As a general rule, a State is required to take steps to end or prevent a violation only after the ECHR has found that the Convention has been or would be violated. Rule 39 of the Rules of Court is the exception. While an application is pending, the ECHR may indicate interim measures without making that finding and direct the respondent State to act, or not to act, to prevent serious harm of one of the narrow kinds listed below.
The main category is harm that a person may suffer in another State after the respondent State has decided to transfer them there: death, torture, or serious irreversible harm to health, whether or not the transfer is linked to criminal proceedings or to the serving of a sentence. If such a link exists, the list also includes cruel corporal punishment, life imprisonment with no real prospect of release or review, prolonged arbitrary detention, or a flagrant denial of justice.
Most other cases in which interim measures are applied concern harm that may occur inside the respondent State itself: death, serious irreversible harm to the health of a person under the State’s factual control, including through failure to provide proper medical care, and separation of a child from someone close to them. Isolated cases have concerned disclosure of a journalistic source, a ban on a media outlet’s activity that effectively led to the disbanding of its editorial team, failure to secure effective legal defence in criminal proceedings for a person who could face the death penalty, and disciplinary, personnel-related or other measures against applicant judges who challenged those measures before the ECHR as an interference with the exercise of their judicial authority. The ECHR also applies interim measures to remove obstacles to the effective exercise of the right of individual application and to maintaining an application already lodged.
In addition to applying only to harm on the narrow list, interim measures require several further conditions to be met. First, the risk of the harm described above must arise from action or inaction by the respondent State against which interim measures are sought. In transfer cases, the immediate harm may still be caused by the destination State. Second, the request for interim measures itself, or the application form submitted before the request or together with it, must in substance set out a complaint that the respondent State’s action or inaction violates rights and freedoms guaranteed by Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 or 34 of the Convention. When the request is examined, that complaint, including the allegation of a risk of harm, must not appear manifestly ill-founded or obviously inadmissible. Third, interim measures must be the only available way to prevent the respondent State from taking that action or continuing that inaction.
The cost of preparing a request for interim measures depends on the work required. It usually ranges from a few hundred euros to several thousand euros. I can give the exact cost only after reviewing the documents.
This service covers the preparation of a request for interim measures, not the preparation of the application form. The request will set out a Convention complaint only as far as needed for the interim-measures issue. If you need an ECHR application form prepared, with or without a request for interim measures, choose the ECHR application preparation service.
Once I receive the documents and information, I will reply within 24 hours. If reasonable grounds for a request for interim measures are plainly not apparent, I will simply tell you that. If they are apparent, I will state the cost of preparing the request, ask for specific missing documents if needed, and send the agreement. You can pay for the service by bank transfer to my account in Switzerland or by other methods depending on the country of payment.
Once I have received payment and all necessary materials, I will prepare the request within the time-limit stated in the agreement. That time-limit depends on the circumstances of the case and the urgency required. In extremely urgent cases, the request may be prepared within 24 hours.
You will receive by email the request for interim measures, its attachments, and instructions on sending the documents to the ECHR.
This service is clearly not for you if you can confidently agree with any of the following statements: