European Court of Human Rights

a body charged with implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result of recent reforms, an application is now initially considered by a committee of three judges and may be declared inadmissible immediately and without a further hearing. If, however, the application does prima facie seem admissible it will be passed to a chamber of seven judges. This chamber, if it finds the application admissible, will proceed to examine the merits of the case and will seek to achieve a friendly settlement. In the absence of such a settlement, the chamber will issue a judgment. This judgment will be final unless important issues arise within three months. In such an event, the judgment will be referred to a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Grand Chamber's judgment is final and may not be appealed. If an alleged violation is upheld by the Court, the responsibility lies with the defendant state to take the appropriate action to make good the identified deficiency. A state at fault may be required to pay compensation.