NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

factor is a degree of independence. The fact that the state was one of the company’s shareholders did not always indicate dependence on the state. 479 The non-governmental organisation, in accordance with Article 34 of the Convention, may act in proceedings before the Court in the form of established legal persons 480 or without formal existence. 481 It was also already mentioned in the CoE Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14 that NGOs exist either as those which have legal personality or as informal bodies. 482 The Court reiterated that the conditions governing individual applications under the Convention are not necessarily the same as the national criteria relating to locus standi in legal proceedings. 483 The general theory of the Convention distinguishes three types of victims: direct, indirect and potential. The case-law of the Court shows that currently only the standing of a direct 484 and potential victim 485 is bestowed on the NGOs. The notion ‘indirect victim’ concerns those who have a specific link with the direct victim, such as the victim’s wife under Article 2 of the Convention 486 or a dead man’s nephew. 487 In cases where the alleged breaches of the Convention did not relate to deaths and a person was not a close relative, the Court’s approach has been more restrictive. 488 It observed that the rights under Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 14 of the Convention belong to the category of non-transferable rights. All of these statements point toward the reality that it is almost impossible for an NGO to maintain that it is an indirect victim of Convention breaches. Concerning the rights in the Convention bestowed on NGOs, the reality is that they are more restricted in comparison to those of natural persons. Bearing in mind the nature of NGOs, they are in practice not entitled to the protection envisaged in Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (right not to be tortured), 4 (prohibition of slavery), 5 (prohibition of unlawful detention) and 12 (right to marriage) of the Convention and most of the provisions in the Protocols to the Convention. However, in view of the new concept of a de facto representative introduced by the Court in the case of Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania , where it found that applicant NGOs may complain of a violation of Article 2 of the Convention, there is a probability that all other legal norms of this regional international treaty can be alleged by NGOs.

Ukraine-Tyumen , cited above. Sovtransavto Holding , cited above.

479

480

481 Association of Victims of Romanian Judges , cited above. 482 Paragraph 3 of the the Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14, ibid . 483 The Argeş College of Legal Advisers , cited above. 484 For example, Agrokompleks , cited above. 485 See, Open Door and Dublin Well Woman , cited above. 486 McCann, cited above. 487 Yaşa, cited above . 488 Sanles Sanles (dec.), cited above.

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