The Committee cannot investigate complaints which do not relate to the human rights protected in the Covenant.

example The Human Rights Committee cannot investigate an application about your property rights or state tax policies.

The Committee cannot examine the decisions or actions of private companies, international organizations or private individuals who do not represent Estonian state institutions.

You cannot complain about a violation of another person’s human rights, unless you have written consent from that person or a right to represent them. For example, you can complain about a violation of another person’s human rights if you have a power of attorney granted to you allowing you to do that or if you have a legal right to represent that person (such as parent of a minor or a legal guardian).

exception You can also complain about a violation committed against someone else, without their written consent, but in that case you will have to prove that it was impossible for you to obtain such consent (for example, the person has died or disappeared).

The Committee cannot investigate a potential violation of your rights if you have not first tried to resolve the problem using all the usual complaint mechanisms that are available under national law.

example If you believe that the judge in your case has not given you an opportunity to express your arguments, you must complain about it in your appeal to a higher court. If the higher court does not examine your complaint or remedy that violation, only then can you complain to the Human Rights Committee.

An application with all the additional documents should be sent to the Committee as soon as possible. There is no set deadline for sending the application, however, if it is submitted 5 years after the last national decision, the Committee may refuse to examine it.

If the damage done by a violation has been rectified or compensated by the Estonian courts or state authorities, or other international courts, the Human Rights Committee will refuse to accept your application.

example If your complaint about this situation has already been examined by the European Court of Human Rights, your complaint regarding the particular violation will not be accepted.