Jelena TODIĆ, Hristina TODOROVIĆ
10.51204/Anali_PFBU_25302A
This article examines the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) approach to the exhaustion of extraordinary legal remedies and constitutional complaints in civil cases against Serbia. It explores when an applicant, alleging a human rights violation based on facts considered in civil proceedings, must exhaust such remedies to satisfy admissibility requirements. While it is generally accepted that an ordinary appeal must be used, the obligation to pursue extraordinary legal remedies – such as requests for revision or reopening of proceedings – and the constitutional complaint is less clear. The article highlights that the necessity of exhausting these remedies depends on the specific circumstances of each case and whether the remedy is considered effective. Through an analysis of ECtHR case law, the authors seek to clarify the conditions under which the Court expects applicants to exhaust these legal avenues before filing an application, aiming to identify consistent patterns in the Court’s admissibility decisions.
- Amerasinghe, Chittharanjan F. 2/1968. The Rule of Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies in the Framework of International Systems for the Protection of Human Rights. Protection of Human Rights and Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies, ZaöRV Bd. 28: 257–300.
- Beširević, Violeta, Slavoljub Carić, Marija Draškić, Vladimir Đerić, Goran. Ilić, Ivan Janković, Edo Korljan, Ivana Krstić, Tanasije Marinković, Tatjana Papić, Dragoljub Popović. 2017. Komentar Konvencije za zaštitu ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda [Commentary on the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms]. Belgrade: Službeni glasnik.
- Bratza, Justice, Alison Padfield. 4/1998. Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies under the European Convention on Human Rights. Judicial Review 3: 220–226.
- Duruigbo, Emeka. 6/2006. Exhaustion of Local Remedies in Alien Tort Litigation: Implications for International Human Rights Protection, Fordham International Law Journal 29: 1245–1311.
- Etinski, Rodoljub. 2/2004. Pravo na delotvoran pravni lek u svetlu prakse Evropskog suda za ljudska prava (The right to an effective remedy in the light of the practice of the european court of human rights), Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad 38: 429–459.
- European Court of Human Rights. 2024. Analysis of statistics 2023, January 2024, Strasbourg: Council of Europe, https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/stats-analysis-2023-eng, last visited April 24, 2024.
- Feichtner, Isabel. 2007. “Subsidiarity,” The Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law, 2007, www.mpepil.com, last visited April 24, 2024.
- Hanci, Alara. 3/2024. On the Exhaustion of Local Remedies: Reconciling Sovereignty and Justice Before the European Court of Human Rights, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 45: 793–831.
- International Law Commission. 2006. Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection, https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/draft_articles/9_8_2006.pdf, last visited March 29, 2024.
- Krstić, Ivana, Tanasije Marinković. 2016. Evropsko pravo ljudskih prava [European human rights law]. Belgrade: Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/16806fbc17, last visited May 20, 2025.
- Leach, Philip. 2001. Taking a Case to the European Court of Human Rights. London: Blackstone.
- Marinković, Ayşegűl Uzun, Kamber Kresimir. 2/2016. Fostering Domestication of Human Rights through the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies. Inter-American and European Human Rights Journal 9: 334.
- Rakić-Vodinelić, Vesna. 2/2011. Zakon o parničnom postupku Srbije 2011 [The Law on Civil Procedure of Serbia 2011], Pravni zapisi 11: 515–567.
- Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. 2023. Practical Guide on Admissibility Criteria. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
- Republic of Serbia ECtHR Representative. n.d. Statistics and reports, https://www.zastupnik.gov.rs/sr-lat/esljp/statistika-i-izve%C5%A1taji, last visited April 24, 2024.
- Robertson, Bernard. 1/1990. Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Human Rights Litigation: The Burden of Proof Reconsidered. The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 39: 191–196.
- Romano, Cesare P. R. 2013. The Rule of Prior Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies: Theory and Practice in International Human Rights Procedures, 561–572 in International Courts and the Development of International Law, edited by Nerina Boschiero, Tullio Scovazzi, Cesare Pitea, Chiara Ragni. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press.
- Spano, Roberto. 3/2014. Universality or Diversity of Human Rights? Strasbourg in the Age of Subsidiarity, Human Rights Law Review 14: 487–502.
- Serbian State Attorney’s Office. 2011. Izveštaj o radu zastupnika Republike Srbije pred Evropskim sudom za ljudska prava za period januar 2011. godine – jun 2011. godine (Report on the Work of the Representative of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights for the January 2011 – June 2011 period), p. 41.
- Sudre, Frédéric. Droit international et européen des droits de l’homme, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 2003.
- Todorović, Aleksandar. 1/2017. From compromise to principle: reexamining the concept of subsidiarity and its role in the reform of the European Court of Human Rights. Annals of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade 65: 187–199.
- Trindade, Antônio Augusto Cançado. 1976. Origin and Historical Development of the Rule of Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Law, Rev. BDI 12: 499–527.
- Trindade, Antônio Augusto Cançado. 3–4/1978. Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Law and the Role of National Courts, Archiv Des Völkerrechts 17: 333–370.
- Tubić, Bojan. 3/2008. Pravna priroda pravila o iskorišćenosti lokalnih pravnih lekova [The legal nature of the rule on the utilization of local remedies], Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, 293–308.
Comments are closed.