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European Court of Human Rights

Answer

As I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice), on 14 October 2005, Official Report, column 642W, there are several courses of action available to the Council of Europe.The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers can adopt interim resolutions expressing concern with respect to the slow or non-execution of a judgment. Peer pressure is increased to encourage rapid compliance with the court's judgment. In the vast majority of cases, this is sufficient to ensure compliance.At the request of the Committee of Ministers, the Chairman in Office can write to or hold meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the respondent state.The ultimate measure available to the Committee of Ministers is recourse to article 8 of the Council of Europe's statute: suspension of voting rights in the Committee of Ministers, or even expulsion from the organisation. But this is an extreme measure, which would prove counter-productive in most cases.In order to strengthen the measures available, protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights empowers the Committee of Ministers to bring infringement proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights against a state that refuses to abide by a judgment. We are urging all member states of the Council of Europe to ratify the protocol as soon as possible, as the UK has done, so that it can enter into force.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

33723; 440 c1180W;440 c1180W

Session

2005-06

Related items

Human Rights Judgments
Friday, 14 October 2005
Written questions
House of Commons

Subjects

European Convention on Human Rights Judgements European Court of Human Rights Sanctions Council of Europe

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk