Strasbourg, 12.04.2012 – In 2011 the number of Strasbourg Court judgments found by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to have been fully executed by member states grew by almost 80% compared to 2010 (up to 816). Whilst the number of new cases remained high (1, 606), for the first time in ten years it decreased (by 6 %). The number of repetitive cases decreased by even more.

The number of old cases still not fully executed after more than five years continued to grow (by 48 % from 2010 to 2011), and is a special source of concern. Most of these cases concern important structural problems. (more…)

Strasbourg, 13.03.2012 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published the decisions and resolutions adopted at its first special human rights meeting for 2012. (more…)

Strasbourg, 07.12.2011 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published the decisions and resolutions adopted at its fourth special human rights meeting for 2011.
More information on the execution process and on the state of execution in cases pending for supervision as well as important reference texts (including the new working methods) can be found on the website of the Committee of Ministers, on the special website of the Department for the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and in the Committee of Ministers’ Annual Reports on its execution supervision.

Strasbourg, 16.09.2011 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published today the decisions and resolutions adopted at its third special human rights meeting for 2011.
More information on the execution process and on the state of execution in cases pending for supervision as well as important reference texts (including the new working methods) can be found on the website of the Committee of Ministers, on the special website of the Department for the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and in the Committee of Ministers’ Annual Reports on its execution supervision.

Strasbourg, 10.06.2011 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published today the decisions and resolutions adopted at its second special human rights meeting for 2011 (1115th HR meeting, 07-08 June 2011).

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

Strasbourg, 19.04.2011 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has today issued its fourth annual report on the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. (more…)

Strasbourg, 16.03.2011 - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has just published the decisions and resolutions adopted at its first special human rights meeting for 2011 (1108th HR meeting, 8-10 March 2011).

Strasbourg, 23.02.2011 - On 17 February 2011, a high level Round Table between representatives of 21 Member States of the Council of Europe was held in Bucharest to discuss possible ways to tackle the challenges raised by the process of restitution of and/or compensation for properties nationalised before 1989 in Central and Eastern European countries. (more…)

Strasbourg, 16.02.2011 – The 17 February 2011, at the Howard Johnson Hotel, Bucharest, Romania, organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, with the support of the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund.
In the last two decades, Central and Eastern European states have faced legal and financial challenges in finding a solution to the restitution of and/or compensation for properties nationalised before 1989. Several states have adopted legislation aimed at solving this issue which affects thousands of people. (more…)

Strasbourg, 06.12.2010 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has concluded its fourth and last special human rights meeting for 2010 devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
Decisions and resolutions adopted directly at the meeting have now been published. Decisions in cases not inscribed for debate at the meeting, which are adopted after a written procedure, and the annotated agenda containing a summary of the information available in the different cases examined, will be published on 17 December 2010. (more…)

Strasbourg, 30.11.2010 – From 30 November to 3 December the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers will hold its fourth 2010 “human rights” meeting, in which it will supervise the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. 464 new cases will be examined, a number of which raise questions related to the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for the applicants of violations established by the European Court (over and above the payment of any monetary damages awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures, such as legislative changes, aimed at preventing new similar violations. (more…)

Strasbourg, 17.09.2010 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concluded on 15 September 2010 its third special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The Committee furthermore continued its examination of measures to improve the efficiency and transparency of the supervision process, in accordance with the Interlaken Declaration and Action Plan. (more…)

Strasbourg, 10.09.2010 – From 14th to 15th September the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers will hold its third 2010 “human rights” meeting, in which it will supervise the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. 291 new cases will be examined, a number of which raise questions related to the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for the applicants of violations established by the European Court (over and above the payment of any monetary damages awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures, such as legislative changes, aimed at preventing new similar violations. (more…)

Strasbourg, 08.06.2010 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concluded on 3 June 2010 its second special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions adopted directly at the meeting in some 20 cases or groups of cases have just been published. (more…)

Strasbourg, 28.05.2010 – From 1st to 3rd June the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers will hold its second 2010 “human rights” meeting, in which it will supervise the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. 471 new cases will be examined, a number of which raise questions related to the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for the applicants of violations established by the European Court (over and above the payment of any monetary damages awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures, such as legislative changes, aimed at preventing new similar violations. (more…)

Strasbourg, 14.04.2010 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has issued today its third annual report on the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In 2009 1515 new judgments finding violations of the European Convention on Human Rights were brought before the Committee of Ministers for supervision of their execution, thus bringing the number of cases under supervision to 7 881. The compensation awarded to the victims in the new judgments 2009 amounted to some 54 million Euros. (more…)

Strasbourg, 23.03.2010 - States need to adopt adequate legislation and allocate appropriate resources to ensure the execution of domestic judicial decisions, including those delivered against it and its entities. They also need to anticipate possible needs for the introduction of domestic remedies in case of non-execution or slow execution of such decisions as required by the European Convention on Human Rights. (more…)

Strasbourg, 15.03.2010 - The Council of Europe Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is organising a round-table in Strasbourg, on 15-16 March 2010, in the framework of the project “Removing the obstacles to the non-enforcement of domestic court judgments / Ensuring an effective implementation of domestic court judgments”, which is funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund (more…)

Strasbourg, 10.03.2010 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concluded on 4 March 2010 its first special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions adopted directly at the meeting in some 25 cases or groups of cases against Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom have just been published (more…)

• Bosnia and Herzegovina asked to eliminate discrimination in standing for elections
• Russia asked to improve conditions of detention in remand prisons

Strasbourg, 26.02.2010 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers holds its first “human rights” meeting1 of 2010 from 2nd to 4th March. The Committee supervises the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (over and above the payment of any just satisfaction awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations. (more…)

Strasbourg, 23.12.2009 - On 9 and 10 December a high level Round Table “Detention on remand: General Measures to comply with the European Court judgments” was held in Warsaw with the participation of Bulgarian, Moldovan, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian authorities. The European Court of Human Rights revealed the problems of unlawfulness and excessive length of detention on remand in its judgments concerning different member States. (more…)

[08/12/2009 16:00:00] The Committee of Ministers concluded on 3 December its fourth special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions adopted at the meeting in some 26 cases or groups of cases have just been published.(more…)

[08/12/2009 16:00:00] The Committee of Ministers adopted last week a Resolution in which it noted with satisfaction the Russian authorities’ prompt and constructive response to the European Court’s pilot judgment in the case of Burdov (No.2). (more…) (Russian version…)

[08/12/2009 16:00:00] The Committee of Ministers adopted a second Interim Resolution in response to a number of cases against Ukraine concerning the failure or serious delay in abiding by final domestic courts’ decisions delivered against the state. (more…)

[08/12/2009 16:30:00] The Committee of Ministers adopted last week an Interim Resolution in the case of Hirst v. the United Kingdom (No.2). (more…)

[08/12/2009 16:00:00] The Committee of Ministers made a preliminary examination of the revised proposals for the retention of fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles of persons arrested but not convicted of offences. (more…)

Strasbourg 08.12.2009 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has today made public a decision concerning progress achieved by Albania in the execution of certain judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning notably excessively lengthy civil proceedings and the absence of enforcement of final judicial decisions – cases Gjonbocari and Marini. (more…) (Albanian version…)

Strasbourg, 30.11.2009 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers holds its fourth and last special “human rights” meeting of 2009 from 1st to 4th December. The Committee supervises the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (over and above the payment of any just satisfaction awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations. 374 new cases will be examined, a number of which raise questions related to the adoption of new individual or general measures. The other cases are either linked to issues which are already examined or do not reveal any special problems. (more…)

The Department for the Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Legal and Human Rights Capacity Building Department from the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs (DG-HL) of the Council of Europe are organising a meeting with Local Project Officers (LPOs) working on the Human Rights Trust Fund Project entitled “Removing the obstacles to the non-enforcement of domestic court judgments/Ensuring an effective implementation of domestic court judgments” on 1 October 2009. This meeting will take place in the Agora Building (Strasbourg). (more…)

Strasbourg, 23.09.2009 - The Committee of Ministers has adopted a Interim Resolution in the case of Gongadze v. Ukraine. In its judgment the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 2 of the Convention on account of the authorities’ failure to protect the life of Georgy Gongadze, a journalist killed in September 2000. The Committee noted with satisfaction the developments that had taken place in the investigation since the adoption of its first Interim Resolution in 2008. In the light of these developments, the Committee strongly encouraged the Ukrainian authorities to enhance their efforts with a view to bringing to an end the ongoing investigation whilst bearing in mind the findings of the Court in this case (more…)   

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concluded on 16 September 2009 its third special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions adopted at the meeting are published on 21 September. Decisions in the other cases, adopted by written procedure, will be published on 30 September 2009 (more…) 

Strasbourg, 15-16.09.2009 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers holds its third special “human rights” meeting ⁽¹⁾ of 2009 from 15 to 16 September. The Committee supervises the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (over and above the payment of any just satisfaction awarded by the Court itself) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations (more…)

Strasbourg, 09.06.2009 - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concluded on 5 June 2009 its second special human rights meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The decisions adopted in the following cases have just been published (more…)

• See all documents

Strasbourg, 22.04.2009 - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe today published its second annual report on its supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In 2008, 1,384 new judgments finding violations of the Convention on Human Rights were brought before the Committee for supervision of their execution, thus bringing the number of pending cases to 6,614. The compensation awarded to the victims in these new judgments amounted to some 55.5 million euros. 400 cases were closed by final resolutions in 2008 (in a number of these necessary execution measures had already been taken before 2008) (more…)

Strasbourg, 26.03.2009 – In its Interim Resolution adopted last week, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe welcomed the political will repeatedly affirmed by the President of the Russian Federation to resolve the problem of non-enforcement of domestic judicial decisions against the State. The Committee called upon the competent authorities to rapidly translate this political will into concrete actions in line with hundreds of judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in favour of large vulnerable groups of the Russian population. (more…)

Strasbourg, 26.03.2009 – The Committee of Ministers adopted last week a new Interim Resolution concerning the excessive length of judicial proceedings in Italy. This new resolution is the follow-up to Interim Resolutions CM/ResDH(2007)2 concerning the problem of excessive length of judicial proceedings and CM/ResDH(2007)27 on bankruptcy proceedings. (more…)

Strasbourg, 25.03.2009 – In a third interim resolution adopted last week, the Committee of Ministers assessed the United Kingdom’s compliance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the lack of effective investigations into deaths in Northern Ireland in which security forces were involved (violations of Article 2 – right to life in cases of Jordan, McKerr, Kelly and others, Shanaghan, McShane and Finucane). (more…)

Strasbourg, 25.03.2009 – The Committee of Ministers last week adopted a second Interim Resolution in the case of Ülke. In this case the European Court of Human Rights found that the applicant’s repeated convictions and imprisonment for having refused to perform compulsory military service on account of his beliefs as a pacifist and conscientious objector amounted to degrading treatment in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. (more…)

Strasbourg, 16.03.2009 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers holds its first special “human rights” meeting of 2009 from 17 to 19 March. The Committee supervises the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (including the payment of any just satisfaction awarded) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations. 413 new cases will be examined, a number of which raises questions related to the adoption of new general measures. The others are either linked to issues which are already examined under other cases, or do not reveal any structural problem. In the remaining cases, the Committee will examine progress made, notably as far as some 300 legislative or other reforms are concerned. (more…)

Strasbourg, 02.12.2008 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will hold its fourth and last special “human rights” meeting of 2008 from 2 to 4 December. The Committee will supervise the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (including the payment of any just satisfaction awarded) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations. 265 new cases will be examined, a number of which raises questions related to the adoption of new general measures. The others are either linked to issues which are already examined under other cases, or do not reveal any structural problem. In the remaining cases, the Committee will examine progress made, notably as far as some 300 legislative or other reforms are concerned. (more…)

The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, has organised on 25 and 26 September 2008 a seminar in Belgrade on the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in cases related to child and parental rights. (more…)

Strasbourg, 23.09.2008 – During its recent “Human Rights” meeting (17-18 September 2008) the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted its fourth Interim Resolution regarding the progress achieved and outstanding issues in Turkey’s compliance with 175 judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights delivered between 1996 and 2008. These judgments mainly concern deaths as a result of excessive use of force by members of security forces, failure to protect the right to life, disappearances, ill-treatment and destruction of property. The judgments also relate to the lack of effective domestic remedies into the applicants’ complaints. (more…)

Strasbourg, 16.09.2008 –The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will hold its third special "human rights" meeting¹ of 2008 from 17 to 18 September. The Committee will supervise the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences for applicants of violations established by the Court (including the payment of any just satisfaction awarded) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new similar violations. 361 new cases will be examined. 26 raise questions related to the adoption of new general measures. The others are either linked to issues which are already examined under other cases, or do not reveal any structural problem.In the remaining cases, the Committee will examine progress made, notably as far as some 300 legislative or other reforms are concerned. (more…)

Strasbourg, 09.06.2008 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has recently adopted an Interim Resolution relating to the execution of the Gongadze judgment in which the European Court of Human Rights found, amongst others, a violation of Article 2 of the Convention on account both of the authorities’ failure to protect the life of G. Gongadze and of subsequent failings in the investigation relating to his disappearance and death. (more…)

Strasbourg, 03.06.2008 – The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will hold its second special “human rights” meeting² of 2008 from 3 to 5 June, where it will supervise the execution of a number of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights. During the meeting, the Committee will follow up the adoption of individual measures needed to erase the consequences of violations for applicants (including the payment of just satisfaction, if any, awarded by the Court) and/or general measures (legislative or other changes) aimed at preventing new violations similar to those found by the Court in these cases. 377 new cases will be examined, some 33 of which raise questions related to the adoption of new general execution measures. The others are either linked to issues which are already under examination with regard to other cases or do not have a structural character. (more…)

Strasbourg, 26.03.2008 - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe yesterday evening presented its first annual report on its supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights at a ceremony in the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg. Ambassador Emil Kuchar, Permanent Representative of Slovakia – the country which chairs the 47 member Organisation – and Ambassador Per Sjögren, Permanent Representative of Sweden – who chaired the last two Committee of Ministers meetings devoted to the execution of judgments, officially handed over the report to the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa, the Secretary General, Terry Davis, the Human Rights Commissioner and the Parliamentary Assembly. They both underlined that the quality of the execution of judgments is crucial. “Control of the execution of judgments is an essential element of the credibility of the system and the efficiency of the actions of the Court”. (more…)

Strasbourg, 04.03.2008 - The Committee of Ministers will hold its first special meeting of the year on the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights from 4 to 6 March, in conformity with Article 46 (*) of the ECHR. During these three days, the Committee of Ministers will examine draft final resolutions to close 121 cases in which the respondent states have complied with their obligations under the Convention. The Committee will also start the supervision of the execution of 185 new judgments of the Court, which were transmitted to the Committee after its special meeting in December 2007.It will also supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction awarded by the Court to applicants in 845 cases, the adoption of other individual measures granting redress to the applicants in 139 cases or groups of cases and/or the adoption of general measures aimed at preventing new similar violations in 178 cases or groups of cases. (more…)

Strasbourg, 03.12.2007 – The Committee of Ministers is currently holding its last special meeting for the year devoted to the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. During these three days, the Committee of Ministers will examine final resolutions in order to close 80 cases. Since the beginning of the year, it concluded in 597 cases that the states had complied with their obligations under the Convention. The Committee will begin its control of the execution of 231 new judgments of the Court which were submitted to it after its special meeting in October 2007. It will also supervise the payment of just satisfaction awarded to the applicants by the European Court of Human Rights in 882 cases, the adoption by the respondent states of other individual measures for redress in 145 cases or groups of cases and/or general measures aimed at preventing similar violations in 234 cases or groups of cases. (more…)

Strasbourg, 25.10.2007 – At their 1007th meeting (15-17 October 2007), the Committee of Ministers adopted an Interim Resolution assessing Bulgaria’s implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning in particular ill-treatment inflicted by the police, including three deaths, and the lack of an effective investigation into these facts (Velikova v. Bulgaria, judgment of 18 May 2000 and seven other cases). (more…)

• The full text of Interim Resolution

Strasbourg, 19.10.2007 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted an Interim Resolution in a group of 25 cases concerning the excessive length of judicial proceedings in Portugal. The Resolution takes stock of the progress achieved in the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in these cases and identifies the outstanding issues.

As regards the general problem of excessive length of proceedings in Portugal, the numerous reforms already adopted to remedy this structural problem were welcomed. The Resolution refers in particular to the increase in the number of judges, the geographically more even spread of cases among civil courts and the increase of the number of justices of the peace and “mediation services”. The Committee encouraged Portugal to continue its efforts in this respect. In addition, the authorities were invited to provide the Committee with further information, including additional comparative statistical data, so that the practical impact of all the reforms can be assessed. (more…)

• Full text of the Interim Resolution ResDH(2007)108

Strasbourg, 19.10.2007 – Following the most recent summons of the applicant, a conscientious objector, to serve an outstanding prison sentence, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted an Interim Resolution in the case of Ülke against Turkey. In this case the European Court of Human Rights found that the applicant’s repeated convictions and imprisonment for having refused to perform compulsory military service amounted to degrading treatment in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. (more…)

• Full text of the Interim Resolution ResDH(2007)109

Strasbourg, 15.10.2007 - On 15-17 October 2007, the Committee of Ministers will hold its special meeting for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (675 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting redress to the applicants (114 cases or groups of cases) and/or of general measures aimed at preventing new similar violations (120 cases or groups of cases). In addition, the Committee will start the supervision of the execution of a further 418 new judgments of the Court. It will also examine draft Final Resolutions concerning 145 cases concluding that the respondent States have complied with their obligations under the Convention. (more…)

Links to the text of the Interim resolution

Strasbourg, 25.06.2007 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recently issued two final resolutions putting an end to its supervision of measures adopted by Italy in execution of judgments and decisions finding violations of the European Convention on Human rights. (more…)

• Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2007)831 - Execution of the decisions of the Committee of Ministers - Case of Dorigo against Italy
• Resolution CM/ResDH(2007)841 - Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights - Non-execution of court orders to evict tenants - Immobiliare Saffi and 156 other cases against Italy

Strasbourg, 20.06.2007 – The Council of Europe is organising on 21 and 22 June in Strasbourg a Round Table entitled “Non-enforcement of domestic court decisions in member states: general measures to comply with European Court judgments”.

In recent years, the non-enforcement of domestic courts’ decisions is becoming, by virtue of its scale, the second problem, after the problem of the length of proceedings that has been revealed by the Court in its judgments.

The aim of the Round Table is to share member-states’ experience in the resolution of structural problems revealed in the area of enforcement of domestic court decisions, in the light of the requirements set up by the European Convention of Human Rights. The discussions will be based on a comparative analysis of the reforms adopted or under way in some countries, as reflected in the Committee of Ministers’ resolutions and memoranda issued by the Council of Europe’s Secretariat. (more…)

• Programme of the Round table
• Conclusions of the Round table
• Non-enforcement of domestic judicial decisions in Russia: general measures to comply with the European Court’s judgments - Memorandum prepared by the Department for the execution of the European Court’s judgments (Application of Article 46 of the ECHR)
• Russian version of the Memorandum

Strasbourg, 07.06.2007 - The Committee of Ministers adopted yesterday a second interim resolution assessing the United Kingdom’s compliance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the lack of effective investigations into deaths in Northern Ireland in which security forces were involved (violations of Article 2 – right to life in cases of Jordan, McKerr, Kelly and others, Shanaghan, McShane and Finucane).

The Committee concluded that the examination of certain issues arising from the judgments could be closed following satisfactory general measures adopted by the United Kingdom to prevent new similar violations. These include the implementation of the Prosecution Service policy in the Code for Prosecutors on giving reasons for non-prosecution in cases where death is caused by the conduct of state agents, and a new procedure on the use of confidential information in inquest proceedings (public interest immunity certificates). (more…)

Strasbourg, 07.06.2007 - The Committee of Ministers yesterday adopted an Interim Resolution expressing its concern about the systemic problem of excessive length of proceedings and calling for further reforms to remedy it. These reforms are required by a great number of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights finding violations of the European Convention on account of excessively lengthy proceedings before administrative courts and the lack of effective domestic remedy in this regard. (more…)

Strasbourg, 07.06.2007. The Committee of Ministers encouraged Poland to continue its reforms with a view to a global solution to the structural problem of excessive length of detention on remand criticised in many judgments of the European Court of Human Rights since 2000.

The Committee noted the January 2007 reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure strictly limiting the grounds for prolonging detention on remand at the investigative stage. It also expressed satisfaction with the awareness measures taken so far in respect of judges and prosecutors. (more…)

Strasbourg, 07.06.2007 – Yesterday the Committee of Ministers congratulated Belgium on the promulgation and the publication on 9 May 2007 of a law allowing reopening of criminal proceedings found unfair by the European Court of Human Rights. This law will enter into force on 1 December 2007.

Thus Belgium has joined the majority of the member states of the Council of Europe whose legislation provides for the possibility for the applicants to request reopening of criminal proceedings following a judgment of the European Court. (more…)

Strasbourg, 05.06.2007 - On 5-6 June 2007, the Committee of Ministers holds the third of its special meetings planned in 2007 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (808 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting redress to the applicants (115 cases or groups of cases) and of general measures preventing new similar violations (175 cases or groups of cases). The Committee will also examine for the first time 346 new judgments of the Court and draft Final Resolutions (concerning 273 cases) concluding that the respondent States have complied with their obligations under the judgments. (more…)

Strasbourg, 05.04.2007 – Yesterday evening, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a second interim resolution concerning the execution of the judgment delivered on 10 May 2001 by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Cyprus against Turkey, which found a number of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by Turkey in the northern part of Cyprus since the Turkish military intervention in July and August 1974.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court's judgments require the adoption by the respondent states, under the Committee of Ministers' supervision, of all measures necessary to grant the applicants appropriate redress and to prevent new similar violations in the future.

• Integral text of the interim resolution ResDH(2007)25

Strasbourg, 05.04.2007 - In an Interim Resolution adopted yesterday the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe strongly urged Turkey to remove the obstacles to the reopening of certain criminal proceedings and so as to allow redress for the violations of the right to a fair trial found by the European Court of Human Rights in the Hulki Güne? case.

The Interim Resolution noted that the applicant’s request for the reopening of proceedings had been rejected by domestic courts solely on the basis of a temporal limitation on the right to obtain a reopening of proceeding without any assessment of the need for a new trial to remedy the specific violations found by the European Court. (more…)

• Full text of the Interim Resolution ResDH(2007)26

Strasbourg, 05.04.2007 – The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe yesterday encouraged Poland to continue its reforms seeking to implement a global solution to the structural problem of the excessive length of judicial proceedings criticised in many judgments of the European Court of Human Rights since 1998.

The Committee expressed satisfaction with the increase in the Polish courts' budgets and staff and with the introduction, in 2004, of a domestic remedy which in principle permits parties to seek an acceleration of proceedings and to claim compensation for damages caused by their excessive length. (more…)

• Full text of the Interim Resolution ResDH(2007)28

Strasbourg, 05.04.2007 – In an interim resolution adopted yesterday, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the reform of bankruptcy proceedings introduced in Italy in 2006 and its immediate effects remedying many restrictions of rights and freedoms criticised by the European Court of Human Rights.(more…)

• Full text of the Interim Resolution ResDH(2007)27

Strasbourg, 03.04.2007 - On 3-4 April 2007, the Committee of Ministers holds the second of its special meetings planned in 2007 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (761 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting redress to the applicants (95 cases or groups of cases) and of general measures preventing new similar violations (112 cases or groups of cases). The Committee will also examine for the first time 225 new judgments of the Court and draft Final Resolutions (concerning 137 cases) concluding that the respondent States have complied with their obligations under the judgments. (more…)

Strasbourg, 28.02.2007 – Following its February meeting devoted to the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers has decided to close its examination of the case of Sørensen and Rasmussen against Denmark. The case concerned a violation of the freedom of association of the two applicants due to the obligation imposed on them by their employer at the moment of their recruitment to join a particular trade union which had concluded a “closed-shop” agreement with the employer. The Court found that Denmark had failed in its positive obligation to protect the applicant's right not to be a member of a trade union.

Less than a month after the Court’s judgment, on 2 February 2006, the government tabled a bill amending the Act on protection against dismissal due to association membership. According to this bill, a person's affiliation to a union or non-membership of a union must not be taken into account in a recruitment situation or in connection with dismissal. The bill also extends the right not to be a member of a union. As a consequence of the bill, any closed-shop agreements contained in collective agreements will be null and void and may not be concluded in the future. The bill was enacted by the Danish Parliament and entered into force on 29 April 2006.

The Committee of Ministers found that this Act prevents new similar violations of the Convention and that Denmark has thus complied with its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention in this case.

Strasbourg, 15.02.2007 - At the end of the first of their six special meetings planned for 2007 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which took place on 13 and 14 February 2007, the Committee of Ministers adopted a series of decisions and resolutions, which were made public today (Volume of decisions adopted at the meeting).

The annotated agenda of this meeting as well as other decisions adopted will be made public in approximately two weeks time.

Strasbourg, 12.02.2007 - On 13 and 14 February 2007, the Committee of Ministers holds the first of its special meetings planned in 2007 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (876 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting redress to the applicants (80 cases or groups of cases) and of general measures preventing new similar violations (46 cases or groups of cases). The Committee will also examine for the first time 147 new judgments of the Court. (more…)

Strasbourg, 21.12.2006 – At its December meeting 2006, devoted to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe resumed its examination of the new action plan of the Italian authorities aimed at finding a global solution to the persisting problem of excessively long judicial proceedings. This problem has been at the origin of numerous violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. (more…)

Strasbourg, 05.12.2006 - On 5 and 6 December 2006, the Committee of Ministers holds the last of the six special meetings for 2006 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (855 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting the applicants the appropriate redress (127 cases or groups of cases) and of general measures preventing new similar violations (186 cases or groups of cases). The Committee will also examine for the first time 269 new judgments of the Court and draft Final Resolutions (concerning 46 cases) concluding that the respondent States have complied with their obligations under the judgments. (more…)

Strasbourg, 31.10.2006 - On 30 and 31 October a high level Round Table between representatives of the Council of Europe and the Russian Federation was held to discuss solutions to the structural problem of non-enforcement of domestic court decisions against the State and its entities in the Russian Federation. (more…)

• Conclusions adopted at the Round Table
• Russian version of the Conclusions
• Non-enforcement of domestic judicial decisions in Russia: general measures to comply with the European Court’s judgments
• Memorandum prepared by the Department for the execution of the European Court’s judgments and first comments by the Russian authorities (Application of Article 46 of the ECHR) (Russian version)

Strasbourg, 19.10.2006 - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examined the case of Paolo Dorigo, who, after 14 years, is still under threat of serving the rest of a prison sentence resulting from unfair proceedings in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Committee noted that for the time being Mr Dorigo is at liberty pending the outcome of constitutional proceedings concerning Article 630 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, which does not allow the reopening of domestic proceedings in response to the European Court’s judgments.

The Committee welcomed these efforts made by the Italian courts to reopen the impugned proceedings and the recent judgment of the Court of Cassation (No. 32678 of 3 October 2006, which reaffirmed the direct effect of the Convention and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the Italian legal system. This decision concerns the Somogyi case, also pending before the Committee of Ministers and embodies an interpretation of the current legislation which might resolve other similar cases. The Committee noted, however, that the effect of decision the Court of Cassation is limited to cases of judgments in absentia, and thus not extend to the Dorigo case. (more…)

Strasbourg, 17.10.2006 - On 17 and 18 October 2006, the Committee of Ministers holds the fifth of the six special meetings foreseen in 2006 for the supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46 of the ECHR). The Committee will supervise the payment by respondent states of just satisfaction to applicants (612 cases), the adoption of other individual measures granting the applicants the appropriate redress (129 cases or groups of cases) and of general measures preventing new similar violations (159 cases or groups of cases). The Committee will also examine for the first time 370 new judgments of the Court and draft Final Resolutions (concerning 45 cases) concluding that the respondent States have complied with their obligations under the judgments. (more…)

Strasbourg, 02.10.2006 – Major structural deficiencies in the judicial systems of Italy, Russia and Ukraine are causing large numbers of repeated violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, representing a “serious danger to the rule of law” in these three countries, according to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE).

In a resolution adopted today, the Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from all 46 states which have ratified the Convention – criticised the excessive length of judicial proceedings in Italy, where many cases take more than the 10 years the Court has ruled is a violation. (more…)