On 24 and 25 May, the Execution Department held on-line consultations with the Greek authorities on certain ECHR judgments whose execution has been pending before the Committee of Ministers for more than ten years. These consultations are organised thanks to the Permanent Representation of Greece to the Council of Europe. The discussions focused on cases concerning the structural problem of poor conditions of detention in prisons and lack of an effective remedy (Nisiotis group) and registration of associations (Bekir-Ousta group).
As regards the first group of cases, in March 2022 the Committee of Ministers noted with deep concern that the total number of prison inmates exceeds the current capacity of prisons and exhorted the authorities to provide a concrete timetable for the introduction of an effective domestic remedy. During the consultations the authorities informed that a draft law on effective remedy is under preparation. With regard to the second group of cases, in September 2021 the Committee of Ministers urged the authorities to reinforce their dialogue with the Secretariat in order to explore any alternative avenues which may possibly be envisaged by which the violation found in the case of Tourkiki Enosi Xanthis (dissolved association) may be redressed. It also urged the authorities to take measures to ensure that the outstanding appeals in the other two cases are decided by the Court of Cassation promptly and in compliance with the European Court’s judgments. This group of cases will be re-examined by the Committee at its Human Rights meeting on 8-10 June 2022, when the results of these consultations will be presented to the Committee.
On-line meetings were held with representatives of the Ministry of Citizen Protection, Ministry of Justice, the State Legal Council, the Greek Ombudsman and the National Commission for Human Rights.
