EIT:n presidentti korostaa jäsenvaltioiden vastuuta ihmisoikeuksien toteuttamisessa

President Raimondi presents the Court’s results for 2017

Speaking at the annual press conference of the European Court of Human Rights on 25 January 2018, President Guido Raimondi took stock of the year 2017 and reported an increase in the number of incoming applications, mainly as a result of new cases brought against Turkey. However, while there had been some 80,000 applications pending before the Court at the end of 2016, this figure had fallen to approximately 56,000 by the end of 2017, a decrease of 17%. The considerable reduction in the volume of cases was accounted for by the large number of applications declared inadmissible for failure to exhaust domestic remedies. In the case of Burmych and Others v. Ukraine the Court had found that the systemic problem raised was to be treated as part of the execution procedure for the Ivanov v. Ukraine pilot judgment. It had therefore decided to strike out more than 12,000 pending cases, transmitting them to the Committee of Ministers. President Raimondi highlighted the importance of the subsidiarity principle, which placed States at the forefront of protecting the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. This made it absolutely essential for applicants to avail themselves of an effective remedy before bringing their case to Strasbourg, and for States to eliminate structural problems, including by setting up such remedies.

By the end of 2017 the number of pending cases stood at 56,250, down 29% compared to the end of 2016 (when there were 79,750 applications pending). At the press conference the Court also released its annual activity report and its statistics for 2017. The annual table of violations by country shows that the States with the highest number of judgments against them finding at least one violation of the Convention were Russia (305 judgments), Turkey (116), Ukraine (87), Romania (69), Bulgaria (39) and Greece (37). Moreover, at 31 December 2017 the majority of pending cases were against Romania (17.6%), Russia (13.8%), Turkey (13.3%), Ukraine (12.6%) and Italy (8.3%). President Raimondi emphasised that subsidiarity was the cornerstone of the Convention system, entailing obligations for States and applicants alike.

Press Conference of the President of the European Court of Human Rights 2018