MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/1507/H46-15

19 September 2024

1507th meeting, 17-19 September 2024 (DH) Human rights   H46-15 Abenavoli v. Italy (Application No. 25587/94) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference documents DH-DD(2024)699, DH-DD(2021)709, CM/Del/Dec(2021)1411/H46-19

 

Application	Case	Judgment of	Final on	Indicator for the classification
25587/94	ABENAVOLI	02/09/1997	02/09/1997	Complex problem

Case description

The Abenavoli case concerns the excessive length of proceedings before the administrative courts since the 1990s (violations of Article 6 § 1).

Status of execution

A)         Last examination by the Committee of Ministers

The Committee of Ministers examined the execution of this judgment (at the time a group of 44 cases) most recently at its 1411^th meeting (September 2021) (DH).

With regard to the general measures, the Committee noted with satisfaction that the progress achieved in the absorption of the backlog of pending administrative cases, the decreasing number of incoming cases and the average length of proceedings concerning socially and economically sensitive issues and interim measures had been further strengthened and consolidated since its previous examination (in 2016).

It underlined the key importance of creating a stable trend of reduction of the global average length of administrative proceedings to definitively settle this problem. In this context, it noted that while progress had continued to be achieved in reducing the disposition time for proceedings before administrative courts of first instance and the Council of State, this indicator remained to be further improved particularly with regards to first instance proceedings.

The Committee therefore called upon the authorities to provide their detailed assessment of the situation, based on complete and up to date statistics to enable it to carry out a comprehensive and possibly conclusive assessment of the status of execution at its next examination.

B)         Developments since the Committee’s last examination

In response to the last decision adopted by the Committee and in view of the present examination, the authorities provided an action report on 17 June 2024 (DH-DD(2024)699). The main information provided and/or available in the public domain can be summarised as follows:

-           General measures

The available data[1] show that the clearance rate[2] of the first-instance courts and the Council of State continued to remain steadily above 100% in the period 2021-2023 (126%) in line with the positive trend registered since 2016 (above 150% in 2016-2017 and above 130% in 2018-2020).[3]

Consequently, the backlog of cases pending before these jurisdictions decreased in 2023 from 145.962 pending cases in 2021 to 112.926[4] (238.729 in 2016).

To further enhance the elimination of the backlog, in 2019 the administrative courts established a practice of holding ad hoc hearings exclusively dedicated to older cases (i.e. pending on 31 December 2019). This allowed for the conclusion of 30.626 cases before regional administrative courts and the Council of State in the period 2021-2023.[5]   

With regard to incoming proceedings before administrative courts, an average of 60 274 new cases per year in the period 2021-2023 was recorded, reflecting continuity with recent previous years (on average 59.000 new cases per year in the period 2016 – 2020) and confirming a significant reduction since 2014 (74.484).

Since the last examination by the Committee, the disposition time^[6] before the first-instance courts has significantly decreased from 782 days in 2021 to 595 in 2023 (862 days in 2020), and before the Council of State from 647 days in 2021 to 366 in 2023 (701 days in 2020). 

The average length of proceedings relating to public procurement and interim/urgent measures in 2023 remained well below average being of 107 and 47 days respectively before the first-instance courts and 148 and 32 days on appeal.

Analysis of the Secretariat

Individual measures

It is recalled that in the light of the information provided by the authorities, no further individual measures are required in this case given that the just satisfaction has been paid to the applicant and the domestic proceedings at issue have been completed.^[7] 

General measures

a)       Measures adopted

Following the entry into force in 2010 of the new Code of Administrative Procedure,^[8] the authorities adopted a wide range of measures to provide an effective response to the long-standing problem of the excessive length of administrative proceedings.

These measures addressed the different aspects of this complex problem by, inter alia, reorganising the public administration system, modernising and streamlining administrative justice, limiting the number of new proceedings, restoring the efficiency of administrative proceedings and speeding up absorption of backlogs (for more details see CM/Notes/1273/H46-13 and CM/Notes/1411/H46-19).

The authorities’ action was further compounded by the increased recruitment of judges and supporting staff for the judiciary (including in 2023 and 2024)[9] and the completion of the full digitisation of administrative court proceedings.

The additional financial resources awarded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the objectives set therein (e.g. elimination of 70% of the backlog within five years) provided additional impetus to the authorities efforts (for more details see DH-DD(2024)699). 

b)       Overall impact of the measures adopted

The absorption of the massive backlog of administrative cases before the first-instance courts and the Council of State has been sustained since 2011, leading to the elimination of more than 75% of all pending cases by the end of 2023.^[10]  This positive trend has been constant for several years (including since the last examination of the Committee) and is expected to continue yielding positive results until the total elimination of the backlog. 

The clearance rate recorded in the period 2016-2023 was consistently well above 100% (on average 135%), allowing the system to effectively handle the flow of incoming applications which, in the same period, remained stable at an average of around 60 000 applications per year (19% less than in 2014).

The progress achieved regarding the above indicators contributed to a significant reduction of the global average length of administrative proceedings.^[11]

With regard to proceedings before the first-instance courts, it is recalled that only minor advances (63 days less) could be observed between 2016 and 2020. It is therefore very positive to note that since the Committee’s last examination in 2021, a positive trend can be detected which led to a significant reduction of the disposition time (in 2023, about one year and seven months: 263 days less than in 2020 when it was about two years and four months).^[12]  

As concerns the duration of proceedings before the Council of State, the encouraging trend noticed in the period 2016-2020^[13] continued and was improved upon since the last examination by the Committee, leading to an average length in 2023 of one year (335 days less than in 2020 when it was one year and eleven months).

It can also be noted with satisfaction that proceedings concerning public procurement and interim measures, continue to be handled very swiftly by administrative courts (both at first instance and appeal) with an average duration of about four months (public procurement) and one month and 10 days (interim measures).[14]

Conclusion

The available information and statistical data indicate that the measures adopted since 2010 by the Italian authorities have delivered consolidated improvement in all major relevant indicators (i.e. clearance rate, disposition time and inflow of cases), bringing the average length of administrative proceedings within  acceptable perimeters and placing the administrative justice system on sustainable and efficient tracks which can be expected to continue generating further advances in the years to come.

This is a welcome development as it reflects the effectiveness and adequacy of the response given by the authorities to this complex and long-lasting problem. The authorities should nonetheless remain vigilant and continue closely monitoring the situation and swiftly adopt all the corrective measures which may become necessary to preserve and further increase the positive results achieved. 

In this connection it can also be recalled that in Italy an effective compensatory remedy (“Pinto” remedy) has been available since 2001 to victims of excessively long proceedings.^[15]

Against this backdrop, it appears that the measures adopted and the progress they generated are sufficient to prevent similar violations. The Committee of Ministers may therefore wish to end its supervision of the execution of this judgment.  

Financing assured: YES