Non-governmental Organisations under the European Convention on Human Rights: Exceptional Legal Standing
Abstract
This monograph aims to supply legal thinkers, practitioners and applicants with tools to go about answering the question of what position non-governmental organisations hold in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ""the Court""). It begins by explaining how the term ""non-governmental organisation"" is understood in the doctrine of international law and human right treaties all over the world.
The author concludes that the notion in question embraces all types of legal entities, from small non-profit organisations to large transnational corporations, with or without legal existence. Analysis of the case-law of the Court has shown that these non-governmental organisations, as direct victims, may lodge with the Court their complaints alleging a violation of the following provisions: Articles 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 of the Convention; Articles 1 and 3 of Protocol No. 1; Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Protocol No. 7 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the Convention.
All of the judgments and decisions confirming this practice are described in separate sections of Chapter II of this book. The author pays special attention to the just satisfaction mechanism under the Convention in respect of these subjects.
The practice proves that the amounts of just satisfaction awarded to them by the Court were millions and even billions of euros. The book presents, inter alia, a table of ten such judgments with awards exceeding one million euros with the subsequent examination of the subject matter.
To summarise, the present book is the first complex research in international law concerning the NGO position in proceedings before the Court. It is a valuable contribution to the theory of human rights which, by the comprehensive manner as it is written, is accessible not only to human rights experts, but also to the larger public.