UK cases at the European Court of Human Rights since 1975

For cases since September 1997, a link is provided to the text of the Court ruling. However, some links to material at the Court’s website may prove unstable over time.

The cases listed here are those deemed ‘admissible’, which are only a small proportion of all applications made to the Court against the UK. Most applications are deemed inadmissible and therefore not examined on the merits.

Cases concluded by friendly settlement are included, but Article 41 (previously Article 50) cases, which are concerned only with determining ‘just satisfaction’ (compensation), are excluded.

According to the Court’s statistics, there have been 563 judgments concerning the UK up to the end of 2021. Of these, over half (327) found at least one violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and about a quarter (144) found no violation.

Another Library briefing paper, CBP 5353, explains how to apply to the Court.