At a time when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is coming under repeated attacks, challenging its position as a supranational court, the report on the execution of its judgments in 2016 shows positive results.
The report, published on Wednesday 5 April by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (CM), which is responsible for supervising execution, says a record number of cases were closed in 2016: 2,066 compared with 1,537 cases in 2015. A large number of these cases relate to structural problems within the states against which decisions were delivered, notably he control of action of security forces, the prevention of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty and the effectiveness of the judiciary.
For the first time since 2010, the number of pending cases fell below 10,000, to 9,941 among which 1.493 cases relate to structural problems (compared with 1,555 in 2015). These leading cases, as they are called, linked to systemic problems are particularly important because their resolution is end-to-end, that is to say, it includes reforms at national level, and can prevent a flow of repeat cases in Strasbourg.
The report gives examples of this kind of case, relating to reducing prison overcrowding in several countries, increasing the independence of the judiciary in Ukraine and improving the monitoring of the lawfulness of detention in Russia.
Important measures have also been taken to improve the effectiveness of domestic remedies and to strengthen national mechanisms for executing ECHR judgments, for example, through increased involvement of national parliaments and NGOs.
Problems remain, however. These relate, for instance, to the extent to which states are responsible for implementing ECHR judgments in disputed territories and the execution of judgments on sensitive political issues. Also of note is the decrease in the payment of just satisfaction within the deadlines (the percentage has gone from 71% in 2015 to 65% in 2016), situations which most often reflect fundamental disagreement with Court decisions or the arrangements for execution.
In addition, the time taken for relevant information to reach the Department for the Execution of Judgments remains a source of concern. The CM says that this situation deserves particular attention from the responsible national authorities. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)