No, the European Court of Human Rights is not part of the EU system and must not be confused with the European Court of Justice.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is an institution under the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights hears complaints in cases concerning breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was drawn up by the Council of Europe and entered into force in 1953.

The European Court of Human Rights hears two types of complaint. The first relates to complaints where one member country complains about another member country’s alleged breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (inter-state complaints); the second relates to individual complaints where citizens can complain against member countries. 

It is, however, a condition for the hearing of individual complaints that all remedies in the country where the alleged breach has taken place must have been exhausted and that the complaint must have been lodged no more than six months after the final decision has been made by the courts or authorities in the country concerned. 

More information about the European Court of Human Rights can be found on the Council of Europe website – www.coe.int.