7th April 2026

Equality Now joins coalition submission to the ECtHR on proposed amendments to Rules 36 and 44 of the Rules of Court

End sexual violence Europe and Central Asia

Quick Links

Equality Now joined a coalition of 15 NGOs and two law offices  (including members of Equality Now Eurasia Network Validity foundation and union Sapari) in a submission to the European Court of Human Rights responding to proposed amendments to Rules 36 and 44 of the Rules of Court. While welcoming efforts to address barriers to representation, the submission argues that the proposed amendments risk undermining access to justice for applicants in situations of vulnerability. In particular, it raises concerns about giving respondent governments a role in appointing representatives, relying on domestic procedures that may already have failed the applicant, and insufficiently safeguarding the applicant’s wishes, autonomy, and right to effective representation before the Court.

What’s included in the submission?

The submission analyses the proposed amendments in light of international human rights standards and the Court’s own case law. The submission identifies four principal concerns:

  • First, it argues that the proposal does not adequately safeguard the wishes and preferences of the person concerned, including children and persons with disabilities. 
  • Second, it highlights the vagueness of key concepts such as “vulnerability” and “if the circumstances so warrant” which risks inconsistent and potentially discriminatory application. 
  • Third, it warns that allowing the respondent Government to play a central role in securing representation deepens the structural imbalance between the individual applicant and the state. 
  • Fourth, it argues that the proposal improperly defers to domestic law and procedures on representation, despite the Court’s established autonomous approach to such questions under the Convention system. 

The submission also includes practical examples from litigation experience to show how state-controlled or domestic appointment mechanisms can expose applicants to delay, conflicts of interest, or loss of access to a trusted lawyer.        

Who’s this submission for?

  • European Court of Human Rights

Key takeaways and recommendations

The submission calls on the Court not to adopt the amendments in their current form and instead to undertake further consultation with civil society organisations and practitioners with direct experience representing applicants in situations of vulnerability before the Court. 

It urges that any revised rules must clearly respect the wishes and preferences of the applicant, provide a mechanism to challenge or replace an appointed representative, and avoid giving respondent Governments control over the appointment of representatives in cases against them.  

More specifically, the submission recommends that the Court should not rely on domestic appointment procedures as the default solution and should not import domestic restrictions on legal capacity or representation into Strasbourg proceedings. Instead, it proposes that the Court develop a genuinely independent and transparent mechanism,  for example through the Registry or the Council of Europe, for identifying qualified lawyers or specialised organisations who can represent applicants where needed. 

The key message of the submission is that measures intended to support applicants in situations of vulnerability must strengthen, not diminish, their autonomy, trust, and effective access to justice before the Court.    

About

7 April 2026

Languages

EN

Classification

Submissions
End sexual violence
Europe and Central Asia

More information

For more information, contact programs@equalitynow.org.

Explore more resources

1

2

3

13 February 2026

Backlash on addressing inequality in Georgia: Submission to GREVIO for the first  round of thematic evaluation, 6 February 2026

Equality Now’s GREVIO submission on Georgia highlights backsliding on gender equality, shrinking space for human rights NGOs and remaining gaps in sexual violence response: non-consent-based rape laws, insufficient services for survivors and retraumatising practices.

Read more +

EN

Submissions End sexual violence Europe and Central Asia

27 January 2026

Joint Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Forum Declaration Communiqué to End Child Marriage

Equality Now, together with civil society organisations from across Eastern and Southern Africa, issued a joint declaration on International Human Rights Day, reaffirming child marriage as a human rights violation and calling for coordinated, rights-based action to translate laws and commitments into protection, justice, and dignity for girls across the region.

Read more +

EN

Submissions

2 December 2025

4 pages

Statement by Equality Now during the 46th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Equality Now presented key findings and recommendations at the 46th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) in Maseru, Lesotho.
The submission highlights key opportunities for strengthening legal protection, enhancing responses to digital and technology-facilitated sexual exploitation, advancing adolescents’ access to SRHR, reforming discriminatory nationality laws, and accelerating the elimination of harmful practices that continue to affect girls across Africa.

Read more +

EN

Submissions End harmful practices Africa

Newsletter Sign-up

Make a donation

I want to donate