The ICJ, together with other NGOs, has responded to a consultation on how classified documents are taken into consideration before the European Court of Human Rights.
In the submission, the AIRE Centre, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, REDRESS and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) respond to the Court’s Standing Committee on the Rules of Court’s proposal to amend the Court’s Rules of Procedure by introducing a new Rule 44F.
The organisations urge the Court not to adopt a mechanism whereby the Court could receive and rely on or otherwise take into consideration information not disclosed to the applicant and his or her representative of choice.
The organisations emphasise that the right to an effective remedy for claims of human rights violations incorporates the right of access to a fair procedure and the right of victims and the public to the truth about human rights violations, including serious violations such as torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions or other unlawful killings.
In cases before the Court, the applicant victim’s interest in disclosure of evidence regarding violations of Convention rights should always outweigh any purported national security or other similar public interests in its non-disclosure.
The submission also analyses and makes recommendations on the specific wording of the proposed new Rule 44 F.
JointSubmission-ECtHR-Rule44F-LegalSubmission-2018-ENG (download the submission)