Preventing and Sanctioning Hindrances to the Right of Individual Petition Before the European Court of Human Rights

Whereas it is common today to focus on the overwhelming backlog of applications before the European Court of Human Rights, this book deliberately shows that the Court in Strasbourg could be inundated by even more applicants if States' Parties really conformed to Article 34 ECHR, according to which "The High Contracting Parties undertake not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of this right." However, in the past 50 years, more and more direct or indirect hindrances have been devised. Bringing together both researchers and human rights defenders, this collection takes a very concrete and practical look at these hindrances. Following an introduction to the topic, the book then analyzes the hindrances involving the most vulnerable groups (prisoners, migrants, and foreigners). It looks at concrete experiences and sets forth a number of recommendations for a better prevention and sanctioning of these hindrances.