Implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 16009 | 14 June 2024

Author(s):

Committee of Ministers

Origin

Adopted at the 1500th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (5 June 2024). 2024 - Third part-session

Reply to Recommendation

: Recommendation 2252 (2023)

1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2252 (2023) “Implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights”. It forwarded it to the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), for information and possible comments. At the outset, it recalls the recommitment, made by the member States at the Reykjavík Summit, to the Convention system, and their determination to resolve the systemic and structural human rights problems identified by the Court.

2. The Committee notes that the recommendation addresses mainly the aspect of supervision by the Committee of the execution of judgments, whilst also touching upon the links between this process and domestic processes and actors. It recalls that many of these issues are addressed in the Reykjavík Declaration, notably Appendix IV, in which the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe underline “the fundamental importance of the execution of the Court’s judgments and the effective supervision of that process to ensure the long-term sustainability, integrity and credibility of the Convention system”.

3. The Committee is working on in its follow up to the Reykjavík Declaration, and in that context has also continued its work on securing the long-term effectiveness of the Convention. It adopted decisions on 29 November 2023 [(1) CM/Del/Dec(2023)1482/4.5] and 7 February 2024 [(2) CM/Del/Dec(2024)1488/4.4] containing steps towards greater transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the supervision of the Court’s judgments, including, inter alia, making public the annual indicative list of cases. It also reiterated the invitation to the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities to strengthen their dialogue with their respective national interlocutors on the implementation of judgments, at both the political and technical levels, and instructed its Department for the Execution of Judgments to assist as appropriate. Moreover, the organisation of a first annual meeting between national co-ordinators and the Department for the Execution of Judgments in June 2024, together with the launch of a Network of national co-ordinators, will provide a key means to facilitate the exchange of expertise and experience among member States. At the same time, the Committee is mindful that the decisions cover some, but not all, of the elements in Appendix IV to the Declaration adopted at the Reykjavík Summit and so instructed their Rapporteur Group on Human Rights (GR-H) to continue its work in this regard with the aim of presenting further proposals.

4. The Committee also draws attention to its guidelines [(3) Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers on the prevention and remedying of violations of the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted on 27 September 2022 (CM(2022)141-add1final).] on the prevention and remedying of violations of the European Convention on human rights, which set out wide-ranging measures that member States should undertake to improve their domestic capacities to execute the Court’s judgments effectively and rapidly. Of particular relevance to Recommendation 2252 (2023), especially its paragraphs 2.5 and 2.17, are the measures on strengthening the national structures charged with co‑ordinating national action to execute the Court’s judgments, ensuring prompt and effective dissemination of judgments to all actors relevant to the execution process, supporting national courts in ensuring individual redress, and promoting the participation of all relevant authorities and stakeholders, such as national human rights institutions and civil society organisations, in the execution process. The extensive work done by the Department of the Execution of Judgments to improve synergies and support States through co-operation, assistance and dialogue, is detailed in the most recent annual report of the Committee of Ministers on the supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments and decisions. That report also includes for the first time a separate overview of the cases pending against the Russian Federation which details the strategy adopted by the Committee to continue the supervision of cases following the exclusion of the Russian Federation one aspect of which is the Committee’s enhanced co-operation with civil society and the United Nations.

5. The Committee of Ministers, including through its various expert bodies, continues to engage on providing co-operation programmes in dialogues aimed at identifying good practices in the context of the execution of judgments. In recent years, these have included the Seminar on “Effective implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights – enhancing domestic dialogue and co-ordination” (15 June 2021), the Roundtable on “Effective national co-ordination: a key factor in reinforcing the domestic capacity for rapid execution of the ECHR judgments” (8 March 2022), and the Conference on “The Subsidiarity Principle: National implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights” (4 May 2023). This work will continue, indeed the launch of the Network of national co-ordinators planned for June 2024 will take place immediately before the 100th meeting of the CDDH.