European and International Law (including ECHR)
Scope of the domain
This section tests the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, together with core international-law rules on treaties, state responsibility and the relationship between international and domestic law. Georgia ratified the ECHR in 1999 and accepts individual applications.
Core rules
- ECHR rights are not absolute in every case, but Article 3 is absolute. Interference with Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11 must be prescribed by law, pursue a legitimate aim and be necessary in a democratic society.
- Article 5 protects liberty: detention must follow a lawful procedure, and a person arrested must be brought promptly before a judge. Article 6 guarantees a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time. Article 1 of Protocol 1 protects property.
- Admissibility under Article 35 requires victim status, exhaustion of effective domestic remedies and application within four months of the final domestic decision. The Court may also reject manifestly ill-founded applications or those causing no significant disadvantage.
- Treaties are interpreted under Articles 31-33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: ordinary meaning, context, object and purpose. Article 26 states pacta sunt servanda; Article 53 recognizes jus cogens.
- Georgia's EU Association Agreement and DCFTA create additional legal commitments, but they do not replace the ECHR system.
Worked example
Applicant A is detained by police for five days without being brought before a judge. He complains under Article 5(3). Reasoning: Article 5(3) requires prompt judicial control; five days without appearance is ordinarily excessive. A must first use available domestic remedies, such as a detention appeal, unless they are ineffective. He must apply to the ECtHR within four months of the final domestic decision. If domestic courts never reviewed the lawfulness of the detention, the complaint may be admissible; the Court will assess the length and the reasons for delay.
Traps
The most common errors are missing the four-month deadline, failing to exhaust a remedy that is capable of correcting the violation, and claiming to be a victim of a law that has not been applied to the applicant. Do not cite the ECHR as directly overriding clear domestic procedure without checking incorporation. In treaty interpretation, do not rely on literal wording alone.