The Committee of Ministers today published the annual report for 2016 on its supervision of the execution of judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. In accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers is responsible for supervising the execution of the Court’s judgments by the states concerned.

The efforts engaged to bring to a successful conclusion the execution processes in pending cases led to a yet new record number of cases closed in 2016 (2,066 against 1,537 cases in 2015). Many of the cases closed relate to long standing structural problems, notably the control of action of security forces, the prevention of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty and the effectiveness of the judiciary (in particular the excessive length of judicial proceedings). The report also shows a further decrease in the total number of pending cases, which were now down below 10.000 (9,941) for the first time since 2010. 10,652 by the end of 2015.

These results illustrate the continuing positive impact of the efforts to guarantee the long term efficiency of the Convention system. However, challenges remain as regards notably the execution of cases revealing certain major structural problems or touching other sensitive issues, for example where it is hard to reach agreement domestically on a way forward.

More information on the execution process and on the state of execution in all cases pending for supervision as well as important reference texts (including the new working methods) can be found on the website of the Department for the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and in the Committee of Ministers’ Annual Reports on its supervision of execution of judgments.

Video clip on the execution of ECHR judgments and its supervision by the Committee of Ministers.