Sikuta, J: European Court of Human Rights

INTRODUCTION The new Human Rights Protection Mechanism has been operational since 1 N- vember 1998 when Protocol No. 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights entered into force. It substituted the then existing two-instance mec- nism consisting of the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights by a permanently sitting body: the new European Court of Human Rights. The present book is a collection of decisions and judgments of the most important organ of the new Court, its Grand Chamber. It does not include all decisions and judgments delivered by the Grand Chamber. Friendly settlements, for instance, are missing, as they do not involve decisive or important legal issues. List I and List II in the back of the book, however, cover all judgments and decisions of the Grand Chamber. The relevant facts are given for each case, as well as a summary of the consid- ations and the conclusion(s).