How to read legal citations in the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights cases are cited by the parties, an application number and a report. Convention rights are cited by article.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Style guide: The Court's own HUDOC database and OSCOLA for English-language writing. Cases are identified by their application number and decided under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Real citations, decoded
Click or hover over any underlined piece to see what it means.
A Court case Case
()
- Case name Soering v United Kingdom
The applicant and the State sued. - Year 1989
The year of the judgment. - Volume 11
Volume 11. - Series EHRR
European Human Rights Reports, a private series that reports the Court's decisions. - First page 439
The page where the report begins.
The application number is App no 14038/88. Every case on HUDOC carries one.
Full citation: Soering v United Kingdom (1989) 11 EHRR 439A Convention article Treaty
- Treaty ECHR
European Convention on Human Rights. - Article art 3
Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
A Grand Chamber judgment Case
[], ,
- Case name Hirst v the United Kingdom (No 2)
The applicant and the state. '(No 2)' means this is the second case by the same applicant. - Chamber GC
Grand Chamber, the court's 17-judge formation for the most serious cases. - Application number no. 74025/01
The application number: a running number and the year (01 means 2001). - Reports ECHR 2005-IX
Reports of Judgments and Decisions, a collection of the Court's most important cases, by year and volume.
The Court held that a blanket ban on prisoners voting breached Article 3 of Protocol No 1.
Full citation: Hirst v the United Kingdom (No 2) [GC], no. 74025/01, ECHR 2005-IXAn older judgment in the Series A Case
, ,
- Case name Handyside v the United Kingdom
The applicant and the state. Handyside is about the seizure of a book and the freedom of expression. - Date 7 December 1976
The date of the judgment. - Series Series A no. 24
Before 1996, the Court's judgments were published in Series A. This was number 24.
Things to remember
- Judgments of the Grand Chamber are often marked [GC].
- HUDOC is the Court's free database, and shows the application number for each case.
Where to find the text, free
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s citation guide is an educational overview of standard conventions. Courts and journals sometimes vary, so check the style guide before submitting or publishing. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.
