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High-level Conference on the “Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, our shared responsibility”
Brussels Declaration 27 March 2015
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The High-level Conference meeting in Brussels on 26 and 27 March 2015 at the initiative of the Belgian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (“the Conference”):
Reaffirms the deep and abiding commitment of the States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) and their strong attachment to the right of individual application to the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) as a cornerstone of the system for protecting the rights and freedoms set forth in the Convention;
Acknowledges the extraordinary contribution of the Convention system to the protection and promotion of human rights in Europe since its establishment and reaffirms its central role in maintaining democratic stability across the Continent;
Recalls, in this respect, the interdependence between the Convention and the other activities of the Council of Europe in the field of human rights, the rule of law and democracy, the objective being to develop the common democratic and legal space founded on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Reaffirms the principles of the Interlaken, Izmir and Brighton Declarations and welcomes the very encouraging results achieved to date by the Council of Europe in the framework of the reform of the Convention system, through the implementation of these declarations;
Welcomes, in particular, the efforts of the Court as regards the swift implementation of Protocol No. 14 to the Convention, which entered into force on 1 June 2010, and that the backlog of manifestly inadmissible cases is expected to be cleared in 2015;
Welcomes, in the light of the positive results obtained, the new working methods of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments, which entered into force on 1 January 2011 and which inter alia strengthen the principle of subsidiarity;
Reiterates the subsidiary nature of the supervisory mechanism established by the Convention and in particular the primary role played by national authorities, namely governments, courts and parliaments, and their margin of appreciation in guaranteeing and protecting human rights at national level, while involving National Human Rights Institutions and civil society where appropriate;
Underlines the obligations of States Parties under Article 34 of the Convention not to hinder the exercise of the right to individual application, including by observing Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court regarding interim measures, and under Article 38 of the Convention to furnish all necessary facilities to the Court during the examination of the cases;
Underlines the importance of Article 46 of the Convention on the binding force of the Court’s judgments, which stipulates that the States Parties undertake to abide by the final judgments of the Court in any case to which they are parties;
Stresses the importance of further promoting knowledge of and compliance with the Convention within all the institutions of the States Parties, including the courts and parliaments, pursuant to the principle of subsidiarity; Recalls in this context that the execution of the Court’s judgments may require the involvement of the judiciary and parliaments;
Whilst noting the progress achieved by States Parties with regard to the execution of judgments, emphasises the importance of the full, effective and prompt execution of judgments and of a strong political commitment by the States Parties in this respect, thus strengthening the credibility of the Court and the Convention system in general;
Is convinced that further to the improvements already carried out, emphasis must now be placed on the current challenges, in particular the repetitive applications resulting from the non-execution of Court judgments, the time taken by the Court to consider and decide upon potentially well-founded cases, the growing number of judgments under supervision by the Committee of Ministers and the difficulties of States Parties in executing certain judgments due to the scale, nature or cost of the problems raised. To this end, additional measures are necessary in order to:
The Conference therefore:
(1) Reaffirms the strong attachment of the States Parties to the Convention to the right of individual application;
(2) Reiterates the firm determination of the States Parties to fulfil their primary obligation to ensure that the rights and freedoms set forth in the Convention and its protocols are fully secured at national level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;
(3) Invites each stakeholder to ensure that the necessary means are available to fulfil its role in the implementation of the Convention, in conformity with the Convention providing for shared responsibility between the States Parties, the Court and the Committee of Ministers;
(4) Welcomes the work carried out by the Court in particular regarding the dissemination of its judgments and decisions, through its information notes, its practical guide on admissibility, as well as its case-law guides and thematic factsheets;
(5) Reaffirms the need to maintain the independence of the judges and to preserve the impartiality, quality and authority of the Court;
(6) Acknowledges the role of the Registry of the Court in maintaining the highest efficiency in the management of applications and in the implementation of the reform process;
(7) Invites the Court to remain vigilant in upholding the States Parties’ margin of appreciation;
(8) Stresses the need to find, both at the level of the Court and in the framework of the execution of judgments, effective solutions for dealing with repetitive cases;
(9) Encourages in this regard States Parties to give priority to alternative procedures to litigation such as friendly settlements and unilateral declarations;
(10) Recalling Article 46 of the Convention, stresses that full, effective and prompt execution by the States Parties of final judgments of the Court is essential;
(11) Reiterates the importance of the Committee of Ministers respecting the States Parties’ freedom to choose the means of full and effective execution of the Court’s judgments;
(12) Calls for enhancing, at the level of both the Committee of Ministers and the States Parties, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the effectiveness of the system of supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments;
(13) Encourages the bodies of the Council of Europe to increase and improve their activities of co-operation and bilateral dialogue with States Parties with regard to the implementation of the Convention, including by facilitating access to information on good practices, and invites States Parties to make full use of the said activities;
(14) Calls on the States Parties to sign and ratify Protocol No. 15 amending the Convention as soon as possible and to consider signing and ratifying Protocol No. 16;
(15) Reaffirms the importance of the accession of the European Union to the Convention and encourages the finalisation of the process at the earliest opportunity;
(16) Takes note of the work currently being carried out by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), as a follow-up to the Brighton Declaration, on the reform of the Convention system and its long-term future, the results of which are foreseen in December 2015;
(17) Adopts the present Declaration in order to give political impetus to the current reform process to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the Convention system.
Action Plan:
A. Interpretation and application of the Convention by the Court
1. Bearing in mind the jurisdiction of the Court to interpret and apply the Convention, the Conference underlines the importance of clear and consistent case-law as well as the Court’s interactions with the national authorities and the Committee of Ministers, and in this regard:
2. Recalling the remaining challenges, including the repetitive cases, the Conference underlines the importance of an efficient control of the observance of the engagements undertaken by States Parties under the Convention and, in this regard, supports:
B. Implementation of the Convention at national level
The Conference recalls the primary responsibility of the States Parties to ensure the application and effective implementation of the Convention and, in this regard, reaffirms that the national authorities and, in particular, the courts are the first guardians of human rights ensuring the full, effective and direct application of the Convention – in the light of the Court’s case law – in their national legal system, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.
The Conference calls upon the States Parties to:
1. Prior to and independently of the processing of cases by the Court:
2. After the Court’s judgments:
C. Supervision of the execution of judgments
The Conference underlines the importance of the efficient supervision of the execution of judgments in order to ensure the long-term sustainability and credibility of the Convention system and, for this purpose:
1. Encourages the Committee of Ministers to:
2. Encourages the Secretary General and, through him, the Department for the Execution of Judgments to:
3. Also encourages:
Implementation of the Action plan:
In order to implement this Action Plan, the Conference:
(1) first and foremost calls on the States Parties, the Committee of Ministers, the Secretary General and the Court to give full effect to this plan;
(2) calls on the Committee of Ministers to decide, at the Ministerial Session on 19 May 2015, to take stock of the implementation of, and make an inventory of good practices relating to, Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)2 on efficient domestic capacity for rapid execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and, if appropriate, provide for updating the Recommendation in the light of practices developed by the States Parties;
(3) calls on the States Parties to adopt, in the light of this Action Plan, possible new measures to improve their judgment execution process and to provide the Committee of Ministers with information on this subject before the end of June 2016;
(4) encourage all States Parties to examine, together with the Department for the Execution of Judgments, all their pending cases, identify those that can be closed and the remaining major problems and, on the basis of this analysis, work towards progressively absorbing the backlog of pending cases;
(5) calls, in particular, on the Committee of Ministers and the States Parties to involve, where appropriate, civil society and National Human Rights Institutions in the implementation of the Action Plan;
(6) invites the Committee of Ministers to evaluate, while respecting the calendar set out in the Interlaken Declaration, the extent to which implementation of this Action Plan has improved the effectiveness of the Convention system. On the basis of this evaluation, the Committee of Ministers should decide, before the end of 2019, on whether more far-reaching changes are necessary;
(7) asks the Belgian Chairmanship to transmit this Declaration and the Proceedings of the Brussels Conference to the Committee of Ministers;
(8) invites the future Chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers to monitor implementation of this Action Plan.
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