Distinguishing European courts and institutions

While delivering a talk to a group of students and their teachers, I couldn't but note that Maltese citizens fail to understand the difference between the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Unfortunately, the national press often reinforces this misunderstanding.

In this respect allow me to refer to the Monday Law Report that appeared on The Times of July 7 titled Unreasonable Delay In Court Proceedings. In the paragraph before the last, the author cites the case Buccholz vs Germany, application no. 7759/77, and attributes this case to the European Court of Justice.

This is not correct; the mentioned case was decided on May 6, 1981 by the European Court of Human Rights.

The latter is an organ belonging to the organisation carrying the name of the Council of Europe, which, in turn, needs to be distinguished from the European Council or the Council of the European Union, the latter two being institutions of the European Union.

The European Court of Human Rights, which is based in Strasbourg, is the Council of Europe's (CoE) judicial organ. It is entrusted with the enforcement of the obligations entered into by contracting states when signing the European Convention on Human Rights. Thus, it has jurisdiction over cases, brought by individuals, against any of the 47 member states, including Malta, regarding alleged breaches of the Convention.

On the other hand, the European Court of Justice, also known as the Court of Justice of the European Communities, having its seat in Luxembourg, is entrusted with providing a harmonious application of EU law within the 27 member states. Consequently, its jurisdiction, which may sometimes cover human rights issues arising from EU law, is not limited to such.