II European Convention on Human Rights
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Author | Lize R. Glas |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411203000408 |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
Netherlands Qu arterly of Human Ri ghts, Vol. 30/4 (2012) 495
II EUROPEAN CONVENTION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS
L R. G*
In 2001, Turkey made a unilateral declaration1 in the ca se Akman v. Turkey to invite the
European Court of Human R ights (the Court) to strike the case out of its list of cases
under Article 37 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention).
Based on Turkey’s admissions, undertakings and proposed compensation, the
Court accepted the invitation.2 e use of this State-initiated procedure has become
increasingly common: the C ourt accepted 692 such declarations last year.3 September
1st, 2012 saw the entry into force of a new Court Rule on uni lateral declarations.4 On
the occasion of the new Rule, t his contribution is dedicated to unilateral de clarations.
1. RULE 62A
e newly introduced Rule 62A touches upon four points. e Rule rst provides
when a State can le a unilate ral declaration: a er an applica nt has refused the terms
of a friendly sett lement; the procedure is not ‘intended to circumvent the applicant’s
opposition to a friendly settlement’.5 e Court thus (understandably) prefers
settlements over declarations. On ly ‘[w]here exceptional circu mstances so justif y’, may
the State le a declaration in the absence of a prior attempt at a set tlement. e Court
should clarify in its jurisprudence what ‘exceptional circumstances’ entail.6 Second
and content-wise, the declaration should include a n acknowledgement of the violation
* PhD Candidate i n Law, Radboud University, Nijmegen: t he Netherlands. e internet websites cited
in this contr ibution were last visited on 4O ctober 2012.
1 In a unilatera l declaration, the State acknowledges it committed a violation and underta kes to
provide the applica nt with redress.
2 26June 2001 (Appl.no. 37453/97), at paras. 23, 24, 3 0, 32.
3 ECtHR, Unilateral Declarations: Policy and Practice, Se ptember 2012, available at:
www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/787232AE-EEB1–439C-AF44–0BD73B86EC0C/0/
D%C3%A9clarat ions_unilat%C3% A 9rales_Note_ information_E NG.pdf.
4 is Rule was i nserted by the Cour t to its Rules on 2April 2012.
5 Bazhenhov v. Russia, 20October 2005 (Appl.no. 37930/02), at para . 39.
6 Exceptional c ircumstances may be repetitive cases, see: www.hrp.ge/_Hrp/ le/4017675-v1-
Unilateral%20Decl arations%20note%20to%20Agents%20RL%2011_07_2012.pdf (this is an ea rlier
version of the informat ion note on unilateral declarations that is now available on the ECHR
website).
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