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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2021)1411/H46-37 |
16 September 2021 |
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1411th meeting, 14-16 September 2021 (DH) H46-37 Kavala (Application No. 28749/18) and Mergen and Others group (Application No. 44062/09) v. Turkey Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference document |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled that in these cases the Court found that the applicants were detained in the absence of evidence to support a reasonable suspicion they had committed an offence (violation of Article 5 § 1) and that in the case of Kavala it found in addition that the applicant’s arrest and pre-trial detention pursued an ulterior purpose, namely to silence him and dissuade other human rights defenders (violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Article 5) and that the one year and nearly five months taken by the Constitutional Court to review his complaint was insufficiently “speedy”, given that his personal liberty was at stake (violation of Article 5 § 4);
As regards individual measures
Mergen and Others group
2. noting that the applicants have been released from pre-trial detention, concluded that no additional individual measure is required for this group; decided to close this group of cases, without prejudice to the continuing need for general measures on the issue of detention without relevant or sufficient reasoning which will continue to be examined in the Nedim Sener group, and adopted Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2021)207;
Kavala case
3. considered that the failure of the Turkish authorities to remove the negative consequences for the applicant of the violations found by the Court, in particular to ensure the applicant’s immediate release, despite the Committee’s repeated appeals, suggests a refusal by the respondent State to abide by the final judgment of the Court in the present case;
4. decided, therefore, in the light of their previous decisions, in particular the decisions adopted at the 1406th meeting (June 2021) (DH), that it is necessary, in order to ensure the implementation of the judgment, to make use of proceedings under Article 46 § 4 of the Convention, and expressed their resolve to serve formal notice on Turkey of their intention to commence these proceedings in accordance with Article 46 § 4 of the Convention at their 1419th meeting (30 November – 2 December 2021) (DH), in the event that the applicant is not released before then;
As regards general measures
5. reiterated their call upon the Turkish authorities to take legislative and other measures to ensure the full independence and impartiality of the Turkish judiciary, including from the executive branch, taking inspiration from the Council of Europe standards, in particular as regards the structural independence of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors.