(Brussels, 22 February)
Following the British Government’s growing criticism of the European Court of
Human Rights, Amnesty International has appealed for support for the Court,
which is one the world’s most developed human rights protection mechanisms.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed reforming the Court, but
Amnesty International is concerned that the British proposals are misguided and
would represent a net loss for human rights.
“David
Cameron is short-changing the Court’s role by calling it a ‘small claims court’.
Changes to the Court mustn’t be allowed to compromise the essential right of
access to the Court” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty
International’s European Institutions Office. “The case for reform is based
on the myth that the Court is somehow paralysed by its case load. In fact the
Court decided 52,000 cases last year.”
The Strasbourg Court issued full judgments in 1,500 cases last year; 85% of
which found human rights violations. Generally, these cases involved violations
of fair trial rights or freedom from torture or other ill-treatment.
Amnesty International believes the
proposals tabled by the UK and Switzerland are more harmful than effective. In
aiming to reduce the number of ‘inadmissible’ and ‘repetitive’ cases, a serious
restriction of the Court’s accessibility would probably result, as people would
no longer be able to take cases to the Court. While inadmissible cases are a
burden familiar to most judicial systems, Amnesty International believes they
cannot be used to justify artificially limiting access to the Court, with
potentially damaging consequences for human rights protection in Europe.
The Court is already taking steps to ensure inadmissible cases are dealt
with resourcefully. Amnesty International considers that the Court should be
given the support it needs, including financial support, to ensure it can
address its backlog. The organisation believes there is insufficient effort at
national level, which the Court also emphasised in its Opinion on Monday.
Amnesty International joins the Court’s call for Council of Europe member states
urgently and effectively to tackle the root causes of repetitive cases and
target the structural and endemic situations which generate such cases. It also
believes all countries should be making greater efforts to implement the Court’s
rulings, especially in the cases of Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania,
Russia and Turkey, which in 2011 accounted for most of the Court’s judgements
finding violations.
(European Institutions Office
Amnesty International)
