Council of Europe Office in Pristina

The project facilitated training for representatives of civil society organisations on the “Admissibility criteria and interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights”. The training aimed to strengthen participants' understanding of the Convention system and enhance their capacity to effectively use European human rights standards in their advocacy and strategic litigation activities.

The programme introduced participants to the constitutional framework governing the direct application of the Convention and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Kosovo*[1], highlighting the respective roles of public authorities, ordinary courts and the Constitutional Court in ensuring effective protection of Convention rights.

Participants explored the fundamental principles underpinning the Convention system, including the principles of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation, as well as the fourth-instance doctrine, which defines the supervisory role of the European Court of Human Rights and the limits of its review of domestic judicial decisions.

A significant part of the training was dedicated to the admissibility criteria governing applications before the Strasbourg Court. Participants examined the concepts of direct, indirect and potential victim status, the loss of victim status, the prohibition of actio popularis, the distinction between individual and inter-State applications, and the procedural and substantive grounds on which applications may be declared inadmissible. Discussions also covered the obligation to exhaust effective domestic remedies, the four-month rule, compatibility requirements, manifestly ill-founded applications and other procedural grounds for inadmissibility.

The training further provided a practical overview of the Convention rights most frequently invoked before domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights. Under Article 5 of the Convention, participants discussed the scope of the right to liberty and security, the lawful grounds for deprivation of liberty, and the procedural safeguards applicable to persons in detention. The session on the right to a fair and impartial trial, examined key institutional and procedural guarantees, including access to a court, the concepts of an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, adversarial proceedings, equality of arms, the administration of evidence, the right to a hearing within a reasonable time, reasoning of judgments, legal certainty and the effective enforcement of judicial decisions.

Through the analysis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and relevant domestic jurisprudence, participants strengthened their understanding of how Convention standards are interpreted and applied in practice.

By strengthening the knowledge and practical skills of civil society organisations, the activity contributes to improving the use of the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in human rights advocacy, strategic litigation and public oversight, thereby supporting the effective domestic implementation of European human rights standards.