The Project “Enhancing subsidiarity: support to the ECHR knowledge-sharing and superior courts dialogue” is a collaboration between the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law.

The Project aims to strengthen the principle of subsidiarity, which has ever been at the core of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) system and has been inserted into the Preamble of the Convention by Protocol No 15. This principle imposes a shared responsibility between the States Parties, the Court and the Committee of Ministers (which supervises the execution of judgments from the Court), but the primary responsibility to ensure the application and effective implementation of the Convention lies with the States Parties and national authorities and in particular courts, which are the first guardians of human rights, ensuring the full application of the Convention as interpreted by the Court.

The Project is funded by voluntary contributions from France, Ireland and Human Rights Trust Fund

Superior Courts' Network - ECHR 

ECHR Knowledge Sharing platform

More information about the ECHR-KS

The overall objective of the Project is to help bringing subsidiarity into practice across Europe by creating sustainable solutions facilitating the application by national courts of the Convention, as interpreted by the Court.

• Expanding the reach of the ECHR’s Knowledge-Sharing platform (ECHR-KS) to users all over Europe.
• Strengthening the pan-European judicial dialogue on human rights, through the Superior Courts Network (SCN).
• Strengthening the use of ECHR-KS by national courts and their ability to identify Convention-related issues and address them in a coherent manner at home.

• Promotion of the ECHR-KS among relevant actors, through awareness-raising, HELP courses and training for legal professionals.
• Development of non-official language versions of the ECHR-KS.
• Development of a range of methodological and technical support (up to specific IT solutions) strengthening the ability of national courts to identify Convention-related issues early and effectively address them in a coherent manner at home.
• Support multilateral (face-to-face and virtual) webinars and annual Forum on Convention issues for SCN members.

National jurisdictions, Superior Courts Network (SCN), Legal professionals, the wider public.

 Conference on Subsidiarity Principle: National Implementation of the ECHR - May 4 2023