(UKR) ECHR - Фільм про Європейський суд з прав людини (Ukrainian version)

Summary

The film explains the purpose, structure, and impact of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as well as the challenges it faces. Established in 1959 under the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court gives people a way to hold states accountable for violations of Convention rights. Its judgments are binding on the states concerned.

How the Court works

• The Court is based in Strasbourg and has one judge elected in respect of each Council of Europe member state. Judges are independent and do not represent their countries’ interests.
• A secretariat sorts incoming applications and prepares cases, but judges make all decisions.
• Cases may be considered by a single judge, a three-judge committee, a seven-judge chamber, or a 17-judge Grand Chamber. Most proceedings are written; public hearings are held in exceptional cases.
• Most applications are rejected at the admissibility stage. For example, applicants generally must first bring their case before the relevant national courts.
• In cases it examines on their merits, the Court determines whether the Convention was violated and may award compensation.

Who and what the Convention protects

The Convention applies to people under a state’s jurisdiction, not only to its citizens. In some circumstances, a state may be responsible for events outside its territory or for abuses carried out on its territory by another country’s agents.

The film illustrates the range of issues the Court addresses, including:

• The right to life: Cases involving conflict zones, domestic violence, and decisions about ending artificial feeding and hydration.
• The prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment: Abuse by border guards, poor detention conditions, and prison overcrowding. The Court has also held that police may not threaten torture, even to try to save another person.
• The right to a fair trial: A particularly large share of applications concerns lengthy proceedings or failure to enforce final national court decisions. A state cannot rely on a lack of budget funds to avoid enforcing a court judgment.
• Other evolving rights and concerns: Discrimination, freedom of expression and internet access, environmental risks, and politically sensitive cases. The film notes that the Court interprets the Convention in light of present-day society, including issues that were not foreseen when it was adopted.

Effect of judgments and continuing challenges

• States found in violation must comply with the judgment and take steps to prevent similar violations.
• The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers supervises how states implement judgments and continues monitoring until it is satisfied with the measures taken.
• Implementation can lead to changes in national laws and practices, reopening cases after unfair trials, compensation or return of confiscated property, closure of dangerous facilities, and release of people detained unlawfully.
• The Court is intended to be a last resort. Under the principle of subsidiarity, states have the primary responsibility to protect Convention rights, and people should seek redress through national systems first.
• Repeated applications about the same problems indicate that some states are not properly applying the Convention or implementing the measures needed to protect rights. Reforms have sought to improve the Court’s efficiency, but the film stresses that rights must be upheld directly by national governments.

Speakers and sources featured

• Narrator: A documentary voice-over explains the Court’s history, procedures, examples, and role. No named interview speakers are identifiable in the subtitles.
• Institutions and sources discussed: The European Court of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe, and the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
• People and cases mentioned: Applicants and affected individuals in examples involving Italy, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Turkey, Greece, Russia, France, Germany, and Ukraine, including former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.