NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

An applicant may be represented by any person, and in practice the representation is often conducted by professional lawyers from commercial companies. 454 The lawyer representing a complainant before theCourtmay also belong to a political party; although in the part of the Court’s judgments titled ‘Procedure’ there is no information on the association of a lawyer with an entity involved in the political life of a state. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the pattern of persons acting as a representative may be the same as those acting in the capacity of the applicant. On the other hand, the analysis of the case-law shows that applicants before the Court were represented only by lawyers from human rights NGOs 455 and by those working in law firms. 456 It was never confirmed, however, that the representative lawyers were employed in a political party. Consequently, there is no evidence that this role’s requirements are the same as those of the applicant’s. The last role of an NGO under the Convention, namely, the role of an information provider will be described in the following section. This role has a number of specifics as far as it covers not only the proceedings by the Court, but also before the CoE Committee of Ministers acting for the purposes of executing the Court’s judgments. 1.2.2.4 Role of an information provider Clarification of the subject matter An analysis of the relevant practice shows that data elaborated by NGOs may serve as a source of information, both in the course of the proceedings before the Court and in the course of executing its judgments. In the proceedings before the Court, such information may be received by different means. It may be provided directly in the application form or the supplements to it submitted by an NGO in the capacity of the applicant. The data may be received in the form of the submissions from the side of a representative or a third party. Moreover, the Court conducts its own research and through this, takes into consideration information elaborated by NGOs without providing them with the right to take part in the proceedings in any other capacities. In the proceedings before the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible for the execution of the Court’s judgments, there is no status of amicus curiae . The applicant may communicate with the Committee of Ministers whether itself or through the representative. Furthermore, in accordance with Rule 9 of the Rules of Court, this CoE institution is authorised to accept the submissions from NGOs regarding the state of execution and a situation in a particular country. This type of case, as well as those where the Court conducted its own search for information, will be subject to discussion in the present section. Let us have a look at each of these situations separately. 454 Berger-Krall and Others v. Slovenia , no. 14717/04), § 2, 12 June 2014; Knez and Others v. Slovenia , no. 48782/99, § 2, 21 February 2008 and Hrvatski liječnički sindikat v. Croatia , no. 36701/09, § 2, 27 November 2014. 455 Fadeyeva, cited above. 456 Y. v. Slovenia , no. 41107/10, § 2, 28 May 2015.

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