«Ciò che esce dalla porta (del ricorso individuale) non rientra dalla finestra (del ricorso interstatale)»: la decisione Slovenia c. Croazia della Corte europea dei diritti dell'uomo

Abstract. "The ECtHR’s first attempt to draw a fine line between use and abuse of inter-State applications in Slovenia v. Croatia decision". On the 18th November 2020, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has released, by a majority, a decision holding it does not have jurisdiction to hear the inter-State application submitted by Slovenia against Croatia. The present contribution is aimed at analyzing the main aspects of the decision. After having drawn the attention on the admissibility criteria of inter-State applications, light will be shed on the Court’s reasoning about the object and nature of Article 33 ECHR which, far from being conceived as an autonomous tool, seems to be construed in the shadows of Article 34 ECHR. As a result, the two procedures appear to be different sides of a single coin, notably the exclusive protection of fundamental rights of individuals.