Romanian Institute for Human Rights

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Protocol No. 15 to ECHR (ETS 213)

 Adopted at the Committee of Ministers meeting of 16 May 2013, it aims at implementing measures designed to simplify the procedures and speed up the pace at which the cases are analyzed. Thus, it provides for:
 - shortening from six to four months the time limit within which an application must be made to the Court;
 - amending the ‘significant disadvantage’ admissibility criterion to remove the second safeguard preventing rejection of an application that has not been duly considered by a domestic tribunal;
 - replacing the age limit for the beginning of a European Court judge’s mandate from 70 to 65 years of age;
 - removing the right of the parties to a case to object to relinquishment of jurisdiction over it by a Chamber in favour of the Grand Chamber.
 The Protocol has been ratified by Romania. It enters into force in three months since all High Contracting Parties to the Convention will have expressed their consent to be a party to the Protocol. Signatures and ratifications.

Protocol No. 16 to ECHR (ETS 214)

 Adopted on 16 July 2013 and in force since 1 August 2018, Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights allows for the highest national courts and tribunals designated by the Member State concerned to request the European Court of Human Rights offer advisory opinions on matters of principle regarding interpretation or enforcement of the rights and freedoms defined by the Convention or its additional Protocols. The advisory opinions, to be presented by the Grand Chamber, shall include motivations and shall be not binding. The requests for advisory opinions shall be made in the context of cases pending before the national courts, the Court being free to accept or to reject such a request. Signatures and ratifications.
 

Admissibility criteria for individual complaints submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)

  • The case may be submitted to the Court after the domestic remedies at law have been exhausted;
  • The application has to be filed within 6 months since the final domestic decision (the date of the last national decision pronounced in relation to the last remedy at law by which all domestic remedies at law have been exhausted);
  • It shall not be anonymous;
  • It shall not be essentially the same as an application previously examined by the Court;
  • It shall not have been examined by another international Court, unless it contains new facts;
  • It shall be compatible with the provisions of the Convention;
  • The petitioner shall have suffered a significant disadvantage.

The application form

- Information about the application form can be found here.
- You can find the application form here.
 

Human Rights Committee’s Concluding observations and Recommendations regarding the way Romania applies the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

 In its 121st Session (16 October – 10 November 2017), the United Nations Human Rights Committee considered the fifth periodic report of Romania on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

 The Committee’s Report includes several observations and recommendations of which some are general while others refer to specific topics such as: equality and non-discrimination of the Roma, attacks motivated by racism, discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, the rights of persons with disabilities, equality between women and men, violence against women and children including domestic violence, the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments or punishments, maltreatment in public caring centres, liberty and security of persons and the treatment of persons in detention, elimination of slavery and servitude as well as protection of juveniles and the rights of the child.
 The UN Committee pointed out that the Romanian State shall taker greater efforts to promote the efficient application of the Covenant’s provisions by the national courts and continue to train lawyers, prosecutors and judges in the field of human rights treaties.
 Also, the Romanian State shall take all necessary measures to make sure that its national human rights institutions fully comply with the Paris Principles and function independently, transparently and efficiently.

 You can see here the Committee’s Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Romania.