Lodging an application with the ECtHR – The attorney’s perspective
| Author | Vânia Costa Ramos |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2032284420972195 |
Article
Lodging an application
with the ECtHR – The
attorney’s perspective
Vˆ
ania Costa Ramos
University of Lisbon School of Law, Portugal
Carlos Pinto de Abreu e Associados, Portugal
Introduction
With this piece, I aim to provide an insight into the lodging of applications with the European
Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), from the perspective of the attorney, in particular the
criminal defence lawyer as representative of individual applicants. The text is based on my
experience in cases in which I intervened from the outset at the domestic level, and those
cases in which the support of my law firm was requested by other colleagues for the purpose
of performing a feasibility analysis and ensuring legal representation in the proceedings
before the ECtHR only.
The contribution I present is not intended as exhaustive but merely as a general introduction to
some aspects of litigation before the ECtHR. I seek to explain only a few selected aspects that
I deem of importance to those considering the possibility of providing legal representation in this
context.
Reading the various practice directions that are available on the website of the ECtHR con-
cerning the requirements for lodging an application, in addition to the applicable instruments
(Convention, Additional Protocols
1
and Rules of Court
2
) and the ECtHR’s case law on admissi-
bility,
3
is indispensable to any attorney wishing to lodge an application with the ECtHR.
I further aim to pay a tribute to my esteemed colleague and dear friend, Scott Crosby. The text is
based on my experience of applications related to the Portuguese system but is also, in a certain
way, a by-product of the lessons I learned from Scott.
Corresponding author:
Vˆ
ania Costa Ramos, Research Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Sciences, University of Lisbon School of Law,Portugal;
Carlos Pinto de Abreu e Associados - SP RL, Lisbon 1600-675, Portugal.
E-mail: vaniacostaramos@carlospintodeabreu.com
1.Available at <https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p¼basictexts&c¼> accessed 15 October 2020.
2.Available at <https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Rules_Court_ENG.pdf> accessed 15 October 2020.
3.Available at <https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p¼caselaw/HUDOC&c¼#n1355308343285_pointer> acces-
sed 15 October 2020.
New Journal of European Criminal Law
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/2032284420972195
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NJECL
NJECL
2021, Vol. 12(1) 76 –87
Analysis/Opinion
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