Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), was adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe in 1950 to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

The protocols accepted vary from State Party to State Party, though it is understood that state parties should be party to as many protocols as possible.

The European Court of Human Rights is the main institution that deals with human rights in Europe. It is a permanent institution based in Strasbourg, France. It is composed by a number of independent judges Europe (as of July 2007, there are 45 judges) equal to the number of member states of the Council of and a Secretariat.

The European Court was set up under the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950. The objective was to monitor compliance by State Parties. The European Convention on Human Rights (formally known as Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms)is one of the most important conventions adopted by the Council of Europe.

The European Court can issue binding judgments and order measures of reparation on individual or inter-state applications.  It can order the adoption of interim measures to avoid serious and irreparable harm to human life and personal integrity in urgent cases. The Court publishes an Annual Report on its activities and the state of human rights in Europe.  It also provides advisory opinions on the interpretation of the African Charter and its Protocols.

The importance of sending cases of enforced disappearance to the Court lies in that the Court is capable of executing the following:

• Deliver binding judgments.
• Award “just satisfaction”(sum of money) in compensation for certain forms of damage (if the Court finds that there has been a violation)
• Require the state concerned to refund the expenses the complainant has incurred in presenting the case.
• If the Court finds that there has been no violation, the complainant will not have to pay any additional costs such as those incurred by the respondent state.

The European Court of Human Rights does not take action to:

• Act as a court of appeal in respect of the decisions delivered by national courts.
• Rehear cases, quash, vary or revise the decisions of domestic courts.
• Intercede directly with the authority one is complaining about. 
• Help a person in finding or paying a lawyer to draw up an application.
• Give any information on legal provisions in force before the State against which complaints are directed.

The Court welcomes applications from any person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals claiming to be the victim of a violation by one of the states party to the rights set forth in the European Convention of Human Rights or their protocols. These countries have agreed not to obstruct in any way the effective exercise of this right.

The criteria for submitting to send an application are:

• Previous exhaustion of domestic remedies (they must exist, be accessible and effective)
• The application cannot be anonymous.
• The application must be filed within six months from the date on which the party denouncing the violation of their rights was notified of the final domestic judgment.
• The application cannot be manifestly ill founded, incompatible with the European Convention or substantially the same as a matter that has already been examined by the Court.
• The subject of the application must not be pending in another international proceeding for settlement (the UNWGEID does not count as such).
• When Additional Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention will enter into force, there will be another admissibility criterion, namely, that the applicant must have suffered a significant disadvantage.
  

Applications are sent to the Court by letter giving clear details concerning the complaint or by filling out an application form directly and sending it to the Court. In case the application is sent by fax, a copy needs to be sent by regular post. All documents sent to the Court will not be returned and it is therefore preferable to send copies.

While interim measures are usually treated as urgent matters and processed quickly, the procedure concerning a complaint may last some years (usually one should wait 1 year before the Court decides on the admissibility of the case).

The procedure is free of charge: one will have to bear only his or her own costs (such as lawyers’ fees or expenses relating to research and correspondence).

Reporting a case of disappearance to the European Court may cause acts of intimidation and reprisal against the relatives of the disappeared person and/or witnesses or their counsels. In such a case the Court can be asked to issue interim measures of protection.

Individual applicants may present their own cases, but legal representation is recommended and required once an application has been communicated to the respondent government. The Council of Europe has set up a legal aid scheme for applicants who do not have sufficient means.

NGOs and associations of families of the disappeared can assist individuals in presenting their complaints to the Court, represent them at public hearings, submit reports or amicus curiae briefs, and, in general, contribute to spreading the information concerning the protection of human rights as well as creating awareness on the problem of enforced disappearances.