Claim before the ECHR
Expert Legal Representation Before the European Court of Human Rights
We prepare, submit, and manage applications before the ECHR, providing strategic legal support at every stage of the process. From admissibility submissions to hearings on the merits, the case is drafted, argued, and defended by ONRIGHTS.
How it works
Four steps, and at each one you know what you provide and what we do.
We check the application can get in
We verify the exhaustion of domestic remedies, the time limit from the final decision and which Convention articles can be invoked. This is the filter that rejects most applications, and it is cleared before a word is written.
We draft and file the form
The Court requires its own form, with the facts, the complaints and all supporting documents. A defect of form at this stage means inadmissibility, and inadmissibility cannot be appealed.
The State has to answer
If the application clears the filter, the Court communicates it to the Government and asks for observations. We reply to what it argues and assess with you whether a friendly settlement is worth taking.
The Court rules
The judgment declares whether there was a violation and sets just satisfaction. From that point the claim is no longer against a local body: the State answers.
What the engagement covers
Point by point, what we take on.
Preliminary analysis
- Exhaustion of domestic remedies
- Time limit computed from the final decision
- Convention rights available
- Applicable case law, with citations
The submission
- Complete official application form
- Statement of facts and complaints
- Just satisfaction quantified
- Translation and documentary annexes
The proceedings
- Reply to the Government’s observations
- Assessment of a friendly settlement
- Every development reported
- Custody of the file
Who engages us for this
The creditor profiles that most often arrive at this engagement.
How we work
Six commitments that hold across all six engagements.
We tell you no first
If the claim cannot be pursued, you hear it before anything is signed. A file that cannot prosper is no use to anyone.
A local lawyer in every country
The domestic phase is run by someone who litigates in that forum every day. The European phase we run ourselves, because it is the same everywhere.
The lawyer who briefs you is the one who runs it
The file does not change hands when the meeting ends. Whoever receives you is who signs the submissions.
The deadlines of the procedure, not estimates
You get the dates the rules set, not an optimistic guess. When a deadline cannot be extended, we say so before we start.
Everything in writing
Each phase ends in a document you can take to your board: the opinion, the submission as filed, the ruling.
Nothing you cannot check
Every statement about case law comes with its judgment and its application number. You can verify it yourself on HUDOC.
Further reading
Three articles that go into the detail.
The Four-Month Deadline Ends More Cases Than the Merits
Protocol No. 15 cut the time limit from six months to four. A great deal of published guidance still leads with six. The gap is two months, and for a creditor it can be the whole case.
Municipal Debt Recovery
From a final domestic ruling to a European verdict — the ECHR pipeline explained.
Article 6 § 1: Your Right to a Timely Judgment
A ruling that never gets enforced is not a ruling at all.
Ready to Move Forward?
New ECHR rulings are holding States to account. Yours could be next.
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