Support with reform

Full support for the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights as the foundation of the jurisprudence of the Court itself; reinforced commitment to the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms throughout Europe, in the framework of full application of the principle of subsidiarity; necessary reform of the Court, weighed down by a backlog of 120,000 outstanding cases: these were the main results of the Conference held at Interlaken (Switzerland) on 18-19 February, aimed at reviving the Court in the wider framework of the activities of the Council of Europe on which it depends.Implementing the Convention. The Conference had been promoted and organized by the Swiss Confederation, which currently holds the rotating six-month’ Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, highest political organ of the Council of Europe (founded in 1949 with its headquarters in Strasbourg and with a membership of 47 countries of the Old Continent). The European Court of Human Rights is given the task of implementing and enforcing compliance with the "Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms", which was drawn up by the Council and entered into force in 1953. The Court has a wide-ranging judicial role and deals with the most disparate cases involving the protection of individual and collective rights, freedom of thought and of religion, and the defence of minorities, ranging, geographically, from Germany to Sweden, from Turkey to Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia and Georgia. Recently the Court was in the headlines due to its sentence banning the display of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy, while it is about to rule on the problem of abortion raised by a group of Irish women citizens. Too many outstanding cases. With the Interlaken Declaration (consisting of seven pages, with the enunciation of some basic principles and an "Action Plan" comprising a list of short and medium term measures; downloadable on the website www.coe.int) the 47 States "reaffirm their determination to guarantee the long-term future of the Court" and its effective capacity for action. "The objective of the Conference – explains a statement put out by the Presidency of the Council of Europe – was to prepare the ground for the future reform of the European Court of Human Rights. The adoption of a joint declaration is a sign of the success of the Conference". The final Declaration pledges to "achieve a balance between the number of judgements and decisions delivered by the Court", "reduce the backlog of cases (120,000 in all), adjudicate new cases within a reasonable time", and "ensure the full and rapid execution of judgements of the Court and the effectiveness of its supervision by the Committee of Ministers". Micheline Calmy-Rey, Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, commented: "In Interlaken we have laid the foundations that will enable us to accelerate the reform process of the Court". The Secretary of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, added: "We will save the Court because we have no other choice. People in Europe deserve no less and will get no less". A necessary reform. Also present at Interlaken was of course the President of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Jean-Paul Costa, who declared: "I can assure you that in its independence our Court is extremely willing to follow the road indicated by the Interlaken Conference". The Declaration, for its part, underlines "the extraordinary contribution of the Court to the protection of human rights in Europe", rights that have been widened and developed considerably since the 1950s, when the Convention was drafted. On the other hand, it recognizes that the interpretation and application of the Convention must take account of a uniform interpretation and respect specific national characteristics and the principle of subsidiarity: the Declaration thus stresses "the fundamental role which national authorities, i.e. governments, courts and parliaments, must play in guaranteeing and protecting human rights at the national level". Go ahead to Protocol 14. While the Conference was sitting at Interlaken, the news came through that Russia has deposited the instrument of ratification of Protocol 14 to the Convention, already ratified by the other 46 member states of the Council of Europe. So the Protocol can enter into force on 1st June 2010. "This is excellent news for all Europeans", commented Jagland. "The Court can now handle in a more efficient way the numerous recourses it has received and contribute, in this way, to the reinforcement of fundamental rights within our continent". The entry into force of Protocol 14 "also opens the way to the European Union’s signing up to the Convention", made possible with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The Protocol in question introduces some reforms relating to rulings on the admissibility of recourses, new criteria of admissibility (as well as already existing conditions, such as having already gone through the various levels of the national judicial system), and gives greater powers to the Committee of Ministers to launch a judicial action before the Court in the case of the failure of a member state to implement its sentence.