The European Court of Human Rights was set up under the Convention for the Protection of Human rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. Since 1998 it has sat as a full-time international judicial body examining applications of natural persons, groups of persons and non-governmental organizations alleging violations of their rights or freedoms established in the European Convention on Human Rights or its’ Additional Protocols. In respect of Lithuania, the Convention and its’ Protocols no. 4, no. 7 and no. 11 came into force on 20 June 1995. The Protocol of the Convention no. 1 came into force on 24 May 1996, the Protocol no. 6 came into force on 8 July 1999, and the Protocol no. 13 – on 1 May 2004.

The Court consists of a number of judges equal to the number of member States (the High Contracting Parties) to the Convention. The judges sit on the Court in their individual capacity and do not represent their State, in their office they are independent and impartial arbiters. Judges are elected for the period of six years by the Parliamentary Assembly, which votes on a shortlist of three candidates put forward by States. Judges may be re-elected. However, the terms of office of one-half of the judges elected at the first election shall expire at the end of three years. According to the Rules of the Court, the Court is divided into five Sections, the composition of which is geographically and gender balanced and reflects the different legal systems among the Contracting States. The composition of the Sections alternates every three years.

From June 1994 until 2004 (2 terms of office) the judge from Lithuania in the European Court of Human Rights was Pranas Kūris, and from November 2004 – Danutė Jočienė.
 

Website of the European Court of Human Rights

Rules of Court
Representation at the European Court of Human Rights and some other issues on examination of cases
Case processing flowchart

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