Prior to 1998, all cases before the European Court of Human Rights were referred to it by the European Commission of Human Rights. While this body is no longer in existence, it is sometimes necessary to cite its past decisions.

The general form for citing cases from the European Commission on Human Rights is as follows:

Eg Morissens v Belgium (1988) 56 DR 127.

Eg Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands v Greece (1969) 12 Yearbook 186 (EComHR) at [186].

(a) Background

The official report series of the European Commission of Human Rights was the Decisions and Reports of the Commission (DR) and, prior to this, the Yearbook of the ECHR. Some decisions also appear in the EHRR.

(b) Court identifier

A court identifier is not required when citing to the DR because it only reports decisions of the Commission.

Eg X and Y v United Kingdom (1977) 12 DR 32.

However, when citing to the EHRR or Yearbook include a court identifier. The identifier is “EComHR.”

Eg Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands v Greece (1969) 12 Yearbook 186 (EComHR) at [186].