As usual in January of each year, Guido Raimondi, President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), presented an overview of the institution's activities for the previous year.
The President welcomed France's ratification of Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights. This tenth ratification made it possible, in August 2018, for this new instrument to enter into force, allowing national higher courts to request an advisory opinion from the ECHR before taking a decision.
"This is a fundamental step in the history of the Convention and a major development in the protection of human rights in Europe", welcomed the President of the ECHR, adding that a first request had been made last October. It was issued by the French Court of Cassation and dealt with the issue of gestation for others. The ECHR is in the process of dealing with it.
Russia at the top of pending cases and judgements
More than 70% of the cases pending at the end of 2018 concern 6 of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, he said. "First, the Russian Federation with about 11,700 requests, then Romania with 8,500 requests, followed by Ukraine with about 7,200 requests and Turkey with 7,100 requests. Next come Italy with its 4,000 requests and Azerbaijan with its 2,000 requests," he listed.
According to Guido Raimondi, the Russian figure deserves to be highlighted "in the current context", because "it reflects the confidence of Russians in the ECHR and the importance it has for them". This link would be severed if - as it poses a threat (see EUROPE 12176, 12170) - Russia decides to leave the Council of Europe in the coming months.
On this highly political issue, the President of the ECHR refused to take a position for either side. But he stressed the "very good dialogue" between the Court and the Russian judicial authorities. "The large number of pending cases is also due to the size of the country," he added.
Overall, the number of applications pending in the Court amounted to 56,350 last December, almost identical to the 56,250 cases pending at the end of 2017.
On violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, the annual table published by the ECHR shows that the States with the highest number of judgements are the Russian Federation (238), Turkey (140), Ukraine (86), Romania (71) and Hungary (35).
"It is important to note that, for Russia, Romania and Hungary, these are mainly requests concerning detention conditions (priority, as they fall under Article 3 of the Convention prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment) while Turkey is mainly targeted by requests concerning illegal detentions," Mr Raimondi qualified.
Basically, "it is the structural situation in some countries that increases the Court's burden", noted Guido Raimondi, who calls for subsidiarity and asks national authorities to play "their full and complete role" in the implementation of the Convention. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)