There are few people in Armenia who know about the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Certainly there are few people who know generally what court is, how and when they can apply to courts. Even limited information on part of ordinary citizens on the one hand raises their self-confidence to protect their rights, and on the other hand serves as a strait-jacket for the Armenian justice institutions to prevent biased and wrong decisions to some extent. Before referring to the ECHR we should have some information about the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms because this court has been established to protect the rights guaranteed by this convention.
The European Convention
The bases of human rights, i.e. the respect to the life and dignity of every person, have been reflected in almost all religious philosophies of the world. It is impossible to buy, earn or inherit human rights. Human rights are given to every person from birth notwithstanding the race, color and other factors. That is why human rights are “inalienable”. These rights are written in international legal documents, which have been agreed by many countries. The most famous document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Being inspired by the provisions of the mentioned resolution, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (CPHRFF) in 1950. The CPHRFF guarantees the following rights:
.Human life, freedoms and immunity;
.Fair justice of criminal and judicial cases;
.Participation in elections and candidacy nomination;
.Freedom of conscience, mind and belief;
.Freedom of speech (including freedom of media);
.Right to freely manage properties and ownership;
.Freedom of organizing associations and unions.
The CPHRFF prohibits torturing and humiliating behavior, death execution, slavery and compulsory work, discrimination in the fulfillment of the rights guaranteed by the convention, exiling citizens of own country or refusing to issue a permit to them to enter the country, collective exiling of foreigners.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Convention, which entered into force on September 3, 1953, brought up not only the main human rights but established the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is a specific mechanism for the protection of such rights. The court, which is situated in the Human Rights palace of Strasbourg, is operating since 1959. It is in charge of providing the implementation of the Convention provisions by the participant countries. The ECHR accepts claims submitted from physical persons, group of persons or non-governmental organizations. Such claim may be submitted by an EU country against another as well if they believe the provisions of the Convention have been violated.
As a result of Armenia’s decision to adopt the European Convention, citizens of Armenia can apply to the ECHR as well. From the point of view of the judicial systems of the Convention countries the HREC is not the supreme instance. Accordingly, it cannot cancel the decision of state authorities or courts, cannot issue orders to legislators, does not implement abstract control over national legislations or justice policies, and does not have a right to give instructions for actions bringing to legal results. In other words, the ECHR considers concrete cases to find out whether there have been violations of the Convention provisions. Indeed it has the right to issue a decision of “fair satisfaction of claim” to provide financial compensation for moral or material loss. It is worth mentioning that there has not been any precedent of failing to implement the decision of the court on part of an EU country. According to the EU bylaws, such activity may result in suspension of the given country’s participation in the EU.