Inter-State Applications under the European Convention on Human Rights – Situating the Instrument in the Current Human Rights Landscape

Abstract Recent events and developments in Europe have called for the use of the inter-State application under Article 33 the European Convention on Human Rights ( echr , the Convention), a challenging situation (1) for the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) on many levels, including the resource situation of the Court. The inter-State application was the centerpiece of international human rights supervision in the original 1950 Convention. This contribution sketches out the evolution of the inter-State application over some seven decades of history (2) of the echr . It highlights strengths and raises awareness of existing limitations (3). One aspect that merits attention is the evidential side in this type of proceedings. Establishing a judicial record of the events under the Court’s scrutiny is a value to be appraised here in its aims and complexities.