On the 1st of June ENNHRI attended in Strasbourg a debate on the 10th Annual Report on the supervision of the execution of judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The event was organized by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) and was well attended by numerous representatives of the CoE’s monitoring and consultative bodies.

Julie Lejeune, ENNHRI policy officer, provided comments on the Annual Report, welcoming the overall positive developments that have taken place with regard to the execution of judgements over the last decade. She highlighted the important role played by NHRIs in this regard: one of their core functions being ensuring the compliance of national and international obligations, NHRIs are strategically placed between national authorities and civil society to advise on effective compliance with judgements.

Considering the challenging environment that surrounds the supervision of execution of judgements and decisions, ENNHRI recalled the different ways in which NHRIs can play a supporting role and further expressed its readiness to support NHRIs through trainings, legal and advocacy support, as well as by encouraging NHRIs to report on regional and international fora. Given that the number of submissions made by NHRIs is on the rise, ENNHRI is in the process of establishing further guidance and enhanced training.

The debate focused in particular on how to support the execution of technically complex cases as well as cases that are sensible for other (political or society) reasons. Speakers included: Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, Vice-President and Judge at the European Court of Human Rights; René Rouquet, Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Nils Muiznieks, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe; Ms Brigitte Konz, Chairperson of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH); and Ms Anna Rurka, President of the Conference of the INGOs.

Photo: Council of Europe Committee of Ministers