The Structure of the New Court

The European Court of Human Rights set up under the Convention as amendedis composed of a number of judges equal to that of the Contracting States (currently forty-one). There is no restriction on the number of judges of the same nationality. Judges are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a term of six years. The term of office of one half of the judges elected at the first election will expire after three years, so as to ensure that the terms of office of one half of the judges are renewed every three year.

The official languages of the Court are English and French but the Rules of the Court provide that applications may be presentedto the Court in any of the official languages of the High Contracting Parties. There are 32 such official languages at present. Of course it goes without sayingthat an international court could not functionefficiently if it had to work in such a large number of languages. While it is open to the applicant to present his case in an officiallanguage, the Rules of the Court make it clear that if a case is communicated to the Government for observations or if ahearing is to be held in the case, English or French must be employed unless the President decides otherwise.

Accordingly, Governments are requestedto submit their written observations in one of the official languages of the Court and permission must be sought from the President of the Chamber to make written or oral submissionsin another language. If the Government desires to address the Court in the national language, it mustbear the costs of interpretation.If the applicant cannot secure the services of a lawyer who speaks one of the official languages of the Court and permission is given by the President of the Chamber to speak the national language, the Court will bear the costs.

Judges sit on the Court in their individual capacity and do not represent any State. They cannot engage in any activity which is incompatiblewith their independenceor impartialityor with the demands of full-time office. Their terms of office expire when they reach the age of seventy.

The Plenary Court elects its President, two Vice-Presidents and two Presidents of Section for a period of three years. Under the Rules of Court, the Court is divided into four Sections, whose composition, fixed for three years, is geographically and gender balanced and takes accountof the different legal systems of the Contracting States. Each Section is presided over by the President, two of the Section Presidents are at the same time Vice-Presidentsof the Court. Section Presidents are assistedand where necessary replaced by Vice-Presidents оf Section.

Committees of three judges are set up within each Section for twelve month periods. Committees are an Important feature in the new structure as they are responsible for muchof the filtering formerlycarried out by the Commission. Chambers of seven members are constituted within each Section on the basis of rotation, with the Section| President and the judge elected in respect of the State concerned sitting in each case. If the latter is not a member of the Section, he or she sits as an exofficiomember of the Chamber. The members of the Section who are not full members of the Chamber sit as substitute members.

The Grand Chamber of seventeen judges is constituted for three years. Apart from the ex officio members - the President, Vice-Presidents and Section Presidents — the Grand Chamber is formed by rotation within two groups, which will alternate every nine months. These groups are composed with a view togeographical balance and are intended to reflect the different legal traditions.

The Chamber judgment in an admissible case will also examine the question of just satisfaction (Article 41). It is also at Chamber level that friendly settlements will normally take place although a settlement can intervene at any stage of the proceedings. Where appropriate, the Chamber may appoint a delegation of judges to carry out fact-finding and hear witnesses. The Rules of Court provide that it may appoint independent experts to assist a delegation. It is thus in Chambers that a large part of the Court's work is carried out. Within a period of three months from the date of the Chamber judgment a party may request that a case be referred to the Grand Chamber of seventeen judges. A panel of five judges shall accept the request if the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or a serious issue of general importance. Article 43 makes it clear that reference may only take place in "exceptional cases". This restriction is an essential part of the reform of the Convention procedure and embodies the compromise reached between States in the drafting of Protocol No. 11 that were in favor of a single examination by one instance and States that favored a double examination.

If interpreted strictly by the Panel of the Grand Chamber, itwill mean that the Chamber judgment will be the final judgmentin most of the cases raising problems of Convention law, which can be decided on the basis of existing principles.

The role of the Grand Chamber is thus to rule on cases of the utmost importance. The Convention also enables a Chamber to relinquish jurisdictionto the Grand Chamber "at any time before it has rendered its judgment"in cases which raise a seriousquestion of interpretation"where the resolution of a question before the Chamber might have a result inconsistent with a judgment previously delivered by theCourt." The parties have the right to object to a relinquishment butthe Rules of the Court require the parties to file their objectionswithin a monthand to provide reasons for them. In the limited practice to date, Chambers have relinquished jurisdiction in cases here there existed a certain inconsistency between the Chambers in their approach tocertain issuesor where there was need to clear up uncertainties and contradictions stemming from existing case law. The role of the Grand Chamber is crucial to thesuccess of the reformfor two main reasons. First it will fall to the Grand Chamber to examine inter alia the leading cases that will be brought to Strasbourg, which raise new points of Convention law. The Grand Chamber will thus establish the most important caselaw of the new Court. Second it is clear that if the objectives of the reform process are tobe attained — i.e. if the system is able to examine cases within a reasonable time — the Panelof the Grand Chamber will have to be extremely selective in those cases where it accepts a referral. If there are to be a large number of referrals from the Sections to the Grand Chamber it is very likely to become over- burdened with cases leading to the inevitable(and familiar) delays in deciding important cases. The Panel is thus acting as a "filter", accepting only the most "exceptional cases" for adjudication. It will thus play a key role in the effectiveness of the new arrangements. Since the Court is still in a transitional phase it is too early yet to give any indication how this shift from Chamber to Grand Chamber will be managed by the Panel.

Notes:

ex officio member of the Chamber - член палати за посадою;

with a view to -з метою;

inter alia - між іншим.

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