Implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 13997 | 09 March 2016

Author(s):

Committee of Ministers

Origin

Adopted at the 1249th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (2-3 March 2016). 2016 - Second part-session

Reply to Recommendation

: Recommendation 2079 (2015)

1. The Committee of Ministers welcomes Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2079 (2015) on “Implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights”, calling on the Committee of Ministers to use all available means to effectively fulfil its task of supervising the implementation of judgments of the Court. [(1) The Assembly’s recommendation was transmitted to the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) for an opinion.] The Committee reaffirms that full and prompt execution of Court judgments, in accordance with the obligation set out in Article 46 of the Convention, is essential for the effective functioning of the Convention system and that the supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments is a task to which the Committee of Ministers attaches great importance.

2. The Committee recalls that at its 125th Ministerial Session held in Brussels on 19 May 2015, it endorsed the Declaration unanimously adopted on the occasion of the High-level Conference on “The implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, our shared responsibility”, which took place in Brussels on 26 and 27 March 2015. In the light of this Declaration and as part of its follow-up, the Committee invited its Deputies to explore possibilities to further increase the efficiency of the supervision process, including the Human Rights meetings. The Committee wishes to inform the Assembly that this work, which is a priority for the Committee of Ministers, is underway, inter alia, on the basis of contributions regarding both the execution and the supervision process made by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), in particular in the latter’s report on the longer-term future of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also recalls a number of previous technical contributions of the CDDH to this reflection. [(2) See CDDH 2008 report on practical proposals for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the Court in situations of slow execution (doc. CM(2009)7), CDDH 2013 report on whether more effective measures are needed in respect of States that fail to implement Court judgments in a timely manner (doc. CM(2013)174), as well as the CDDH contribution to the Brussels Conference on the “Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, our shared responsibility” (doc. CM(2015)151 add2).] The Committee also informs the Assembly that a reinforcement of the resources of the Department for the Execution of Judgments has been decided.

3. The Committee of Ministers welcomes the Assembly’s strong involvement in these issues and will continue to keep the Assembly informed about the progress made.