Fields:
Human Rights Law
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is an international court set up in 1959, serving as a full-time court since 1994 based in Strasbourg. It rules on applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR protects human rights and fundamental freedoms across all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Ratification of the ECHR is a membership prerequisite for all current and prospective future members of the Council of Europe. The ECtHR oversees the implementation and application of the ECHR, and ECtHR judgements are binding on the domestic courts of all members of the Council of Europe. An application to the ECtHR can be lodged by an individual, a group of individuals or one or more of the other contracting states. Besides delivering judgements on specific cases lodged with the court, the ECtHR can also issue advisory opinions. The Court also uses case law during its judgement alongside the articles and provisions of the ECHR, which makes it a powerful instrument in consolidating the rule of law, democratic values, fundamental freedoms and human rights in Europe.
This year in the Model Courts of Justice conference, the ECtHR will hear the case of “Former King of Greece and Others v. Greece”, finally delivering their judgement on issues such as the constitutionality of law, breach of contract and property law. The direct descendants of the former crowned democracy of Greece dispute the ownership of numerous estates, claiming that the military coup d’etat and the consequent regime change combined with a breach of their agreement with the government is a breach of their rights under the ECHR.
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