My criminal case in the Netherlands has been fully completed, but I am not satisfied with the final result. What now?
If you are convicted of a criminal offense in the Netherlands, you can, in most cases, continue litigating up to the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court rules that your conviction can stand, the case is considered settled in the Netherlands. We then say the case is final and irrevocable. The Public Prosecution Service can then proceed to execute the sentence imposed on you. However, that does not necessarily mean the case is definitively closed. In certain cases, you can continue proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights.
What is the European Court of Human Rights?
The European Court of Human Rights — also known as the ECHR — is an overarching European judicial body located in Strasbourg, France. The task of the ECHR is to ensure that the European Convention on Human Rights — also known as the ECHR (Convention) — is upheld in Europe. The Convention includes several important human rights, such as the right to a fair trial, the right to privacy, and the right to freedom of expression. European countries that have signed this treaty — including the Netherlands — must respect the human rights mentioned in the treaty. If you believe this is not happening, you can complain to the European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR then assesses whether your human rights have indeed been violated.
When can I go to the ECHR?
If you want to submit your criminal case to the ECHR, you must meet a number of requirements. The ECHR does not process all complaints. In most cases, you cannot go to the European Court of Human Rights. First and foremost, there must be a human right that has potentially been violated. If you feel there was insufficient evidence to convict you, or if you feel the sentence imposed on you is too high, that is generally not a reason to go to the European Court of Human Rights. You can only go to the ECHR if there is a possible violation of a human right in your criminal case. In criminal cases, this could include the right to a fair trial, the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, and the right not to be unlawfully deprived of your liberty. A criminal defense lawyer can assess for you whether there is a possible violation of a human right in your case that can be submitted to the ECHR.
Additionally, you can only go to the ECHR if you have completed the full legal procedure in the Netherlands. The ECHR requires that the potential human rights violation first be presented to a Dutch court. If you wish to go to the ECHR, you must therefore first litigate up to and including the Supreme Court. If you did not file an appeal against the district court’s judgment, or if you did not file an appeal in cassation against the court of appeal’s ruling, you cannot file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
How can I start a procedure at the ECHR?
If you want to go to the ECHR, you must submit a written complaint to the ECHR by post. You cannot simply write that complaint on a blank sheet of paper. The ECHR works with a standard application form that must be completed. If you do not use this form, the ECHR will not process your complaint. On the form, you must fill in what happened, which convention right from the ECHR you believe has been violated, why this right has been violated, and why you believe the complaint is admissible. This may sound simple, but the ECHR sets several strict requirements for the written complaint. If these requirements are not met, your complaint will be declared inadmissible without the ECHR looking at the merits of your complaint. You must also add documents to the complaint yourself that demonstrate a violation of a convention right. For these reasons, it is wise to have a lawyer file the complaint with the ECHR on your behalf. A lawyer can ensure that the complaint meets all requirements.
Within what timeframe must I file a complaint with the ECHR?
If you want to go to the European Court of Human Rights, you must file a complaint with the ECHR within four months after your criminal case in the Netherlands has ended. The complaint must be sent by post within four months after the Supreme Court has rendered a judgment in your criminal case. Previously, a six-month period applied. That period has now been shortened. Therefore, it is important that you contact a lawyer in a timely manner if you wish to continue proceedings at the ECHR. Four months may seem like a long time, but depending on the content of the case, filing a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights can take a lot of time. Therefore, it is essential that you contact a lawyer immediately after your criminal case in the Netherlands has ended to discuss the possibility of filing a complaint with the ECHR. If the complaint is sent at the earliest possible stage, you may also be able to ensure that if the ECHR concludes the complaint does not meet all requirements, there is still enough time to send a new complaint.
Am I required to hire a lawyer to file a complaint with the ECHR?
There is no obligation to hire a lawyer to start a procedure at the ECHR. You can file a complaint with the ECHR yourself without the help of a lawyer. It is then important that you use the application form prescribed by the ECHR and that the complaint meets all requirements. If the European Court of Human Rights takes the complaint into consideration, you are required to hire a lawyer for the further course of the proceedings. Because the initial complaint is of great importance for a successful outcome of the procedure, it is recommended to hire a criminal defense lawyer right from the start.
How does the procedure at the ECHR proceed further?
Once you have filed a complaint with the European Court, the ECHR first checks whether the complaint meets certain requirements. If that is the case, the complaint is processed further. How the procedure continues varies per case. Sometimes the fact that the first test has been passed does not immediately mean the complaint is admissible. The question of whether the complaint is admissible can sometimes be quite complex. The ECHR will then first focus on the admissibility of the complaint. If the conclusion is that the complaint is admissible, the merits of the complaint are then examined. In other cases, the ECHR looks at the merits of the complaint immediately, or the questions of admissibility and whether the complaint is well-founded on the merits are considered together. In most cases, the Dutch state and the applicant are asked for their positions. This means that in that phase, you still have the chance to argue that your complaint is admissible and why there is a violation of the Convention in your case. This usually happens entirely in writing. Your lawyer can then submit a written position on your behalf. In exceptional cases, a hearing takes place at the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg.
What if the ECHR rules in my favor?
The vast majority of complaints filed with the ECHR do not succeed. However, if you do win, the ECHR will issue a judgment in which the European Court rules that one or more human rights from the Convention were violated in your criminal case. This ruling is binding. This means the Netherlands is obliged to comply with it. Through a request for revision, the conviction in your criminal case may potentially be overturned. However, this is very rare. The ECHR ruling does not provide grounds to overturn your conviction in all cases. It is possible that you were rightly convicted, but that the ECHR ruled that a human rights violation nevertheless occurred in your case. That does not mean you will necessarily be left empty-handed. In certain cases, the European Court of Human Rights can award you compensation for the violation of the treaty. You must have requested this at an earlier stage of the procedure.
How long does the procedure at the ECHR take?
Although the exact duration of the procedure at the ECHR varies per case, you must unfortunately assume that this procedure will take a very long time. Normally, it takes years before the European Court issues a ruling. Exactly how many years the procedure takes depends on the nature of the case. It is important to point out that the sentence imposed on you by the Dutch criminal court can be executed in the meantime. It is therefore very possible that this sentence has already been fully completed by the time the ECHR issues a judgment. However, that does not mean the ruling is useless. Under certain circumstances, you may receive financial compensation for the fact that you were wrongly punished. It may also be a matter of principle for you to be proven right.
Is the procedure at the ECHR public?
Yes, the procedure at the European Court of Human Rights is, in principle, public. When the ECHR issues a judgment, that judgment is published on the internet. Your full name will be visible. The complaint and the accompanying documents submitted to the ECHR are also public and accessible to everyone. You can request anonymity from the ECHR. There must then be special circumstances that make anonymity necessary. It is up to you to demonstrate this.
