LAUNCH OF WEBCASTING AND NEW INFORMATION ABOUT PENDING COURT CASES

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[02:46 pm] 27 June, 2007

The European Court of Human Rights has today announced the launch of
two initiatives: web-casting its public hearings and the provision
of new information about pending cases on its website.

At a press conference held in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg,
the Court’s President Jean-Paul Costa and Irish Ambassador to the
Council of Europe James Sharkey gave journalists a preview of a future
webcast which will enable journalists and the public to view the
Court’s hearings from anywhere in the world and to download extracts
of interest.

In launching the project the Court’s President Jean-Paul Costa
described webcasting – which has been financed by the Irish Government
– as "a significant step forward in making the Court’s activities more
visible and accessible". He said: "Lawyers, academics, journalists
and ordinary citizens, many of whom would never have been able to
come to Strasbourg to attend a hearing, will be able to follow the
proceedings from their homes and offices. They will be able to see
and hear for themselves the arguments advanced for and against a
finding of a human rights violation in respect of some of the most
sensitive issues of the day. This will bring the Convention closer
to the ordinary citizens whom it is intended to serve and protect."

The first hearing to be broadcast on the Court’s Internet site
() will be in the case Maumousseau and Washington
v. France on 28 June 2007.

The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. and the webcast will be made
available on the Court’s website from 2.30 p.m. that day.

The second important initiative concerns the provision of information
about pending cases on the Court’s site. As from today, a report
(accessible through "Pending cases", "Press" and the Court’s database
HUDOC) will appear on the Court’s Internet site every Monday, giving
a list of cases which have been officially communicated to the
Government of the country against which the applicant’s complaints
are directed. For each case there will be a link to a summary of
the facts, the applicants’ complaints and the questions put by the
Court to the parties. This information will be in one of the Court’s
official languages, English or French.