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Article 17 footnote 1 - Prohibition of abuse of rights Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided for in the Convention. Article 18 footnote 1 - Limitation on use of restrictions on rights The restrictions permitted under this Convention to the said rights and freedoms shall not be applied for any purpose other than those for which they have been prescribed. Section II - European Court of Human Rights footnote 2 Article 19 - Establishment of the Court To ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the Convention and the Protocols thereto, there shall be set up a European Court of Human Rights, hereinafter referred to as "the Court". It shall function on a permanent basis. Article 20 - Number of judges The Court shall consist of a number of judges equal to that of the High Contracting Parties. Article 21 - Criteria for office 1. The judges shall be of high moral character and must either possess the qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognised competence. 2. The judges shall sit on the Court in their individual capacity. 3. During their term of office the judges shall not engage in any activity which is incompatible with their independence, impartiality or with the demands of a full-time office; all questions arising from the application of this paragraph shall be decided by the Court. Article 22 - Election of judges 1. The judges shall be elected by the Parliamentary Assembly with respect to each High Contracting Party by a majority of votes cast from a list of three candidates nominated by the High Contracting Party. 2. The same procedure shall be followed to complete the Court in the event of the accession of new High Contracting Parties and in filling casual vacancies. Article 23 - Terms of office 1. The judges shall be elected for a period of six years. They may be re-elected. However, the terms of office of one-half of the judges elected at the first election shall expire at the end of three years. 2. The judges whose terms of office are to expire at the end of the initial period of three years shall be chosen by lot by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe immediately after their election. 3. In order to ensure that, as far as possible, the terms of office of one-half of the judges are renewed every three years, the Parliamentary Assembly may decide, before proceeding to any subsequent election, that the term or terms of office of one or more judges to be elected shall be for a period other than six years but not more than nine and not less than three years. 4. In cases where more than one term of office is involved and where the Parliamentary Assembly applies the preceding paragraph, the allocation of the terms of office shall be effected by a drawing of lots by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe immediately after the election. 5. A judge elected to replace a judge whose term of office has not expired shall hold office for the remainder of his predecessor's term. 6. The terms of office of judges shall expire when they reach the age of 70. 7. The judges shall hold office until replaced. They shall, however, continue to deal with such cases as they already have under consideration. Article 24 - Dismissal No judge may be dismissed from his office unless the other judges decide by a majority of two-thirds that he has ceased to fulfil the required conditions. Article 25 - Registry and legal secretaries The Court shall have a registry, the functions and organisation of which shall be laid down in the rules of the Court. The Court shall be assisted by legal secretaries. Article 26 - Plenary Court The plenary Court shall a) elect its President and one or two Vice-Presidents for a period of three years; they may be re-elected; b) set up Chambers, constituted for a fixed period of time; c) elect the Presidents of the Chambers of the Court; they may be re-elected; d) adopt the rules of the Court, and e) elect the Registrar and one or more Deputy Registrars. Article 27 - Committees, Chambers and Grand Chamber 1. To consider cases brought before it, the Court shall sit in committees of three judges, in Chambers of seven judges and in a Grand Chamber of seventeen judges. The Court's Chambers shall set up committees for a fixed period of time. 2. There shall sit as an ex officio member of the Chamber and the Grand Chamber the judge elected in respect of the State Party concerned or, if there is none or if he is unable to sit, a person of its choice who shall sit in the capacity of judge. 3. The Grand Chamber shall also include the President of the Court, the Vice-Presidents, the Presidents of the Chambers and other judges chosen in accordance with the rules of the Court. When a case is referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43, no judge from the Chamber which rendered the judgment shall sit in the Grand Chamber, with the exception of the President of the Chamber and the judge who sat in respect of the State Party concerned. ARTICLE 28 - Declarations of inadmissibility by committees A committee may, by a unanimous vote, declare inadmissible or strike out of its list of cases an application submitted under Article 34 where such a decision can be taken without further examination. The decision shall be final. Article 29 - Decisions by Chambers on admissibility and merits 1. If no decision is taken under Article 28, a Chamber shall decide on the admissibility and merits of individual applications submitted under Article 34. 2. A Chamber shall decide on the admissibility and merits of inter-State applications submitted under Article 33. 3. The decision on admissibility shall be taken separately unless the Court, in exceptional cases, decides otherwise. Article 30 - Relinquishment of jurisdiction to the Grand Chamber Where a case pending before a Chamber raises a serious question affecting the interpretation of the Convention or the protocols thereto, or where the resolution of a question before the Chamber might have a result inconsistent with a judgment previously delivered by the Court, the Chamber may, at any time before it has rendered its judgment, relinquish jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber, unless one of the parties to the case objects.
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