The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is the best-known route for addressing human rights violations in Europe, but it is not the only one. The United Nations human rights bodies, based in Geneva, offer independent international avenues of redress, grounded in different treaties and subject to their own admissibility rules. This article examines when and how these mechanisms may come into play.

Not a "Second Chance" After the ECtHR

UN mechanisms are not a fallback route for retrying a case that failed in Strasbourg. They rest on different treaties, are applied by separate bodies, and follow their own admissibility rules. That said, they carry considerably greater value in certain situations: where the right at issue is not protected under the European Convention on Human Rights, or is protected differently; where the State concerned is not a member of the Council of Europe; or where a coordinated legal strategy is called for.

The Treaty Bodies

Each of the major UN human rights treaties has its own committee of independent experts. Provided the State concerned has declared its acceptance of individual complaints, an individual may submit a complaint to the relevant committee once domestic remedies have been exhausted:

  • Human Rights Committee: Established under the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), it examines individual complaints concerning the right to life, the prohibition of torture, liberty and security of person, fair trial, respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, non-discrimination, and minority rights.
  • Committee against Torture: Under Article 22 of the Convention against Torture (CAT), it examines allegations of torture and ill-treatment, the principle of non-refoulement, and States' duty to investigate.
  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), it examines complaints of discrimination against women.
  • Committee on the Rights of the Child: Under the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which establishes an individual communications procedure, it examines complaints concerning children's rights.
  • Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), it examines complaints concerning the rights of persons with disabilities.
  • Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Under Article 14 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), it examines complaints of racial discrimination.
  • Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), it examines complaints concerning housing, social security, health, education and work.
  • Committee on Enforced Disappearances: Under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, it operates two distinct mechanisms — individual communications under Article 31, which are subject to a separate declaration of acceptance by the State, and the urgent action procedure under Article 30, which may be invoked against any State Party without prior acceptance and without exhaustion of domestic remedies.

In every case, the scope of the State's declarations of acceptance and any reservations must be verified separately. Prior examination of the same matter by another international procedure (such as the ECtHR) is expressly excluded as a bar to admissibility under most protocol texts; under the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, only matters currently pending elsewhere are excluded on this basis.

The Special Procedures

Independently of the treaties, the UN Human Rights Council has established special rapporteurs, independent experts, and thematic or country-specific working groups. Matters may be brought before these mechanisms without prior exhaustion of domestic remedies and without any requirement that the State have accepted their competence:

  • Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Issues opinions in individual cases on whether a deprivation of liberty is arbitrary, and also operates an urgent action procedure.
  • Special rapporteurs: Independent experts mandated on specific themes — torture, the independence of judges and lawyers, freedom of expression, migrants, human rights defenders, housing, among others — who work through communications, urgent appeals, and letters of allegation addressed to the State.
  • Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: Examines cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance.

These procedures do not result in binding decisions, but they exert real public and diplomatic pressure and may be pursued alongside contentious proceedings.

Key Considerations When Filing

The following are the principal factors to weigh when approaching UN mechanisms:

  • Comparative analysis of available routes: whether to pursue Strasbourg, Geneva, or both — and if both, in what order and with what interaction between them.
  • Verification of admissibility: exhaustion of domestic remedies, the absence of prior examination of the same matter by another international body, and applicable time limits — set out directly in the text of some treaties (six months under ICERD, one year under the Optional Protocols to the ICESCR and to the CRC) and in others by a committee's own rules of procedure (such as the Human Rights Committee's five-year rule).
  • Drafting the individual communication and the observations submitted in reply to the State.
  • Requests for interim measures before the competent committee.
  • Bringing matters before the special procedures and drafting urgent appeals.
  • Follow-up on the implementation of Views and Opinions.

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Turkut Legal is a Berlin-based legal consultancy. It advises on ECtHR individual application procedures, as well as, where appropriate, before UN human rights mechanisms. To assess which international avenue is appropriate for your case, get in touch with us. Counsel available in Turkish, English and German.