TIGHTER DEADLINES FOR APPEALING TO THE COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

European Court of Human Rights Press release ECHR 003 (2022) 03.01.2022

From 1 February 2022 the time-limit for applying to the European Court of Human Rights will be four months from the final domestic decision From 1 February 2022 the time-limit for submitting an application to the European Court of Human Rights will be reduced from six months to four months from the final domestic judicial decision in the case (usually a judgment of the highest court in the country concerned). The change to the time-limit for applying to the Court arises out of Protocol No. 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which has been signed and ratified by the 47 member States of the Council of Europe. This text amending the Convention entered into force on 1 August 2021 but provided for a transition period before the change became effective. As the transition period ends on 1 February 2022, from that date onwards applicants and their lawyers will have to comply with the new time-limit; if they do not, their application will be declared inadmissible. The four-month time-limit for applying to the Court after the final domestic decision is one of the admissibility criteria laid down in Article 35 of the Convention. If even one of these criteria is not met the application will be declared inadmissible, which is why it is essential to comply with all the requirements when submitting an application to the Court.