INTRODUCTION The purpose of this Handbook is to provide practical advice to persons wishing to bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 3 of the Convention prohibits the use of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by Contracting Parties. This prohibition isv absolute, allowing for no derogation or exceptions under can any circumstances. The European Court has held that the Article 3 prohibition enshrines “one of the fundamental values of the democratic societies making up the Council of Europe.” i The Handbook is intended for advocates and practitioners of varying levels of experience including those who have little or no prior experience of litigating cases in Strasbourg. Indeed, applicants themselves should be able to use it to lodge an application with the Court. Naturally, the risks of oversimplification had to be avoided particularly in relation to some of the more complex areas of substance and procedure. It is hoped that the more experienced readers will find the Handbook useful as a reference tool, especially on such issues as the evidential rules and the establishment of facts, which, in the opinion of OMCT, have not traditionally received the attention they deserve and which have not previously been the subject of article-specific treatment. Although the focus of this Handbook is Article 3, the analyses it contains should in theory enable a prospective applicant to formulate an application under any Article of the Convention. Nevertheless, due to its article-specific nature, all the substantive and procedural areas covered here are discussed in the context of the Court’s Article 3 jurisprudence. In this connection, ample use has been made of the Court’s judgments concerning ill-treatment to illustrate the operation of procedural rules and the application of substantive law to factual scenarios. Additionally, special emphasis has been placed on giving practical and strategic litigation advice in relation to matters that may pose particular challenges to Article 3 litigants. For practical reasons, a simple method of reference was employed when referring to the decisions and reports of the European Commission of Human Rights and decisions and judgments of the Court. Thus, the reference “Marguš v. Croatia [GC], no. 4455/19, 27 Mai 2014” includes [the applicant’s name] v. [the respondent State], the application number, and the date of the judgment. The initials “GC” in square brackets in some case references indicate that the decision or judgment was adopted by the Grand Chamber of the Court. i Soering v. the United Kingdom, no. 14038/88, 7 July 1989, § 88. 15