24.10.2014
EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS LITIGATORS' MEETING
nOVEMBER 2014 - STRASBOURG
Draft Agenda
Day 1: Thursday 20^th November (Hilton Hotel, Avenue Herrenschmidt,
Strasbourg)
0930 Session 1: Introductions (30 minutes).
Introduction to the program, and overview of the situation at the
Court.
1000 Session 2: Plenary: Procedural Developments (75 minutes).
This session will review some of the issues that will be covered in
the discussions with the Court and the Registry on Friday 21^st,
allowing NGOs to share experiences and consider their response in
advance.
* New Applications. The new application form, strict application of
Rule 47, and the four-month time limit. Developments in decisions
regarding "no significant disadvantage" and the single judge
procedure.
* Urgent Cases. Changes in the attitude of the Court to dealing with
Rule 39 and Rule 41 requests, and tactics for making applications
stick.
* Pilot Judgments. Review of recent pilot judgments, and responses
to them from the Court, States, and Civil Society. How the
registry is dealing with repetitive cases.
* Well-Established Case Law Doctrine. Developments in the last year
on the introduction of this doctrine, and possible expansion going
forward.
1115 Break (15 minutes)
1130 Session 3: Breakout Groups: Substance (90 minutes).
These sessions will allow smaller groups to discuss recent
developments in law and procedure. They will focus on a review of
changes in the case law, any particular strategies that have been
successful, and upcoming cases that colleagues are preparing to file.
The four breakout groups will be facilitated by lawyers specializing
in each area.
* Fair Trial Rights. Recent developments in arrest rights and
Article 6 rights.
* Discrimination. Including Roma, disability, ethnic profiling, and
LGBT litigation.
* Articles 2 and 3. Ill-treatment in prisons and police stations and
accountability for atrocity crimes.
* Media Freedom and Surveillance. Controls on journalists and the
right to reputation; challenging surveillance and information
sharing.
1300 Lunch (45 minutes)
1345 Session 4: The Impact of Strategic Litigation (30 minutes).
How can strategic litigators, donors and NGOs best understand and
assess the various impacts of strategic litigation? How do we know if
it affects the making of policy, shapes the attitudes of victims or of
broader society, or brings about real social change on the ground?
What are the main primary and secondary impacts that can be observed
or measured? A discussion of the latest research and thinking, and how
this can be used by civil society.
1415 Session 5: Plenary Session: Current Controversies (90 minutes).
This session will review three larger questions of concern to
litigators before the ECHR.
* Long Term Reform of the Court. What are the options that NGOs will
be asked to consider? What is the Court? How should NGOs respond
to the debate as to whether the Court should become a
Constitutional Court for Europe? What is our response to Judge
Spano's proposal that we are in a "new age of subsidiarity"?
* Implementation at the Committee of Ministers. Various NGOs have
undertaken advocacy before the Commission of Ministers with regard
to the implementation of judgments, providing information to
diplomats to inform their debate. Would it be possible to have a
permanent NGO based in Strasbourg that could play this role on
behalf of human rights lawyers across Europe?
* Attacks on the Court. The promotion of human rights has become a
toxic subject in countries such as Hungary, Russia, and the United
Kingdom. What is the risk that such attitudes will spread across
Europe? How can the media be encouraged to present a more accurate
and sympathetic understanding of the subject? Are the voices of
European human rights lawyers useful in the discussion, or a
distraction, or worse?
1545 Break (15 minutes)
1600 Session 6: Breakout Groups: Practice (45 minutes).
These short sessions will allow for a technical discussion of problems
that arise in the practice of litigation before the European Court.
Practitioners will share experiences and propose best practice that
works. The most popular groups will be chosen from the following list:
* Strategy development. Planning and managing strategic litigation
(TBC).
* Third Party Interventions. What is the impact of third party
interventions, and how can it be enhanced? How can NGOs encourage
other groups to intervene?
* Remedies and Just Satisfaction. Recent practice with regard to
remedies and settlements, and the development of "indicative
judgments". Tactics for improving implementation from the outset
of litigation before the Court.
* Drafting. Techniques for dealing with the new application form and
best practice for legal drafting before the Court.
1645 Session 7: Plenary: Q&A, AOB (45 minutes).
General discussion on issues arising from the earlier sessions, any
left-over questions, and preparation for the meeting with the Registry
and the Court on Friday.
1730 End
Friday 21^st November (at the Court)
0930 Introductory Remarks by the President of the Court
0945 Questions of Procedure and Practice Part 1.
Clearing the backlog, strict application of Rule 47, Rule 39, no
significant disadvantage, pilot judgments, repetitive cases,
application of the WECL doctrine, interim measures, prioritisation,
single judge procedure, dealing with confidential documents, other
novel issues that the rules committee is considering.
1100 Coffee
break
1120 Questions of Procedure and Practice Part 2.
To discuss further issues of practice and procedure as in Part 1.
1230 Lunch. Provided by the Court - Human Rights Building Restaurant.
1400 Q&A more generally.
Any remaining issues from the morning session, spontaneous questions
from the floor.
1530 Panel Discussion: Just Satisfaction and Implementation.
Requests for just satisfaction to the Court, implementation of pilot
judgments, and developing practice of the Court in some cases to
indicate the types of measures that might be appropriate for
implementation, good practice for applicants representatives both in
developing their claims for just satisfaction and in advocating for
subsequent implementation of the judgment.
1700 End
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Strasbourg NGO Meeting November 2014-Preliminary Agenda-RS-10.22.14
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