STRABOURG, Nov. 2 (Hina) - A new unified and standing European +Tribunal for Human Rights will be inaugurated on Tuesday. Present +at the inauguration will be high ranking representatives of the +Council of Europe and representatives
of member countries. Nina +Vajic, a Croatian, judge of the new Tribunal, said on Monday that +the Tribunal will differ in an organisational sense, not in laws in +effect.+ Nina Vajic was elected judge at the new European Tribunal in April +this year from a list of three candidates suggested by every member +country to the Council of Europe.+ "The new European Tribunal for Human Rights will be new in the +respect that its judges will be permanently situated in +Strasbourg", announced Vajic, stressing that up to now judges only +spent 10 days a month in the Tribunal headquarters.+ Vajic added, "the Tribunal is not new in its judgements or how it +will apply its laws
STRABOURG, Nov. 2 (Hina) - A new unified and standing European
Tribunal for Human Rights will be inaugurated on Tuesday. Present
at the inauguration will be high ranking representatives of the
Council of Europe and representatives of member countries. Nina
Vajic, a Croatian, judge of the new Tribunal, said on Monday that
the Tribunal will differ in an organisational sense, not in laws in
effect.
Nina Vajic was elected judge at the new European Tribunal in April
this year from a list of three candidates suggested by every member
country to the Council of Europe.
"The new European Tribunal for Human Rights will be new in the
respect that its judges will be permanently situated in
Strasbourg", announced Vajic, stressing that up to now judges only
spent 10 days a month in the Tribunal headquarters.
Vajic added, "the Tribunal is not new in its judgements or how it
will apply its laws because it will continue with the court
proceedings practised up to now". Vajic stressed that the
difference of the new court is that "individuals, groups of
individuals and non-government organisations will be able to file
suits against their own country or another EU member country for any
violations of the Human Rights Convention or other abuses of
fundamental freedoms".
Vajic explained that the new court will incorporate the former
European Court and the European Commission for Human Rights. The
decision for the formation of the new court was brought in 1993
during the Council of Europe's summit in Vienna and confirmed in
last year's summit in Strasbourg. She added that at the present
moment the Tribunal has a staggering 8,500 cases to solve.
"To respond to so many cases and solve them timely, a new Tribunal
was established," said Vajic.
She added that there were about 10 requests from Croatia and that
not all were accepted as law suits.
"Only a fraction of them will actually stand before the court
because it is necessary to investigate whether all internal state
avenues have been exhausted and whether the six-month time frame
for the National Courts to reach their final decision was obliged",
announced Vajic.
She added that the European Tribunal is not a higher court or a
fourth stage in trial proceedings, and that citizens should firstly
try to solve matters within their own countries.
"Only if the matter is not solved in that manner should citizens
turn to the European Tribunal", concluded Vajic.
(hina) ab/lml