Third Party Interventions by National Human Rights Instittutions before the European Court of Human Rights
Third Party Interventions by National Human Rights Institutions before the European Court of Human Rights
Article 44 of the Rules of Court allow for third parties, such as National Human Rights Instittutions, to apply to the President of a Chamber to intervene in a case before the Court and in appropriate cases permission may be granted. Other States can intervene in cases before the Court. In addition, the Commissioner for Human Rights has a particular role for such interventions. Separately, non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International or Liberty have regularly intervened in some of the more important cases before the Court.
In September 2011 the IHRC made a third party amicus curiae intervention in the case of O'Keefe v Ireland.
In August 2011 the IHRC made a third party amicus curiae intervention in the case of Gauer v France on behalf of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs). This was the first intervention before an international court by a regional grouping of NHRIs.The submission focused on the international standards on protecting women and girls with an intellectual disability from intrusive procedures such as sterilisation including in light of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The case is pending before the European Court. This intervention was a collaboration between a number of National Human Rights Institutions across Europe including the French Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme (CNCDH).
In 2008 the IHRC had made the first third party amicus curiae intervention in the case of D.D. v Lithuania on behalf of the European Group of NHRIs. This was also the first intervention before an international court by a regional grouping of NHRIs. The submission focused on the normative changes exemplified by the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and relevant international principles and European law and is still pending before the European Court. It was also the first third party intervention by a regional grouping of NHRIs before an international court.
A number of NHRIs regularly submit third party intervention briefs before the European Court, particularly where the number of applications brought against their State may be high. Examples of such NHRIs include the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Great Britain Equality and Human Rights Commission. As part of its role in Chairing the Legal Working Group of the European Group of NHRIs and in order to assist NHRIs in identifying cases brought against their States, the IHRC analyses recently communicated cases from the European Court and provides summaries to NHRIs across Europe.