The Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights — A Political Battle
| Author | Marinella Marmo |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0801500205 |
| Published date | 01 June 2008 |
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
15 MJ 2 (2008) 235
THE EXECUTION OF JUDGMENTS OF
THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN
RIGHTS A POLITICAL BATTLE
M M*
ABSTRACT
e ecacy and eectiveness of the European Convention of Human Rights depends on the
implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In the past and until
recently, the trust in and actual authority of the Court has predominantly compensated for
the lack of direct and e xecutive power over signatory parti es to the European Convention.
However, the workload of the Court is increasing at an ex ponential rate; at the same time,
individuals from several ne w member states are not ma king full use of this enforcement
machinery. As a result of the se two elements, combined with the lack of execution of some
judgments for legal–political reasons, compliance with the Court’s judgments has become a
priority in the political agenda of the Council of Europe. Some recent developments include
Protocol 14 to the European C onvention and the setting up of the Group of Wise Persons.
ese actions indicate that the Council of Europe has recognised that eective enforcement
machinery is paramount for its cred ibility.
Keywords: European Cour t of Human R ights; Commit tee of Ministers, execution of
judgments; Protocol 14; Group of Wise Persons
§1. INTRODUCTION
Compliance w ith international courts’ judgments on human rig hts issues is becoming
an area of major concern at a national, European and internationa l level.1 Until recently,
* e author is Lect urer in Crimina l Justice at School of Law, Flind ers University, Australi a.
1 D. Shelton, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (OUP, 2 005); M. Bulterman & M. Ku ijer
(eds.), Compliance with judgments of Inter national Courts (M artinus Nijho, 1996); P. Leuprecht , ‘e
Execution of judgme nts and decisions’, in R. St. J. Macdonald, F. Matscher & H. Petzold (eds.), e
European system fo r the protection of human ri ghts (Springer, 1993), 729.
Marinell a Marmo
236 15 MJ 2 (2008)
the est ablishment of a harmonised interpretat ion of human rights was t he main focu s
of academics and practitioners concerned with re spect for human rights. at foc us is
now shi ing to compliance. With in the European c ontext, the Europe an Convention
for t he Protection of Human Rig hts and Freedoms (‘Europea n Convention’) and the
European Cou rt of Human R ights (‘ECtHR’ or ‘Court’) have succeeded in es tablishing
their in uence and authority.2 e sy stematic and rapid implementation of the Court’s
judgments has revealed its elf to be the new challenge, as t he execution of the judgments
of the ECt HR is an essential part of the en forcement mechanisms envisaged by the
European Convention. Without implementation, the ECtHR would have little impact on
the European Convention signatory part ies’ national legal s ystems, and the es tablished
authority would be eventually eroded. Yet th is impor tant a spect has not been ful ly
considered.3 e C ouncil of Europe (‘CoE’) states t hat ‘the execution of the C ourt’s
judgment is an aspect of the European Convention system about which the public still
knows very little but wh ich is obviously of prime importance’.4
e Europea n Convention is ope n to more t han eight hund red million people and
the workload of the ECtHR has g rown dramatica lly. Despite it s ‘slow’ beg inning, t he
Court’s success has meant t hat the workload ha s almost doubled every ve years, with
a dramatic acc eleration in the more recent period, as a conse quence of the geographical
enlargement of the CoE in the 1990s.5 e success of the Court and the immense increase
in workload has created an ‘alarming situation’ according to some.6 Indeed, the Review of
the Working Methods of the European C ourt of Human Rights reveals t hat the number
of pending ca ses before the Court i n 2005 was 82,100. It reached a peak of 89,000 ca ses
in 2006,7 and is ex pected to increase further to 250 ,000 by 2010.8
e CoE is concerned that, due to increasing applicat ions under the Convention, the
eectiveness of the enforcement system is compromised, d amaging the credibility and
2 R. Beddard , Human Rights and Europe (Grotiu s Publisher, 1993); A. H. Roberts on and J. G. Merrills,
Human Rig hts in Europe (Manchest er University Press, 1993), 376; M. Janis, R . Kay and A. Bradley,
European Human Right s Law (OUP, 2000).
3 L. F. Zwaak, ‘Overview of the European experience in giving eect to the protections in European human
rights inst ruments, Working Session on t he implementation of internation al human rights obli gations
and standa rds in the Inter-Ame rican System’, e Internat ional Justice Proje ct, Washington, 1 March
2003, 50 http://ww w.internationaljust iceproject.org/pdfs /Zwaak-speech.pdf.
4 Council of Eu rope, A Unique and eective sys tem, section 1, ht tp://www.coe.int/ T/E/Human_right s/
execution/01_ Introduction /01_Introduct ion.asp.
5 Merrills, e d evelopment of Intern ational Law by the Europe an Court of Human Right s, 16–17;
Explanator y Report, Protocol 14 to the Convention for the Prot ection of Human R ights and
Fundamenta l Freedoms, amending t he control system of the Convent ion, (CETS 194/2004) para 6.
6 L. Ca isch, ‘ e Reform of t he Europe an Cour t of Human Rights: Protocol No. 14 and Beyond’, 6
H.R.L. Rev. 403 (20 06), 404.
7 Group of W ise Persons, Final Report to the Com mittee of Ministers , 979bis Meeting, 15 November
2006, CM(200 6)203, para. 27.
8 Lord Woolf & R eview Team, Re view of the working method s of the European Court of Human Rig hts,
(Doc. 154504 4/2005), 4.
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