Founder
Zouhaier ChihaouiHuman Rights & Grand Chamber Specialist
Strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights.
View profileBased in Brussels and led by Zouhaier Chihaoui, Just Rights Europe is a law firm with a European and international focus, specialising in litigation before the European Court of Human Rights.
Our work begins at a specific point: once the relevant domestic remedies have been exhausted.
After a final decision of the Court of Cassation, the Supreme Court or the highest competent national court, we examine the case from the perspective of the European Convention on Human Rights.
We assess its admissibility, identify potential violations, devise the European strategy and, where the conditions are met, represent the client before the European Court of Human Rights.
The firm also has particular experience of complex cases and of proceedings before the Grand Chamber.
Just Rights Europe does not act in domestic proceedings.
Our specialisation begins where national litigation ends.
In certain specific cases, the firm may also act before international human rights bodies.
Litigation before the European Court of Human Rights is a highly specialised field.
The Court itself underlines the scale of the problem: in its notes for applicants, it indicates that “More than 90% of the applications examined by the Court are declared inadmissible”. This is therefore not an estimate by our firm, but a statement expressly made by the European Court.
For Just Rights Europe, that statement is a matter of particular concern. Behind an application there may lie years of proceedings, considerable human consequences and the hope of obtaining recognition of the alleged violation. Admissibility cannot therefore be treated as a mere formality: it deserves attention as rigorous as that given to the merits of the case.
Strasbourg is not a further level of appeal. It is not the Court's function to judge a dispute afresh merely because a national decision is considered unfair or wrong. Its role is to review compliance with the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols.
Proceedings in Strasbourg therefore require a fresh reading of the file. The identification of the complaints, the fact that they were first raised before the national courts, the exhaustion of effective domestic remedies, compliance with the time limit for applying to the Court and the specific requirements of the application form are all decisive factors. The importance of a case at national level is not, in itself, enough to enable it to be examined in Strasbourg.
Not every case can succeed before the Court. Our responsibility is precisely to distinguish the cases capable of justifying an application to Strasbourg from those that come up against insurmountable legal obstacles. That approach calls for as much rigour in defending a case as candour in advising on it.
It is at that stage, after the decision of the highest competent national court, that Just Rights Europe's work begins. We devote our expertise to analysing admissibility, to devising a European strategy and to defending fundamental rights before the Court.
Our vision is simple: to enable the cases that warrant it to benefit from an analysis dedicated specifically to Strasbourg, so that a genuine prospect of protection is not compromised by a failure to appreciate the requirements of the procedure before the Court.
The final national decision should not automatically bring consideration of fundamental rights to an end. It should lead to a clear-sighted and exacting examination of whether a route to Strasbourg remains open.
After the Supreme Court. Before Strasbourg and Geneva.
A final decision at national level does not necessarily mean that all legal protection has come to an end.
Once the Court of Cassation, the Supreme Court or the highest national court has ruled, we examine whether the facts and the decisions delivered disclose a violation capable of being brought before the European Court of Human Rights.
Our work begins after the final national decision.
Proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights follow their own rules.
Admissibility, time limits, exhaustion of domestic remedies, the formulation of complaints, European case-law, the choice of arguments, procedural strategy and a possible referral to the Grand Chamber all call for an approach different from that of national litigation.
Our mission is to turn a national case into a genuine Convention case.
Since 1 September 2026, Just Rights Europe's Strasbourg practice has been open to cases from all the Contracting States to the European Convention on Human Rights.
After a final decision of the highest national court, a case may be submitted to us directly for a specialised assessment under the Convention.
The firm may be instructed following a final decision delivered in any State bound by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Whatever the origin of the case, our question remains the same: domestic remedies have been exhausted — is there still a route to Strasbourg?
Bringing a case before the European Court of Human Rights does not mean repeating the arguments developed before the national courts.
The first step is to identify the real Convention issue.
We examine the final decision, the earlier national proceedings, compliance with the admissibility requirements, the Convention rights that may have been violated and the relevant case-law of the Court.
We then determine how the case should be presented in Strasbourg: the selection of complaints, the legal framing, the decisive facts, procedural strategy and the redress sought.
In cases of particular importance, our expertise also covers proceedings before the Grand Chamber.
Where possible and in the client's interests, we also assess the prospects of a friendly settlement in the proceedings before the Court.
Our aim is not to relitigate the national case.
Our role is to identify what, in those proceedings, amounts to a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Convention, and to take that question to Strasbourg.
After the Supreme Court.
Before Strasbourg and Geneva.
European Court of Human Rights Litigation · Grand Chamber Expertise · Across Europe
Just Rights Europe acts solely on the Convention dimension of a case, after the final decision of the highest national court.
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In certain specific cases, representation before international human rights bodies.
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Strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights.
View profileAfter a final decision of the highest national court, a case may be submitted to us directly for an assessment under the Convention.