An application to the European Court of Human Rights is not an appeal against the decision of a Greek court. The ECtHR does not act as a court of fourth instance and, as a rule, does not re-examine the assessment of the evidence or the interpretation and application of national law by the domestic courts. It examines whether, on the particular facts, the State breached a right protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. That distinction is critical to assessing a case. Before the substance of a complaint can be examined, the admissibility conditions have to be met, including the exhaustion of the available domestic remedies and compliance with the four-month time limit for an application to the ECtHR. The assessment therefore starts from the history of the domestic proceedings, not only from the final outcome.
Which cases may raise an issue under the Convention? Applications against Greece can concern, among other things, breaches of Article 6 on the right to a fair trial and the reasonable length of proceedings, as well as questions of the protection of property under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. The Court's case law includes, for example, Greek cases concerning the excessive length of court proceedings, access to a court and the protection of property rights.
What matters is not simply whether a domestic decision is felt to be unjust. It must be possible to identify a specific Convention right that may have been breached, and to link the alleged violation to the proceedings and the acts of the national authorities.
Assessing an application to Strasbourg calls for a full picture of the domestic proceedings: the facts, the arguments put before the national courts, the evidence, the judgments and the remedies available. The firm's experience in civil and commercial disputes at every level of the Greek courts is the basis for that assessment.
Not an appeal
The ECtHR is not a fourth instance
The Court examines only whether Greece breached a specific Convention right — not whether the domestic court reached the correct result on the merits.
A strict deadline
A four-month time limit
The application must be lodged within four months of the final decision, under the Court's rules. An application filed out of time may be declared inadmissible.
Exhaustion of remedies
The available domestic remedies must have been exhausted
As a rule, the applicant must first have used the available and effective domestic remedies and have put before the national authorities the substance of the complaint they intend to bring to the ECtHR.
An unjust outcome is not enough
A specific Convention violation has to be identified
A belief that a domestic decision was unjust is not enough. The application has to connect the particular facts with a specific right protected by the Convention.