Serbia: Minister of Interior enacts Rules regulating the issuing of travel document for refugees
In July, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgment in S.E. v. Serbia. This case concerns the Serbian authorities’ refusal to issue a travel document to the refugee applicant, owing to a failure by the respective Ministers of the Interior to...
Bulgaria: Criminal Code amended to classify homophobic attacks as aggravated criminal offences
In June, the Committee ended its supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgment in the Stoyanova v. Bulgaria case. This case concerns the domestic courts’ failure to consider the murder motive related to the victim’s presumed sexual orientation as an aggravating factor. The...
Bulgaria: the Committee of Ministers welcomes substantial improvement of prison conditions and progress regarding preventive and compensatory remedies in this respect
At its Human Rights meeting on 11-13 June, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the significant progress achieved by the Bulgarian authorities in eradicating prison overcrowding and substantially improving material conditions of detention. It recalled that the European Court considered that the...
Armenia: Committee of Ministers notes significant developments and progress achieved in reforming prison healthcare system
At its Human Rights meeting on 11-13 June, the Committee noted the significant developments and progress achieved through a series of general measures adopted by the authorities to reform the prison healthcare system, examined in the framework of the Ashot Harutyunyan group of cases. In...
Bulgaria: the Committee of Ministers strongly welcomes the establishment of a constitutional basis for independent investigation of a Chief Prosecutor
This case primarily concerns the lack of guarantees in Bulgarian law for the independence of criminal investigations concerning the Chief Prosecutor and other high-ranking officials close to him/her. The Committee of Ministers has previously identified the execution of this judgment as an...
Türkiye: the Committee of Ministers welcomes practical impact on the Alevi community of the authorities’ measures
On 11 June, the Committee of Ministers decided to end its supervision of the execution of the İzzettin Doğan and Others case following the measures taken by Turkish authorities. In the İzzettin Doğan and Others case the applicants complained about the authorities’ refusal to provide the followers...
Bulgaria: the Committee of Ministers welcomes constitutional amendments establishing a new Supreme Judicial Council elected in line with the Venice Commission’s recommendations
At its Human Rights meeting on 11-13 June, the Committee of Ministers examined the case of Miroslava Todorova v. Bulgaria. The applicant in this case is a judge who, in her previous role as president of the main professional association of judges in Bulgaria, criticised the Supreme Judicial...
Romania: Government adopts national action plan on mental health care and disability rights
At its Human Rights meeting held on 11-13 June, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the recent adoption by the Romanian Government of a national action plan for the execution of the European Court’s judgments finding serious deficiencies in the mental health care system and regarding the...
Ukraine: the Committee of Ministers welcomes the implementation of safeguards on legal representation and admissibility of evidence
On 11 June, the Committee of Ministers decided that the supervision of the Balitskiy group of cases can be continued under the standard supervision procedure given the progress made by the Ukrainian authorities in the execution of these judgments. This group concerns the applicants’ convictions...
Finland: New safeguards for decisions on extension of confinement in psychiatric hospital and forcible administration of medication
On 12 March 2024, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgment in X v. Finland concerning extensions of confinement in psychiatric hospitals and forcible administration of medication without adequate legal safeguards. The case had been pending...
Spain: Recent good practices in the field of execution of the European Court's judgments
Legislative reforms, which entered into force on 20 March 2024, established the possibility for the Spanish Government Agent’s Office to intervene in proceedings initiated before the Supreme Court by applicants seeking the reopening of domestic proceedings following a judgment of the European...
Croatia: Legislative changes adopted to provide global solution to the protected lease scheme issue and to ensure an effective remedy to complain about excessive length of civil proceedings
On 14 March 2024, the Croatian Parliament adopted two laws to execute the European Court's judgments. In particular, the law was adopted to resolve the long standing issue concerning the statutory limitations on the landlords’ use of flats subject to protected tenancy (Statileo v. Croatia group)....
Belgium: the Committee of Ministers ends its supervision of a case concerning a refusal to authorise the return of bodies for funeral abroad
The Committee of Ministers just ended its supervision of the execution of the Aygün v. Belgium judgment. This case concerns an infringement of the applicants' right to privacy (Article 8) and freedom of religion (Article 9), as a result of a Belgian investigating judge's refusal in September 2010...
Romania: Judicial reform introducing safeguards for judges against suspension from office
On 8 November 2023, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgment in the case of Camelia Bogdan v. Romania. This case concerns the denial of access to a court due to the impossibility for the applicant, a former career judge, to challenge her...
Hungary: Legislative changes ensure compensation of persons having lost their disability benefits due to new eligibility criteria introduced in 2012
On 31 October, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgments in the Béláné Nagy group. This group of cases, consisting of four judgments, concerned violations of the right to protection of property on account of the applicants’ complete or partial loss of...
Greece: Abolition of protective custody and new comprehensive system of protection of the unaccompanied minors
The Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in Rahimi concerning the degrading treatment of unaccompanied minors (“UM”) on account of their poor living or detention conditions. The case was pending under enhanced supervision since 2011. In response to...
Türkiye : Constitutional Court annuls suspension of pronouncement of judgments
In its Hasan Köse judment, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers in the Batı and others group, the European Court indicated under Article 46 of the Convention that the suspension of the pronouncement of judgments may create an atmosphere of impunity and that in cases of state...
Azerbaijan : Legislative changes on the composition of the Judicial Legal Council
On 9 June 2023 the Parliament of Azerbaijan amended the Law on Judicial-Legal Council (JLC) regarding its composition. In respect of each case examined under the Mammadli group, the European Court found a violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Article 5 of the Convention, revealing a...
Germany: changes in administrative practise of prisons ensure adequate medical treatment of detainees with drug substitution therapy
The Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in Wenner concerning the respondent state’s failure to ensure that the health of the applicant, a long-term heroin addict without any realistic chance of overcoming addiction and having received substitution...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Legislative changes foreseen to end unlawful detention in social care homes
On 24 August, in response to the European Court’s judgments in the Hadžimejlić and Others group (concerning unlawful detention of applicants in social care homes without a decision of the competent civil court), the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) adopted a bill for...
Belgium: the Committee of Ministers ends its supervision of a case concerning a European arrest warrant issued by Spanish authorities
On 12 July 2023, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the Romeo Castaño v. Belgium judgment. This case concerned the unsufficiently thorough scrutiny by the Belgian courts of the grounds for refusing to execute the arrest warrants issued in 2004, 2005 and 2015 by...
Italy introduces additional procedural safeguards with respect to search orders
On 12 July, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in Brazzi v. Italy. The case concerns a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his home due to the lack in the Italian legal system of prior judicial oversight or effective ex post facto...
Montenegro: Legislative changes foreseen abolishing prescription for torture
On 8 June, in response to the European Court’s judgments in the Siništaj and Others group (concerning ill-treatment by law-enforcement officers and lack of effective investigations), the Montenegrin Government adopted a proposal for amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro. It foresees the...
Hungary: Committee partly ends supervision of general measures in excessive length of proceedings cases
During its Human Rights meeting of 5-7 June 2023, the Committee of Ministers decided to partly end its supervision of the execution of the Strasbourg Court’s judgments in the Gazsó group of cases considering that no further general measures were required as regards the introduction of a...
Türkiye: Measures adopted to protect landowners’ property rights in cases of expropriation without formal decision and compensation
On 6 June, the Committee ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in the case of Hakan Ari, concerning the violation of the applicant’s right to peaceful enjoyment of his property due to the designation of his plot of land for public service in the town planning scheme, ...
Romania: removals of senior prosecutors are now subject to judicial review and freedom of expression is reinforced
At its Human Rights meeting held on 5-7 June the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in the case of Kövesi. This case concerned violations of the Convention due to the lack of judicial review concerning the premature termination of the applicant’s...
Denmark amends family reunification rules following ECHR judgment
On 5 June, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in M.A. v Denmark. The case concerns the unjustified statutory three-year waiting period for family reunification of the applicant who had fled Syria in 2015 and was granted temporary protection. His...
France: strengthening freedom of expression in the context of calls for a commercial boycott
The Committee of Ministers has ended its supervision of the execution of the ECHR judgment in the case of Baldassi and Others, concerning a disproportionate interference with freedom of expression, resulting from the applicants’ criminal convictions for incitement to economic discrimination, due...
North Macedonia: Abolition of prescription for torture
On 13 February, the Parliament of North Macedonia adopted amendments to the Criminal Code abolishing the prescription for the crime of torture as requested by the Committee of Ministers within the context of its supervision of the implementation of the Kitanovski group of ECHR judgments. Thus...
Italy: Reform of review mechanism of whole life sentences aiming at aligning with ECHR judgment
In its Decision of 10 March the Committee of Ministers noted with satisfaction the reform of the Prison Administration Act (Article 4 bis) which introduced the possibility for prisoners who fail to cooperate with the judicial authorities to be eligible for release on parole, in response to the...
