Gergely Ambrus Kerkovits: Challenging the State: The institutional role and limits of NGO participation before the ECtHR. Nr. 2026/7.
The civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become indispensable factors in political, economic, and legal decision-making, as well as in the advocacy of international interests, or litigation. The aim of this study is to comprehensively examine how NGOs are represented and what role they play in the enforcement of human rights within the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
While in the post-World War II period civil society organizations primarily provided direct legal representation to victims of state violations in domestic and international forums, today they also actively participate in monitoring the human rights performance of Council of Europe (CoE) member states.
Given that non-governmental organizations are typically grassroots organizations (with the exception of certain regions, such as the post-Soviet countries, South America, or parts of Asia and Africa, where state funding is significant for historical reasons), the research examines whether the activities of these organizations truly serve the public good or primarily the interests of their main donors in an era when the transparent funding of the civil sector has become a central issue globally.
Within this framework, the study seeks answers to the following key questions: Do civil society organizations promote the general enforcement of human rights, or do they primarily focus on the protection of specific areas of law? What is the actual advocacy capacity or litigation activity of civil society organizations in the work of the ECtHR—is their participation merely formal, or do they have a substantive influence on decision-making? Furthermore, to what extent can the positions they represent be considered objective and of professional quality?
To answer these questions and gain a deeper understanding of these processes, this study employs a complex research methodology. In addition to analyzing relevant international literature and the normative legal framework, the research places great emphasis on empirical methods: qualitative document and literature analysis, submissions filed by civil society organizations, and an examination of these organizations’ participation practices based on case studies. Accordingly, after outlining international trends, the study narrows its focus to examine the role of the Hungarian civil society sector in proceedings before the ECtHR.
Link words: NGOs, civil society, ECtHR and NGOs, litigation, fundamental rights protection, Hungary and human rights, rule of law
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