European Commission of Human Rights

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The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe. From 1954 to the 1998 entry into force of Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Human Rights; they had to apply to the commission, which if it found the case to be well-founded would launch a case in the Court on the individual's behalf. Protocol 11 which came into force in 1998 abolished the commission, enlarged the Court, and allowed individuals to take cases directly to it.