COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2021)131/3

21 May 2021

131st Session of the Committee of Ministers (Hamburg (videoconference), 21 May 2021)   3. Securing the long-term effectiveness of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights

 

Decisions

The Committee of Ministers

Recognising the importance of securing the long-term effectiveness of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights in challenging times for the rule of law and human rights in democratic societies caused, inter alia, by the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures to combat its effects;

Recalling that, whilst no comprehensive reform of the Convention machinery is now needed, further efforts should be pursued by the Council of Europe as a whole to ensure that the Convention system can continue to respond effectively to the numerous human rights challenges Europe faces;

Reaffirming the unconditional obligation of States Parties to abide by the final judgments to which they are Party and their responsibility to resolve the systemic and structural human rights problems identified by the Court;

Reiterating the fundamental importance of an efficient supervision of the execution of judgments in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and credibility of the Convention system;

Recalling the various decisions adopted during the Interlaken process to this effect, most recently at the 130^th Ministerial Session (Athens), at which the Committee agreed to continue to enhance the efficiency of the process of supervision of execution of the Court’s judgments, particularly its Human Rights meetings, including by appropriate recourse to political leverage to deal with cases of non-execution or persistent refusal to execute the Court’s judgments;

1.         instructed the Ministers’ Deputies to examine whether and how to enhance the tools available to the Committee to supervise cases of non-execution or persistent refusal to execute the final judgments of the Court;

2.         welcomed the intergovernmental work on the effective processing and resolution of cases relating to inter-State disputes and instructed the Ministers’ Deputies to examine also questions arising from the process of the execution of judgments in such cases;

3.         welcomed the intergovernmental work on enhancing the national implementation of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights and in particular the progress made on Guidelines to member States on preventing, and ensuring remedies for, violations of the Convention, and encouraged their rapid conclusion; called upon the States Parties to continue strengthening the implementation of the Convention at the national level in accordance with previous declarations on securing the long-term effectiveness of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights;

4.         welcomed the imminent entry into force of Protocol No. 15 to the Convention.