MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2021)1419/H46-29

2 December 2021

1419th meeting, 30 November – 2 December 2021 (DH)   H46-29 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/1419/H46-29

 

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, in accordance with Article 2 of Protocol No. 1;  

4.            noted the explanations given by the Russian authorities as regards their efforts to reach a common understanding as to the scope of the execution measures flowing from these judgments; deeply deplored however that, some nine years after the Catan and Others judgment became final, the Russian authorities have failed to provide the Committee with information on the concrete measures taken or foreseen to execute the judgments in this group; underlined in this context the unconditional obligation under Article 46 § 1 of the Convention on respondent states to execute all judgments against them;

5.            strongly urged the Russian authorities, therefore, to provide an action plan setting out concrete measures and to proceed without further delay with the payment of the just satisfaction awarded to the applicants by the Court, along with the interest accrued;

6.            underlined the importance of identifying practical steps to implement the judgments after such a long delay and, in the absence of an action plan, instructed the Secretariat to prepare to this end, in time for the Committee’s next examination of this group, an analysis of the measures required, in the light of the Court’s findings and the current factual conditions concerning the functioning of the Latin-script schools;

7.            decided to resume consideration of this group at their 1428^th meeting (March 2022) (DH), including by examining all appropriate means at their disposal to secure the execution of the judgments in this group.