Human rights court sees record caseload

Date: 11/01/1996

By Rory Watson

A RECORD number of cases were lodged with the Strasbourg-based European Commission and Court of Human Rights last year as individuals increasingly turned to them to air their grievances.

The increase reflects both an expansion in the membership of the organisations' parent body, the Council of Europe, and greater awareness among lawyers of the additional opportunities offered by taking cases not just to national courts, but to the Strasbourg human rights bodies as well.

Last year 10,201 cases were referred to the European Commission of Human Rights, almost 300 more than during the previous 12 months.

An early sifting to determine which of these cases might be handled in Strasbourg reduced the number by almost two-thirds before the Human Rights Commission began examining the remainder in detail.

The numbers fell still further, down to 808, after the Commission had determined which cases were admissible under the European Convention on Human Rights and proceeded to establish whether violations had taken place. Of these investigations, just over half (454) involved Italy and a further 108 France.

Typical cases taken to Strasbourg involve the availability and length of legal proceedings, prisoners' rights, press freedom, immigration and deportation procedures and property rights.

The annual statistics released by the Council of Europe this week confirm the increasing use which the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, which have recently joined the pan-European organisation, are making of its human rights provisions. Initial applications from Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary were all higher in 1995 than during the previous year.

The increased tempo was matched by the Commission's superior body, the Court of Human Rights. It was asked to adjudicate on 113 cases - 44 of which had been referred to it by individual applicants themselves, using new procedural powers for the first time - and issued 87 judgements. Of the 30 adverse rulings made against governments, eight involved Austria and seven France.

Explaining the gradual change in the human rights bodies' work, one senior official said: “Increasingly, cases are being settled out of court. In the early years, governments regarded cases in Strasbourg as a stigma. Now they realise they win some and lose others. With accumulated case law, they can have a good idea of how things might go and can save time and money by settling early.”

With both the Human Rights Commission and Court facing increasing workloads, moves are now under way to reform existing procedures. A single full-time body is due to replace the two part-time institutions.