EUROPEAN COURT: Civil Society Petition - "Fees: a barrier to justice"

Summary: Amnesty International has launched a petition to campaign against a proposal to impose fees on applicants to the European Court of Human Rights.

CoE member states are currently preparing a draft Declaration for adoption at the forthcoming High Level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights (Izmir, Turkey, 26-27 April 2011) which also contemplates the imposition of fees on applicants. The proposal to impose fees on applicants has come up in the context of earlier discussions on the reform of the Court as a possible measure to reduce the number of inadmissible cases filed with the Court. We are seriously concerned about this proposal as we believe that it would significantly undermine the right of individual application to the Court; and we consider that it becomes increasingly important that civil society organisations opposing the introduction of fees make their voices heard loud and clearly.

Amnesty International has launched a petition in protest at the proposal to introduce fees. So far over 240 organisations from more than 37 countries have signed it. Civil society organisations that wish to sign the petition can still do so until 19 April. The petition with the final list of signatories will then be presented to member states and distributed at the Izmir Conference.

To sign up to the petition, contact Amnesty International by emailing [email protected] / [email protected]

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