevant section on page 3 or 4 of the form.

Subject of the Application

This section should describe, in chronological order, all the events that led to the violation of rights and the judicial process in domestic law. The events should be supported by documents. Consistency should be ensured between the events and the complaints. Concrete information regarding the alleged violation of rights should be provided.

Providing false information about the events that are the subject of the application, or withholding existing information and documents, constitutes an abuse of rights under Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECHR. Therefore, the application may be rejected.

The section on pages 8 and 9 of the Application Form, which concerns the complaints and the rights that have been violated, should be brief and concise, and free from unnecessary doctrinal information. The explanatory section, which details which right has been violated and how, should, as much as possible, not exceed the number of pages in the form.

Additional Explanations

If the page limit is exceeded, it is possible to include additional explanations in the form’s appendix. However, this additional explanation section should not contain a new claim of human rights violation or a continuation of the events described in the form. The additional explanation section should be a detailed version of the events described in the form, not a continuation of the events.

Certain conditions have also been set regarding the format of the additional explanations page. Accordingly, the additional explanations section should be a maximum of 20 pages. The main text should be legible, at least 12 points, footnotes at least 10 points, there should be 3.5 cm margins on the pages, and paragraphs and pages should be numbered. If the additional explanations section meets these conditions, it should be sent as an appendix to the form.

Compliance with Admissibility Criteria

On page 10 of the form, it should be stated which complaint/claim of human rights violation it relates to, that domestic remedies have been exhausted, and that the application was submitted within the time limit. For this, the dates of appeal and notification, the date of application to the Constitutional Court, and the date of notification of the Constitutional Court’s decision must be written, and the notification receipt must be attached to the application form.

It should be indicated whether the applicant has used any other avenue of appeal, and if so, the reasons for not using it should be explained in detail.

It should be stated whether the alleged human rights violation has been brought before another international body. However, it should be noted that it is not possible to apply to two separate international bodies on the same issue.

In the box below, it should be written whether there is an application pending or concluded before the ECHR, and if so, its subject, the date of the decision, and the result in detail.

Supplementary Documents

In the supplementary documents section, the names of the documents related to the application should be listed, and the page number of the supplement should be indicated in the corresponding field. Pages should be numbered for each supplementary document. Staples, paper clips, etc., should not be used for supplementary documents, and copies of the documents should be sent, not the originals. The ECHR does not return documents; it destroys them after a certain period.

If the applicant does not possess one of the documents cited as supporting evidence, they must provide a reasonable explanation for their inability to access it. In this case, the applicant may attach a request to the government for the document to their application form. They may also request the Court to obtain the document from the government. However, to avoid any practical difficulties, we advise applicants to gather all documents completely and attach them to their application.

Attaching every document related to the judicial activity forming the basis of the alleged human rights violation is of paramount importance. The European Court of Human Rights rejected an application in a case involving multiple defendants and hundreds of pages of reasoned judgments because only the parts of the reasoned judgment relating to the applicant were submitted, and the complete judgment was not sent on a CD or USB. Therefore, we recommend sending all documents completely and accurately; if sending them as a file is impossible due to the large number of pages, we recommend sending some of the attachments in an accessible format on a CD or USB drive.

The applicant’s claims for compensation, if any, will be detailed in the additional information and explanations section on the following page. However, it is not mandatory to make any compensation claims here. Because compensation claims are made not at the time of application, but together with the petition submitted against the government’s views. If there is a request for the applicant’s name to remain confidential, that request should also be written in this section and justified.

A Power of Attorney is Not Required; the Authorization Document on the Form is Valid. Both the Applicant and the Authorized Person Must Sign.

The authorization document on the form must be signed jointly by the applicant and, if applicable, their representative. If one of the signatures is missing, a rejection decision will be given.

The identity and address information of the person to be contacted in correspondence should be written in section number 74 below.

ECHR Application Period: 4 Months

As is known, the application period to the ECHR is 4 months. When making an application, the date the mail is sent, not the day it arrives at the Court, is taken into account. It should also be noted that, unlike in our domestic law, if the last day of the application period falls on a public holiday or weekend, the application period is not extended. It is considered to have ended on that day.

ECHR Address

You can submit an application to the European Court of Human Rights by filling out the application form and sending it along with the attachments to the following address in France: “67075 Strasbourg Cedex France”.

II. The Most Common Mistakes in Practice When Filing Applications to the European Court of Human Rights

The most common errors in practice that lead to administrative rejection in ECHR applications can be summarized as follows:

• Failure to attach the Constitutional Court Individual Application form to the application
• Failure to attach the Constitutional Court decision
• Failure to attach the document regarding the date of notification or learning of the Constitutional Court decision
• Failure to send the annexes of the Constitutional Court decisions (Failure to attach the Excel list in group files)
• Failure to use the valid ECHR application form
• Adding new grounds for violation not stated in the Constitutional Court application
• Failure of both the applicant and the representative to sign the power of attorney document on the ECHR application form
• Failure to attach all decisions of local courts to the application
• Failure to attach all trial transcripts related to proceedings in local courts
• Failure to attach application petitions related to appeal stages (such as appeal and cassation application petitions)
• Failure to list the documents attached to the ECHR application form in chronological order by date
• Failure to attach an email address to the application form

While it is possible to rectify these errors within the 4-month period, there is no chance to rectify them after the deadline has passed. It is important that applications to the ECHR are made within a maximum of one month from the date the human rights violation is learned and that there is an opportunity for redress.