Russia has not complied with more than two thousand verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights
Russia and Turkey are among the top countries that did not comply with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The report – about the results in 2017 – was presented in Strasbourg on Wednesday, April 4 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE). According to the report, more than 2,000 cases of human rights violations are still unsettled in Russia. In Turkey, there are more than 1,500. In general, the number of ECHR judgments that have not been complied with in 47 member states of the Council of Europe has decreased.
The fact that last year the ECHR delivered the largest number of verdicts for human rights violations against Russia and Turkey is a factor in their not fulfilling the court’s decisions. Compared to other Council of Europe members, in 2017, Russia paid the largest amount of compensation to victims - 14.6 million euros. Turkey took third place – after Italy – paying 11.6 million euros in compensation.
The CMCE plays a key role in the system of bodies of the Council of Europe, since it is authorized to speak and make decisions on behalf of the organization. An important function of the CMCE is to monitor the implementation of the ECHR’s decisions. The committee can, for example, urge governments to change legislation, improve conditions in prisons, and reduce the level of violence by law enforcement. However, the CMCE does not establish a specific time period in which the countries are obliged to implement its recommendations. As a last resort, countries that often ignore the recommendations of the committee may be excluded from the Council of Europe, but this has never happened in the history of the organization.