High level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights, Izmir, 26-27 April 2011
A High-level conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights was held in Izmir (Turkey). The conference adopted the Izmir declaration and Follow-up plan, which build upon the 2010 Interlaken declaration.
The Izmir conference was intended to give new impetus to the reform process by adopting a number of measures to be taken to maintain the long-term effectiveness of the Convention system.
The Croatian delegation was led by Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjakovic.
Dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Turkish authorities and the Council of Europe for the organization of this important Conference to take stock of the progress carried out since Interlaken and continue with the Convention system reforms.
At the outset, allow me to assure you that Croatia continues to be a strong supporter of the European Court of Human Rights in its unique role as a subsidiary mechanism for protection of human rights of individuals in Europe.
In the spirit of shared responsibility, member states should take additional measures for better implementation of the Convention standards in order to avoid significant increase in the number of applications before the Court. Prevention - is one of the most important areas where we should focus on our efforts.
Therefore, my country will continue to undertake not only measures for more efficient execution of judgments and decisions of the Court, as well as measures aimed at enhancing the knowledge of legal professionals of the Court's well-established case-law, but especially various measures embedded in all policies and work of public administration
aimed at respecting and protecting human rights of every individual.
We are convinced that in the long run, these would be the best possible contribution a state can give for reducing the number of applications before the Court.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To ensure sustainable functioning of the Convention system, further measures are also needed at the level of the Court and by the Committee of Ministers.
We find it necessary for the Court; to be consistent in applying its own interpretation principles, new admissibility criteria adopted in Protocol No 14, and to give a clear reasoning for rejection of the referral requests to the Grand Chamber.
Furthermore, we consider important to start a reflection on an assessment of the efficiency of the current admissibility criteria.
An additional work should be undertaken to establish mechanisms enabling the Court to deal with the current huge backlog. In that respect we welcome the Court's efforts to explore together with Member States further possibilities to deal more efficiently with inadmissible applications.
That should include immediate strengthening of the Registry, while on a long-term basis we believe that a more efficient filtering system should be established. All relevant options should be explored, if necessary also those including amendments to the Convention.
Croatia welcomes a further reflection upon the idea to allow highest national courts to request advisory opinions from the Court in cases arising from systematic problems.
As regards interim measures Croatia deems that requests for interim measures should be treated in full conformity with the principle of subsidiarity, based on facts of each individual case, and processed in the shortest possible time by the Court.
The supervision of the Court s judgments, a very important element for the efficient Convention system, should be fair, just and seen as directed at the protection of human rights of individuals. The Committee of Ministers while supervising the implementation of judgments should refrain from any political observations but rather focus on legal analysis stemming from the Court's judgments.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We should provide our support to the Court by adopting the Izmir declaration, with the creative and effective measures contained therein. Therefore, Croatia endorsees the Izmir Declaration, as we find it necessary to keep the momentum and take decisions restating our determination and political will to reaffirm objectives already assigned by in Interlaken.
We must ensure that the Convention system remains an effective one. At the same time we should not lose sight of our overall objective which is to secure in our countries the rights and freedoms set down in the Convention to every individual, who should be able to seek and receive justice at home.
Finally, let me point out that we see this conference as a continuation of the long term process on the future role of the Court especially related to the accession of the European Union to the Convention. My country welcomes further discussions on that very important issue.
I thank you for your attention.
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