CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

ALLA TYMOFEYEVA CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ applicant company is a “non-governmental organisation” within the meaning of Article 34 of the Convention”. 25 This certifies that a profit-making company should be seen as the NGO for the purposes of the Convention. There could be found hundreds of judgments of the Court where applicants appear as NGOs (business entities) of different types, such as limited liability companies, 26 public limited companies 27 and joint stock companies. 28 Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer writes that NGOs in the proceeding before human rights bodies are able to serve in a variety of roles, 29 namely as applicants, as representatives of the victims, as third parties or as information providers. Fulfilling these roles, they may have certain direct obligations under international law. 30 For example, the applicants must comply with the admissibility requirements as defined in Article 35 of the Convention, 31 in particular, to provide the Court with the documents proving the exhaustion of domestic remedies 32 and lodge an application within six months from the date on which the final decision was taken. 33 As a third party to the proceedings before the Court, NGOs may be requested to submit an inquiry to take part in the oral hearings or to provide written comments no later than twelve weeks after communication of the application to the respondent state. 34 However, analysis of the case-law of the Court does not disclose any example when a business entity, established to make a profit, took part in the proceedings as a third party. This may signify that there is a difference between the concept of ‘non-governmental organisation’ in respect of the applicant and the third party. The same is true with regard to the role of the providers of information . Although from Rule A1 of the Annex to the Rules of Court 35 we may derive an obligation to provide the Court with the required documents, we were not able to find any illustration confirming that business entities did so. Regarding the last role mentioned ( a representative ), Rule 36 of the Rules of Court envisages that a spokesperson in the capacity of a representative of the applicant must be an advocate authorized to practice 25 Ukraine-Tyumen v. Ukraine , no. 22603/02, § 28, 22 November 2007. 26 See, for instance, British-American Tobacco Company Ltd v. the Netherlands , 20 November 1995, Series A no. 331, 3A.CZ s.r.o. v. the Czech Republic , no. 21835/06, 10 February 2011; Alithia Publishing Company Ltd and Constantinides v. Cyprus , no. 17550/03, 22 May 2008; OOO Rusatommet v. Russia , no. 61651/00, 14 June 2005; Rosenzweig and Bonded Warehouses Ltd v. Poland , no. 51728/99, 28 July 2005. 27 For example, S.A. Dangeville v. France , no. 36677/97, ECHR 2002-III; S.A. Sitram v. Belgium , no. 49495/99, 15 November 2002; S.A.GE.MA S.N.C. v. Italy , no. 40184/98, 27 April 2000; N.T. Giannousis and Kliafas Brothers S.A. v. Greece , no. 2898/03, 14 December 2006; Sociedade Agrícola do Ameixial, S.A v. Portugal , no. 10143/07, 11 January 2011. 28 Kirovogradoblenergo, PAT v. Ukraine, no. 35088/07, 27 June 2013; Askon AD v. Bulgaria, no. 9970/05, 16 October 2012; OAO Neftyanaya Kompaniya Yukos v. Russia, no. 14902/04, 20 September 2011; OAO Plodovaya Kompaniya v. Russia, no. 1641/02, 7 June 2007. 29 MAYER, Lloyd Hitoshi, NGO Standing and Influence in Regional Human Rights Courts and Commissions (2011). Scholarly Works . Paper 54, p. 913. 30 LINDBLOM, Anna-Karin. Non-Governmental Organizations in International Law . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 187. 31 TYMOFEYEVA, Alla, Non-governmental Organisations under the European Convention on Human Rights: Exceptional Legal Standing . Waldkirchen: rw&w Science&New Media Passau-Berlin-Prague, 2015, p. 74. 32 Magyar Keresztény Mennonita Egyház and Others v. Hungary , nos. 70945/11 and 8 others, § 50, ECHR 2014 (extracts). 33 Centro Europa 7 S.r.l. and Di Stefano v. Italy [GC], no. 38433/09, §§ 101-105, ECHR 2012. 34 Rule 44 of the Rules of Court of 14 November 2016. Registry of the Court. URL: accessed 18 May 2017. 35 Ibid.

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