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Supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights 2023 - 17th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers (2024)
Latest Annual Report on the execution of the European Court's judgments and decisions: significant progress, but important challenges remain
The Annual Report contains an overview of major advances and challenges recorded in the execution of the European Court’s judgments and decisions in 2023. It also provides a state by state overview along with statistics on notably: new, pending and closed cases; payment of just satisfaction awarded to applicants; and submission of action plans and reports by respondent states.
2023 continued to be marked by the full-fledged war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which continued to cause extraordinary suffering but also had severe consequences on Ukraine’s capacity to promptly execute the Court’s judgments. Nevertheless, Ukraine continued to demonstrate its commitment to the Convention system by actively engaging in the execution process.
The Committee of Ministers also implemented various innovative strategies in 2023 to supervise judgments against the Russian Federation by for example hearing directly from key interlocutors, including civil society and the United Nations.
For the first time, the statistics in the 2023 annual report are separated into those related to member states and those related to the Russian Federation, to give a clearer vision of the developments in the execution of cases pending against member states who continue to participate actively in the execution process and where progress is continually reported.
The adoption of the Reykjavík Declaration by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in 2023 was a key milestone, as member states at the highest- level expressly reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the Convention system and underlined the importance of the full, effective and prompt execution of the Court’s judgments. To this end, and following the guiding framework set out in that Declaration, the Department for the Execution of Judgments intensified work in 2023 to assist states through co-operation and dialogue with a record number of 140 missions and bilateral meetings with national authorities. Work also continued to increase the transparency of the execution process and reinforce as far as possible its participatory character and led to a steady increase in communications from civil society organisations and national human rights institutions.
The Annual Report contains an overview of major advances and challenges recorded in the execution of the European Court’s judgments and decisions in 2023. It also provides a state by state overview along with statistics on notably: new, pending and closed cases; payment of just satisfaction awarded to applicants; and submission of action plans and reports by respondent states.
2023 continued to be marked by the full-fledged war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which continued to cause extraordinary suffering but also had severe consequences on Ukraine’s capacity to promptly execute the Court’s judgments. Nevertheless, Ukraine continued to demonstrate its commitment to the Convention system by actively engaging in the execution process.
The Committee of Ministers also implemented various innovative strategies in 2023 to supervise judgments against the Russian Federation by for example hearing directly from key interlocutors, including civil society and the United Nations.
For the first time, the statistics in the 2023 annual report are separated into those related to member states and those related to the Russian Federation, to give a clearer vision of the developments in the execution of cases pending against member states who continue to participate actively in the execution process and where progress is continually reported.
The adoption of the Reykjavík Declaration by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in 2023 was a key milestone, as member states at the highest- level expressly reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the Convention system and underlined the importance of the full, effective and prompt execution of the Court’s judgments. To this end, and following the guiding framework set out in that Declaration, the Department for the Execution of Judgments intensified work in 2023 to assist states through co-operation and dialogue with a record number of 140 missions and bilateral meetings with national authorities. Work also continued to increase the transparency of the execution process and reinforce as far as possible its participatory character and led to a steady increase in communications from civil society organisations and national human rights institutions.
CHAPTER I – PREFACE BY THE CHAIRS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS MEETINGS
CHAPTER II – OVERVIEW OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW
GLOSSARY
CHAPTER II – OVERVIEW OF MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW
Introduction
A. Major advances in cases examined by the Committee of Ministers
B. Developments in inter-state and other cases related to post-conflict situations or unresolved conflicts
C. “Article 18” cases concerning abusive limitations of rights and freedoms
D. Systemic, structural or complex problems and advances
E. Institutional dialogue between the Court and the Committee of Ministers
F. Closure of individual repetitive cases
Concluding Remarks
CHAPTER III – COOPERATION, ASSISTANCE AND DIALOGUE
Introduction
A. Enhanced dialogue
B. Thematic events and round tables
C. Synergies with co-operation programmes
D. Synergies with monitoring/advisory bodies and other relevant Council of Europe departments
E. Synergies with Civil society organisations (CSO) & National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI)
F. Human Rights Education for legal professionals
G. Media and Publications
CHAPTER IV – STATISTICS ABOUT MEMBER STATES
A. State by state overview
B. New cases
B.1. Overview
B.2. Leading or repetitive cases
B.3. Enhanced or standard supervision
B.4. New cases – state by state
C. Pending cases
C.1. Overview
C.2. Leading or repetitive cases
C.3. Enhanced or standard supervision
C.4. Pending cases – state by state
C.5. Length of the execution of leading cases pending
C.6. Main themes of leading cases under enhanced supervision
C.7. Main states with leading cases under enhanced supervision
D. Closed cases
D.1. Overview
D.2. Leading or repetitive cases
D.3. Enhanced or standard supervision
D.4. Closed cases – state by state
D.5. Length of the execution of leading cases closed
E. Just satisfaction
E.1. Just satisfaction awarded
E.2. Respect of payment deadlines
F. Additional statistics
F.1. Overview of friendly settlements and WECL cases
F.2. WECL cases and friendly settlements – state by state
CHAPTER V – SUPERVISION OF THE EXECUTION OF CASES AGAINST THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
A. Overview of the situation
A.1. Previous reforms and measures adopted following European Court’s judgments
A.2. Continued supervision of cases following exclusion from the Council of Europe
A.3. Co-operation with the United Nations and civil society
B. Statistics
B.1. New cases
B.2. Pending cases
B.3. Main themes of leading cases pending
B.4. Closed cases
B.5. Just satisfaction awarded
CHAPTER VI – STATISTICS ON THE SUPERVISION PROCESS
A. Action plans/reports
B. Interventions of the Committee of Ministers
C. Transfers of leading cases/groups of cases
D. Contributions from Civil Society Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions
CHAPTER VII – NEW JUDGMENTS WITH INDICATIONS OF RELEVANCE FOR THE EXECUTION
A. Pilot judgments which became final in 2023
B. Judgments with indications of relevance for the execution (under Article 46) which became final in 2023
CHAPTER VIII – WHERE TO FIND FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE EXECUTION OF JUDGMENTS GLOSSARY
Latest Annual Report on the execution of the European Court's judgments and decisions: significant progress, but important challenges remain
The Annual Report contains an overview of major advances and challenges recorded in the execution of the European Court’s judgments and decisions in 2023. It also provides a state by state overview along with statistics on notably: new, pending and closed cases; payment of just satisfaction awarded to applicants; and submission of action plans and reports by respondent states.
2023 continued to be marked by the full-fledged war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which continued to cause extraordinary suffering but also had severe consequences on Ukraine’s capacity to promptly execute the Court’s judgments. Nevertheless, Ukraine continued to demonstrate its commitment to the Convention system by actively engaging in the execution process.
The Committee of Ministers also implemented various innovative strategies in 2023 to supervise judgments against the Russian Federation by for example hearing directly from key interlocutors, including civil society and the United Nations.
For the first time, the statistics in the 2023 annual report are separated into those related to member states and those related to the Russian Federation, to give a clearer vision of the developments in the execution of cases pending against member states who continue to participate actively in the execution process and where progress is continually reported.
The adoption of the Reykjavík Declaration by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in 2023 was a key milestone, as member states at the highest- level expressly reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the Convention system and underlined the importance of the full, effective and prompt execution of the Court’s judgments. To this end, and following the guiding framework set out in that Declaration, the Department for the Execution of Judgments intensified work in 2023 to assist states through co-operation and dialogue with a record number of 140 missions and bilateral meetings with national authorities. Work also continued to increase the transparency of the execution process and reinforce as far as possible its participatory character and led to a steady increase in communications from civil society organisations and national human rights institutions.
The Annual Report contains an overview of major advances and challenges recorded in the execution of the European Court’s judgments and decisions in 2023. It also provides a state by state overview along with statistics on notably: new, pending and closed cases; payment of just satisfaction awarded to applicants; and submission of action plans and reports by respondent states.
2023 continued to be marked by the full-fledged war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which continued to cause extraordinary suffering but also had severe consequences on Ukraine’s capacity to promptly execute the Court’s judgments. Nevertheless, Ukraine continued to demonstrate its commitment to the Convention system by actively engaging in the execution process.
The Committee of Ministers also implemented various innovative strategies in 2023 to supervise judgments against the Russian Federation by for example hearing directly from key interlocutors, including civil society and the United Nations.
For the first time, the statistics in the 2023 annual report are separated into those related to member states and those related to the Russian Federation, to give a clearer vision of the developments in the execution of cases pending against member states who continue to participate actively in the execution process and where progress is continually reported.
The adoption of the Reykjavík Declaration by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in 2023 was a key milestone, as member states at the highest- level expressly reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the Convention system and underlined the importance of the full, effective and prompt execution of the Court’s judgments. To this end, and following the guiding framework set out in that Declaration, the Department for the Execution of Judgments intensified work in 2023 to assist states through co-operation and dialogue with a record number of 140 missions and bilateral meetings with national authorities. Work also continued to increase the transparency of the execution process and reinforce as far as possible its participatory character and led to a steady increase in communications from civil society organisations and national human rights institutions.