Back ECHR Superior Courts Network and Council of Europe cooperation

© Council of Europe

© Council of Europe

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (the Strasbourg Court) hosted the second Focal Points Forum of the Superior Court Network (SCN) on 8 June 2018.

63 representatives of 59 member courts from 33 countries joined their Registry counterparts (SCN Focal Points) for a full-day programme, an even higher participation than for the first Forum last year.

The SCN was born out of a desire to create a more structured and effective dialogue between the Strasbourg Court and the national Superior Courts, a dialogue focused on exchanging knowledge on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) case-law and related matters. The SCN enables member superior courts to have a point of contact within the Strasbourg Court through which Convention case-law information can be provided under the supervision of the Jurisconsult. Since its launch in October 2015, the network has grown quickly. By June 2017, when the first SCN Focal Point Forum was held, there were 54 member courts from 32 States. A year later, membership now stands at 68 courts from 35 States.

Mikhail Lobov, Head of Human Rights Policy and Co-operation Department of the Council of Europe addressed the Forum acknowledging the shared responsibility of the Strasbourg Court and national courts for the implementation of the ECHR. He underlined the importance of Council of Europe cooperation projects targeting the judiciary to ensure the effective implementation of the ECHR. Furthermore, he thanked the invaluable support received from the Strasbourg Court and also national courts, as illustrated by two good examples for which further resources should be mobilised:

  • Enhanced cooperation with HELP. To date, the widest training Network on the Convention.
  • Cooperation with superior courts on harmonisation, started with the organisation of the Athens Conference in 2017 that allowed for exchange of good practices of cooperation among Courts and departments dealing with case law.

Mikhail Lobov finally mentioned that, despite the challenges currently facing the Council of Europe, further resources should be mobilised to support HELP and case-law harmonisation efforts.

The agenda as well as the list of participants for the forum are available on the website of the Superior Courts Network.

Strasbourg 8 June 2018
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