Defence of individuals and legal entities, whether accused or victims, when proceedings or a decision infringe their fundamental rights: the rights of the defence and the right to a fair trial, personal liberty, private life and the secrecy of correspondence, freedom of expression, and protection against inhuman and degrading treatment. The firm acts before the French courts, before the Constitutional Council through the priority preliminary ruling on constitutionality (QPC), and before the European Court of Human Rights. It helped secure a judgment against France before the Court in 2025.
The European Court of Human Rights is not a third tier of jurisdiction. It does not retry the facts; it verifies that the proceedings and the decision complied with the Convention. In principle, an application is lodged once effective domestic remedies have been exhausted, within a short time limit running from the last domestic decision; a manifest violation that the national courts are unable to remedy may justify a more direct application. In every case, the European file is prepared during the French proceedings: a complaint that was not raised before the national court, in the form it requires, will have little chance in Strasbourg.
One feature governs these cases: a judgment of the Court has effects in France. Where a criminal conviction was handed down in breach of the Convention, the convicted person may request the review of the conviction before the Cour de cassation within one year of the European judgment (Article 622-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). An application to Strasbourg is not a symbolic gesture; it is a remedy whose outcome can reopen a closed case.
Cases are handled in French and in English.
The application must be lodged within four months of the final domestic decision, under Protocol No. 15 to the Convention, after exhaustion of effective domestic remedies (Article 35). This time limit generally runs from the judgment of the Cour de cassation or the Conseil d’État that closes the national proceedings; where an appeal on points of law is manifestly bound to fail in light of settled case law, it runs from the decision that could still be challenged, and the decision to apply to the Court is taken earlier. In every case, the complaints based on the Convention must have been put before the French courts: choosing the moment to apply is a strategic act, not a formality.
The Court finds a violation of one or more articles of the Convention and may award the applicant just satisfaction, financial compensation for non-pecuniary and pecuniary damage (Article 41). It may indicate to the State the measures capable of remedying the violation. The State is bound to comply with the judgment (Article 46), under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
In criminal matters, the most concrete consequence is review: a person found guilty may, within one year of the European judgment, ask the Cour de cassation to review the conviction or the appeal on points of law, where the violation found, by its nature and gravity, has caused harmful consequences that just satisfaction could not bring to an end (Article 622-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
Before Strasbourg, the Constitution. Any party may argue, in the course of proceedings, that a statutory provision infringes the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. If the question is new or serious, the court refers it to the Cour de cassation or the Conseil d’État, which refers it to the Constitutional Council. A declaration of unconstitutionality removes the provision and benefits the pending case. Criminal procedure litigation, where special regimes keep multiplying, is fertile ground for this remedy.
The Convention does not merely require the State to refrain from acting. It requires it to protect: to investigate reported violence effectively, to prosecute those responsible, and to protect victims during the proceedings. The failure to investigate sexual violence effectively, inaction in the face of a complaint, and the conduct of proceedings that expose the victim are violations in themselves. It was on this basis that France was found in violation in the case brought by the firm in 2025.
In principle, an application requires the exhaustion of domestic remedies, including an appeal on points of law. But this rule only covers effective remedies. Where the violation of the Convention is manifest and settled case law means the appeal is bound to fail, the Court may be seized directly; the same applies, where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm, through a request for interim measures. This assessment is made case by case and determines the admissibility of the application.
Four months from the final domestic decision, since the entry into force of Protocol No. 15. The time limit is not suspended by an application for revision or a request for a pardon.
It does not overturn it itself. It gives the convicted person, for one year, the right to ask the Cour de cassation to review the conviction, which may lead to a new trial.
Yes. The State has a positive obligation to investigate serious offences against the person effectively and to protect victims during the proceedings; failure to meet this obligation is a violation of the Convention.
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