European Commission of Human Rights was a special tribunal.
From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Human Rights; they had to apply to the Commission, which if it found the case to be well-founded would launch a case in the Court on the individual's behalf. Protocol 11 which came into force in 1998 abolished the Commission, enlarged the Court, and allowed individuals to take cases directly to it.
References
Patrick Stewart sketch: what has the ECHR ever done for us? - After Theresa May says Britain should leave the European convention on human rights, Patrick Stewart, Adrian Scarborough and Sarah Solemani expose the problems in the Conservative plan for...
- Arthur W. Diamond Law Library The European Human Rights System and the European Court of Human Rights. Research Guide
