NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

legal norms, depending on the role of the non-governmental organisation in the proceedings before the Court. Apart from the role of an applicant, these organisations may also act as a representative, a third party and as an information provider. Each of these roles will be covered in the book separately. 1.2.2 Roles of NGOs under the Convention An analysis of the Convention, case-law of the Court and the theoretical works on the subject 331 shows that non-governmental organisations in the frames of this international agreement are capable of playing four major roles. These roles are: 1) an applicant 332 (pursuant to Article 34 of the Convention), 2) a third party 333 (in accordance with Article 36 of the Convention), 3) a representative 334 (pursuant to Rule 36 of the Rules of Court 335 ), and 4) a provider of information, 336 both in the course of the proceedings before the Court and during the CoE Committee of Ministers’ execution of the Court’s judgments (under Article 46, paragraph 2 of the Convention and Rule 9 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers 337 ). Each of these roles or capacities has its own specifics and is governed by different provisions of the Convention and the CoE documents. An illustration of each of them will be supported by a description of the particular issues related to the subject. Several judgments of the Court may serve as an example of a situation where in one case different NGOs play a few various roles being, for instance, a representative of an applicant and an amicus curiae . 338 Moreover, it may happen that in the same case one NGO acts in the capacity of a third party to the proceedings and, at the same time, its reports are used as a source of information. 339 In the following parts of the manuscript, we will discuss all of these forms of NGOs’ standing before the Court. Let us start with the position of an applicant. 1.2.2.1 Role of an applicant Through its case-law, the Court has reiterated that there are two main conditions an applicant should meet in order to apply for the protection of the Convention’s 331 See MAYER, cited above; WILKOWSKA-LANDOWSKA, A. ‘ Friends of the Court’: The Role of Human Rights Non-governmental Organisations in the Litigation Proceedings. URL: accessed 20 July 2015 and LINDBLOM, 2005, cited above. 332 Russian Conservative Party , cited above, § 8 and Radio France, cited above, § 6. 333 M.S.S., cited above, § 7 and Sindicatul “Păstorul cel Bun” [GC], cited above, § 8. 334 I.G. , cited above, § 5 and Oleksandr Volkov , cited above, § 2. 335 Rules of Court of 1 July 2014, Strasbourg: Registry of the Court. Practice Directions amended on 29 September 2014. 336 Savriddin Dzhurayev , cited above, § 102 and El Masri [GC], cited above, § 114. 337 Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 10 May 2006 at the 964th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. 338 D.H. [GC], cited above. 339 Roles of Amnestey International in the case of M.S.S., cited above.

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