MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2021)1406/H46-26

9 June 2021

1406th meeting, 7-9 June 2021 (DH)   H46-26 Catan and Others group v. Russian Federation (Application No. 43370/04) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference document CM/Notes/1406/H46-26

 

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         recalling that these cases concern violations of the rights of children, parents and staff members of Latin-script schools located in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova during the periods
2002- 2004 (Catan and Others, Bobeico and Others) and 2013-2014 (Iovcev and Others);

2.         recalling further that in its judgment in Catan and Others, whilst observing that there was “no evidence of any direct participation by Russian agents in the measures taken against the applicants”, nor “any evidence of Russian involvement in or approbation for the ‘MRT’s’ language policy in general”, the European Court nonetheless found that “by virtue of its continued military, economic and political support for the ‘MRT’, which could not otherwise survive, Russia incurs responsibility under the Convention for the violation of the applicants’ rights to education”;

3.         reiterating the fundamental importance of primary and secondary education for each child’s personal development and future success and insisting upon the pupils’ right to continue to receive education in the language of their country, which is also their mother tongue, without hindrance or harassment;

4.         deeply deploring that the victims have still not benefitted from any form of redress for the violations incurred, including the payment of just satisfaction, and once again firmly insisting on the unconditional obligation of every respondent State, under Article 46 § 1 of the Convention, to abide by each and every final judgment in cases to which it is a party, including by paying any just satisfaction awarded by the Court;

5.         recalling the Russian authorities’ commitment to arrive at an acceptable response as to the execution of these judgments and the explanations given by them as regards their efforts to reach a common understanding as to the scope of the execution measures flowing from these judgments, nonetheless deeply deplored that the Committee still has not received any action plan setting out the concrete measures taken or envisaged by the Russian Federation to implement the judgments;

6.         invited, therefore, the Secretary General to write a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, to underline both the fundamental importance of the right to education and the unconditional obligation to abide by the judgments of the Court, including by paying the just satisfaction awarded to the applicants in the judgments concerning these cases;

7.         decided, finally, that should no tangible progress as regards execution measures have been achieved by the time of the Committee’s next examination, at its 1419^th meeting (December 2021) (DH), to consider all appropriate means at their disposal to secure the execution of the judgments in this group.