Nyt fra E u r o p a r å d e t
Opdatering januar og kalender februar
Pressemeddelelse DK 3/06,1. febru ar 2006
Brighter Prospects for the European Court of Human Rights
Strasbourg, 23.01.2006 - President of the European Court of Human Rights Luzius Wildhaber said today that
he was feeling more optimistic about the Court’s future, given an increase in annual productivity and recent
support from Europe’s governments.
Speaking at his annual press conference in the Human Rights Building in Strasbourg, Mr Wildhaber told
journalists that the number of judgments delivered by the Court in 2005 had risen by 54% (from 718 in 2004
to 1105 in 2005) and that the number of cases terminated by a judicial decision had gone up by 36% (from
20,350 to 27,612). For certain months in the year output had even exceeded the number of incoming cases.
Additional support from national governments – another cause for optimism – had led to an increase in the
Court’s budget, allowing it to recruit around 45 new members of staff.
The situation compares favourably to previous years when the President has expressed serious concerns
about the Court’s capacity to deal with its ever-growing workload.
He said today: “We have been through a difficult and uncertain period, but, at last, the prospects are starting
to look brighter for the Court. This year we have been able to increase substantially our productivity. We
have also received useful ideas for making further administrative reforms in the report reviewing the Court’s
working methods from Lord Woolf, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Finally we are satisfied
that the composition of the Wise Persons Group1 is a guarantee of a serious and independent study which
will lead to concrete proposals. The challenge for us and the Wise Persons Group is to preserve the historic
achievements of the Convention machinery and at the same time ensure that the system operates effectively
in the Europe of the 21st century. At the beginning of 2006 we are looking to the future, with renewed
confidence that this unique system will, with the support of the Council of Europe member governments,
confront successfully the challenges facing it.”
The Court has also issued its annual table of violations by country for 2005 at today’s press conference (link
to table), which reveals that Turkey had the highest number of judgments finding at least one violation
recorded against it (270), Ukraine had 119, Greece 100, Russia 81, Italy 67, France 51 and Poland 44. A
further 12 countries had between 10 and 30 judgments against them finding at least one violation and 27 had
fewer than 10.
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Iceland
Strasbourg, 26.01.2006 - The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published today the report on its visit to Iceland in June 2004,
together with the Icelandic Government's response. These documents have been made public at the request
of the Icelandic authorities.
In the report, the CPT reviewed measures taken by the Icelandic authorities in response to the Committee’s
recommendations made after its 1993 and 1998 visits, in particular as regards the safeguards offered to
persons detained by the police, the situation in penitentiary establishments, and the treatment of persons
subject to civil involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation and treatment. For the first time, the CPT examined
the modalities of the execution of decisions to deport foreign nationals by air.
The CPT's visit report and the Icelandic Government's response are available on the Committee's website:
http://www.cpt.coe.int
