Current issues and common challenges for the protection of human rights in Europe, Africa and the Americas

© Bonavero Institute of Human Rights

EIN Co-Director Anne-Katrin Speck and EIN Vice Chair, Professor Philip Leach (Middlesex University London, European Human Rights Advocacy Centre), participated in a Conference entitled ‘Current issues and common challenges for the protection of human rights in Europe, Africa and the Americas’, which took place at Travers Smith in London on 14 June 2019. The Conference, which was co-organised by the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex, the Human Rights Implementation Centre at Bristol University, and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, brought together leading figures from the three regional systems as well as international academics and practitioners.

Challenges relating to the implementation of the judgments and decision of the commissions and courts from the three regional human rights system was a thread that ran through the day-long discussions. The Conference provided a welcome opportunity for comparative review and dialogue, which revealed that implementation challenges stemmed, in part, from the supranational systems’ limited capacity to discern and assess steps towards (or steps going against) compliance with a ruling. In Europe, for instance, a team of only 39 lawyers within the Department for the Execution of Judgments deal with some 5,500 cases pending execution (Donald, Long and Speck, forthcoming). This precludes nearly any possibility for the DEJ to conduct its own in situ fact-finding, and highlights the importance of civil society actors stepping up and bringing shortcomings in the implementation process to the Committee of Ministers’ attention. 

The role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was at the heart of a presentation by EIN Co-Director Anne-Katrin Speck, who set out the key principles for effective advocacy for ECtHR judgment implementation. In an ideal-type scenario, she ventured, NGO involvement aimed at effective ECtHR judgment implementation

·        starts early (specifically, already at the litigation stage);

·        comes in the form of repeated engagement;

·        is built on coalitions between NGOs and other pro-implementation actors (who could be other NGOs, media actors, NHRIs, conscientious parliamentarians or state officials); and

·        is conducted domestically and through the Strasbourg system.

Anne demonstrated that, regrettably, reality does not match this ambition. Domestic advocacy for judgment implementation would still appear to be in its infancy in most places. This has led EIN to launch an open call for contributions aimed at collecting best practices that will feed into a new EIN resource on domestic advocacy. She also emphasised the need to reverse the downwards trend in the number of so-called ‘Rule 9’ submissions to the Committee of Ministers, which NGOs and national human rights institutions can use to ‘put the record straight’, refute inaccurate claims by governments that implementation had been successful, and call for heightened scrutiny by the Committee of Ministers.

Anne’s presentation concluded with a call for concerted efforts to facilitate civil society involvement in implementation. She urged NGOs to start identifying priority areas for engagement, by mapping the pending leading cases against their country and matching them with the thematic areas they are already working on. NGOs should moreover mobilise other civil society actors to form ‘implementation advocacy coalitions’, and seek out conscientious actors within state authorities to get them to support the cause.

Lastly, it was incumbent of the Council of Europe to undertake a series of measures to make the implementation process truly inclusive, including the following:

EIN would like to thank the co-conveners, Anthony Wenton, Dr Annelen Micus, Professor Clara Sandoval-Villalbe and Professor Rachel Murray, for the opportunity to inject a civil society perspective into that day’s debates.

Open call for contributions: Send us your input!

EIN Handbook about domestic advocacy for implementation of ECtHR judgments: Open call for information, input and views

Context and purpose

The European Implementation Network (EIN) is holding an open call for information, input and views on the issue of domestic advocacy aimed at promoting the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

This process follows on from EIN’s first General Assembly, held in Strasbourg in December 2018, at which there was wide agreement that NGOs should not only reinforce their efforts to engage in the supervision of the execution of the Court’s judgments by sending written submissions to the Committee of Ministers (CM) in accordance with Rule 9 of the Rules of the CM, but that they should also do more to push domestically for the full and effective implementation of ECtHR judgments.

Against this backdrop, the EIN Secretariat decided to provide guidance on strategies and tools for effective domestic advocacy for ECtHR judgment implementation.  The aim of this call for information, insights and views is to identify and examine what practice exists in this respect across Europe, with a view to assessing what strategies and tools have worked, and how domestic advocacy can be further strengthened.    

The information received through this process will be compiled and analysed by the EIN Secretariat, and form the backbone of a Toolkit or Handbook for domestic advocacy for ECtHR judgment implementation, to be produced by the end of 2019.

Procedure

This process is intended to be open and inclusive. Strategic use of ECtHR judgments to push domestically for reforms is an advocacy strategy that is still in its infancy, and a concerted effort is needed to shed light on existing good practice. The process is therefore open to NGOs, NHRIs and other civil society organisations, as well as interested individuals, who have worked on ECtHR judgment implementation. EIN members and partners are asked to not only provide answers themselves, but also to distribute this call more widely – by email, through their newsletters and on social media – to relevant organisations and people who might have interesting insights to share. Please send this email on to your respective members and partners, with a copy to director@einnetwork.org and contact@einnetwork.org, and re-tween EIN’s tweet.  

A few formalities

Contributions must be submitted in English and should be presented in Word format, in a single document with the attached form, and submitted by email to director@einnetwork.org, Cc: contact@einnetwork.org. The submissions will not be made public, or shared with anyone outside the EIN Secretariat. New deadline for submitting contributions: Friday 12th July.

We look forward to receiving your replies!

Political activist Ilgar Mammadov comments on the ECtHR judgment on the infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan

On 29th May, EIN organised a briefing from Ilgar Mammadov to delegates from the Committee of Ministers, to comment on the ECtHR judgment in his case. The judgment from the Grand Chamber, which had been published a few hours before the briefing, was a strong rebuke to the government of Azerbaijan for the non-implementation of the Court’s earlier judgment. 

In his video presentation, Mr Mammadov welcomed the judgment. Highlighting paragraph 189 of the text, he stated that the judgment as a whole essentially called for his acquittal.. He asked delegates to issue a Decision calling for:

1) Concrete protections for his right to stand in Parliamentary and Presidential elections; and

2) Material compensation

Furthermore, in subsequent written remarks Mr Mammadov emphasised the need for the measures under the threat of the application of Article 8 of the Council of Europe’s Statute – which involves suspension of voting rights in the Committee of Ministers or expulsion from the Organisation.

Finally, Mr Mammadov emphasised the importance of time. Snap elections could happen this Autumn. Mr Mammadov therefore called on to the delegates to act now and require his immediate acquittal. You can watch the complete video below.

Useful links:

Rule 9.1 from the applicant (13 May 2019)

Press release from the ECtHR of 29 May 2019

Written remarks of Mr Mammadov 2 June 2019