- 2 -High Level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human RightsDraft Brighton DeclarationDraft presented on 23 February 2012The High Level Conference meeting at Brighton on 19 and 20 April 2012 at theinitiative of the United Kingdom Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers ofthe Council of Europe ('the Conference') declares as follows:1. The States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights andFundamental Freedoms ("the Convention') reaffirm their deep and abidingcommitment to the Convention, and to the fulfilment of their obligation underthe Convention to secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights andfreedoms defined in the Convention.2. The right of individual application to the European Court of Human Rights("the Court') is a key component of the machinery for protecting the rights andfreedoms set forth in the Convention. The European Court of Human Rights ("theCourt") has made an extraordinary contribution to the protection of human rightsin Europe for over 50 years.3. The States Parties and the Court share responsibility for realising theeffective implementation of the Convention, underpinned by the fundamentalprinciple of subsidiarity. States Parties must respect the rights and freedomsguaranteed by the Convention, and must effectively resolve violations at thenational level. The Court acts as a safeguard for violations that have not beenremedied at national level, in accordance with its subsidiary jurisdiction tointerpret and apply the Convention. Where the Court finds a violation, StatesParties must abide by the final judgment of the Court.4. The States Parties and the Court also share responsibility for ensuring theviability of the Convention mechanism. The States Parties are determined to workin partnership with the Court to achieve this, drawing also on the importantwork of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Commissionerfor Human Rights, and other institutions and bodies of the Council of Europe,and working in a spirit of co-operation with civil society and therepresentatives of applicants to the Court.5. The High Level Conference at Interlaken ("the Interlaken Conference') in itsDeclaration of 19 February 2010 noted with deep concern that the number ofapplications brought before the Court and that the deficit between applicationsIntroduced and applications disposed of continued to grow. It considered thatthis situation caused damage to the effectiveness and credibility of theConvention and its supervisory mechanism and represented a threat to the qualityand the consistency of the case law and the authority of the Court It thereforeadopted an Action Plan to address these issues.6. The High Level Conference at Izmir ("the Izmir Conference') in itsDeclaration of 27 April 2011 welcomed the concrete progress achieved followingthe Interlaken Conference, but noted with concern the continuing increase in thenumber of applications brought before the Court. It considered that theprovisions introduced by Protocol No. 14 to the Convention, which came intoforce on 1 June 2010, would not provide a lasting and comprehensive solution tothe problems facing the Convention system. The Conference therefore adopted aFollow-up Plan building on the Action Plan adopted by the Interlaken Conference.7. The States Parties are very grateful to the Swiss and Turkish Chairmanshipsof the Committee ofMinisters for having convened these conferences, and to all those who havehelped fulfil the action and follow-up plans. The results achieved within theframework of Protocol No. 14 remain broadly encouraging, particularly as aresult of the measures taken by the Court and its Registry to increase
efficiency and address the number of applications pending before the Court. Thegrowing number of potentially well-founded applications pending before the Courtis however a matter of deep concern.- 3 -8. In light of the current situation of the Convention and the Court, the stepsforeseen by the Interlaken and Conferences must continue to be fullyimplemented. Further measures are also needed to ensure that the Convention andthe Court remain effective and can continue to protect the rights and freedomsof over 800 million people in Europe.A. Implementation of the Convention at national level9. The full implementation of the Convention at national level requires nationalauthorities to take effective measures to prevent violations. All publicofficials should discharge their responsibilities, and all laws and policiesshould be formulated, in a way that gives full effect to the Convention.10. National authorities must also provide means by which remedies may be soughtfor alleged violations of the Convention. National courts and tribunals shouldtake into account relevant aspects of the Convention and the case law of theCourt in formulating their judgments.11. Collectively, these measures should reduce the number of violations of theConvention. They would also reduce the number of well-founded applicationspresented to the Court, thereby helping to control its workload.12. The Conference therefore:a) Affirms the strong commitment of the States Parties to fulfil their primaryresponsibility to implement the Convention at national level;b) Recalls the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to the StatesParties on the implementation of the Convention at national level, and stronglyencourages the States Parties to continue to take full account of theserecommendations in their development of policies and practices to give effect tothe Convention;c) In particular, expresses the determination of the States Parties to ensureeffective implementation of the Convention at national level by taking thefollowing specific measures, so far as relevanti) Establishing, if they have not already done so, an lndependent National HumanRights Institution in compliance with the Paris Principles;ii) Implementing practical measures to ensure that policy and legislationdeveloped by the executive of each State Party complies fully with the rightsand freedoms set out in the Convention;iii)In particular, reporting systematically to national parliaments on thecompatibility of draft legislation with the Convention, and encouraging thatthis information be taken into account in the legislative process;iv) Considering the introduction of new domestic legal remedies, whether of aspecific or general nature, for violation of the rights and freedoms under theConvention;v) Enabling and encouraging national courts and tribunals to take into accountthe relevant of the Convention, in light of the case law of the Court, inproceedings and formulating judgments;vi) Specifically, ensuring that litigants are able, within the appropriateparameters of national judicial procedure but without unnecessary impediments,
to draw to the attention of national courts and tribunals any relevantjurisprudence of the Court;vii) Providing all public officials with relevant information about theobligations under the Convention;viii) Training all public officials working in the justice system, responsiblefor law enforcement, or responsible for the deprivation of a person's liberty inhow to fulfil obligations under the Convention;- 4 -ix) Providing appropriate information and training about the Convention in theprofessional development of lawyers and prosecutors and, where appropriate, inthe training and study of judges; andx) Providing information on the Convention to potential applicants, particularlyabout the scope of its protection, the jurisdiction of the Court and theadmissibility criteria;And invites the Committee of Ministers to take account of these priorities whenexamining the reports provided by the States Parties on their implementation ofthe Declaration adopted by the Interlaken Conference; andd) Encourages the States Parties, if they have not already done so, to:i) Translate significant judgments of the Court and the Court's Practical Guideon Admissibility Criteria into national languages, where this is necessary forthem to be properly taken into account; andii) Contribute to the Human Rights Trust Fund.B. Council of Europe support for national Implementation of the Convention13. The Council of Europe plays a crucial role in assisting and encouragingnational implementation of the Convention, as part of its wider work in thefield of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The provision of technicalassistance to national authorities, whether provided by independent experts orbilaterally by the authorities of other States Parties, disseminates goodpractice and raises the standards of human rights observance in Europe.14. The Conference therefore:a) Recognises and reaffirms the importance of support by the Council of Europefor the national implementation of the Convention; expresses Its appreciation tothose who arrange and participate in programmes to this end, including the HumanRights Trust Fund; and emphasises that this support should be provided in anefficient manner with reference to defined outcomes, in co-ordination withthe wider work of the Council of Europe;b) To this end, invites the Secretary General to advise how better nationalimplementation of the Convention might be assisted and encouraged by the Councilof Europe, including through:i) Strengthening the delivery of the Council of Europe's technical assistanceand co-operation programmes;ii) Improving co-ordination between the various Council of Europe actors in theprovision of assistance;iii) Improving targeting of technical assistance, particularly by introducing amore country-specific approach to technical assistance;
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High Level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights
Draft presented on 23 February 2012
The High Level Conference meeting at Brighton on 19 and 20 April 2012 at the initiative of the United Kingdom Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of… (More)
The High Level Conference meeting at Brighton on 19 and 20 April 2012 at the initiative of the United Kingdom Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of… (More)
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