The court recivies a huge number of applications every year.

However the vast majority of them are

rejected at the admissibility stage because the criteria for applying to the court have not been met
.For example because the applicants have not first raised their case before the national courts.For
that reason the court delivers judgment on the merits of only a small proportion of the cases brought
before it,It then rules on whether or not there has been a violation of the Convention and it may
award financial compensation.Since it was first set up the court has completed the examination of
hundreds thousands of cases.This is hardly surprising given that the number of individuals covered
by this system totals around 820 million people .That is the number of potential applicants living in
the countries which have undertaken to comply with the convention.In reality however there are
even more potential applicants.Non Europeans whether they are refugees or other individuals who
happen to be within the jurisdiction of a member state are also protected.For instance the court
found a violation of the Convention by Italy following the forced return of Somalians and eretrians
to Libya from where they had originally set out by boat for Europe.The court held that they would
be at risk of of ill treatment if they were repatriated.In exceptional cases the scope of the convention
can also extend beyond Europe’s borders.The court found The United Kingdom to be in breach of
the convention following the deaths of civilians in Iraq during security operations carried out by
British forces.The court held that as an occupying power responsible for mentaing security in the
region concerned.The United Kingdom should have conducted an investigation into civilian deaths
in wich wittich soldiers were involved.A state thus be held responsible for events occurring its
territory.But states can also be held occuntable for acts committed within their jurisdiction by
another state if they were aware of them.This was the case the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia which was found to be …