Bulletin readers may recall that a draft Declaration on the European Court of Human Rights was to be discussed at an April conference in Brighton.
Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers has been asked to draft optional protocol so that the Court may deliver advisory opinions to national courts regarding the interpretation of the Convention. In addition, there is also the possibility of adding additional judges to the Court and that they will have a different function than the existing judges. Consideration was given to the implementation of the Convention at the national level and states are urged to consider “the establishment if they have not already done so of an Independent National Human Rights Institution.”
One of the main objectives of the Brighton conference was to discuss the caseload of the Strasbourg court. Court President Bratza emphasised at the conference that there has been an increase of about 98% of cases decided since last year and a significant decrease in pending applications since then. However, the Court President also cautioned that these figures should not “lull us into a false sense of security, into a feeling that no further action is needed to help the Court.” Moreover, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General called for a fund of voluntary contributions to be established to assist the Court in dealing with its backlog.
Click here to see a post by the UK Human Rights blog with more detailed information.