La date de cessation de la qualité de Partie à la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme
The date of termination of Party status to the European Convention on Human Rights

Summary/Abstract: A State or the European Union may cease to be a Party to the European Convention on Human Rights by denouncing the Convention, if it has been a Party for at least 5 years and subject to 6 months' (or more) notice. A State which ceases to be a Member of the Council of Europe (by withdrawal from the Organization or by exclusion) ceases ipso jure and without any formality to be a Party to the Convention, on the very day of the termination of membership of the Council of Europe. In the event of the joint application of the two grounds for ceasing the status of State Party to the Convention (denunciation of the Convention and termination of the membership of the Council of Europe), the date of termination of the status of Party to the Convention is the shortest. In the specific case of Russia following the military aggression against Ukraine, as it voluntarily withdrew from the Council of Europe on 15.03.2022, its exclusion from the Council of Europe, decided by the Committee of Ministers on 16.03.2022, is not valid and Russia (validly) ceased to be a Party to the Convention on 31.12.2022, the same day and as an automatic effect of the termination of membership of the Council of Europe, and not on 16.09.2022, i.e. 6 months after the date of his exclusion from the Council of Europe, because the exclusion is not valid and the 6 months' notice is only applicable in the event of denunciation of the Convention. The human rights violations committed by Russia between 16.09.2022 and 31.12.2022 fall under the jurisdiction ratione temporis of the European Court of Human Rights, contrary to what the Court has decided, which limited its temporal jurisdiction concerning Russia to the facts committed until 16.09.2022.

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