After long-lasting tests (commenced in 2016), which involved certain users of an electronic document exchange system, the European Court of Human Rights has ultimately decided to make it accessible to all applicants. What is new eComms service?

eComms (ECHR Electronic Communication Service) is a service the ECHR has introduced to enable electronic communications with the representatives of applicants. The service is enabled after a communication (i.e. acceptance) of a complaint — when proceedings in the case are commenced and the government of a defendant state is required to submit their comments.

Why? The fact is that applicants overwhelmingly and for a variety of reasons misjudge the prospects of their applications with the Strasbourg court and the statistics show that the court finds 95 per cent of complaints to be inadmissible. Accordingly, the electronic communication tool is available to those applicants who have provided proper arguments in support of their applications that should be accepted. The concept and convenience of the system is that it allows for filing (uploading) one’s service documents such as objections, claims, or other documents without sending any hard copy correspondence.

The key advantage therefore relates to time saved on sending and receiving documents and instantaneous acknowledgment of receipt.

To learn about specifications, access conditions and restrictions, please read the entire article authored by Drozdova & Partners Law Firm Director Ms Olena Drozdova for ECHR.Ukrainian Aspect web resource.