Appendices

Recommendation No. R (2000) 2 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the re-examination or reopening of certain cases at domestic level following judgments of the European Court of Human Rights4

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 19 January 2000 at the 694th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to bring about a closer union between its members;

Having regard to the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter “the Convention”);

Noting that under Article 46 of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) the Contracting Parties have accepted the obligation to abide by the final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) in any case to which they are parties and that the Committee of Ministers shall supervise its execution;

Bearing in mind that in certain circumstances the above-mentioned obligation may entail the adoption of measures, other than just satisfaction awarded by the Court in accordance with Article 41 of the Convention and/or general measures, which ensure that the injured party is put, as far as possible, in the same situation as he or she enjoyed prior to the violation of the Convention (restitutio in integrum);

Noting that it is for the competent authorities of the respondent State to decide what measures are most appropriate to achieve restitutio in integrum, taking into account the means available under the national legal system;

4.Considering that the quasi-judicial functions of the Committee of Ministers under the former Article 32 of the Convention will cease in the near future, no mention of the Committee of Ministers’ decisions is made. It is understood, however, that should certain cases still be under examination when the recommendation is adopted, the principles of this recommendation will also apply to such cases.

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Bearing in mind, however, that the practice of the Committee of Ministers in supervising the execution of the Court’s judgments shows that in exceptional circumstances the re-examination of a case or a reopening of proceedings has proved the most efficient, if not the only, means of achieving restitutio in integrum;

I.Invites, in the light of these considerations the Contracting Parties are invited to ensure that there exist at national level adequate possibilities to achieve, as far as possible, restitutio in integrum;

II.Encourages the Contracting Parties, in particular, to examine their national legal systems with a view to ensuring that there exist adequate possibilities of re-examination of the case, including reopening of proceedings, in instances where the Court has found a violation of the Convention, especially where:

(i)the injured party continues to suffer very serious negative consequences because of the outcome of the domestic decision at issue, which are not adequately remedied by the just satisfaction and cannot be rectified except by re-examination or reopening, and

(ii)the judgment of the Court leads to the conclusion that

(a)the impugned domestic decision is on the merits contrary to the Convention, or

(b)the violation found is based on procedural errors or shortcomings of such gravity that a serious doubt is cast on the outcome of the domestic proceedings complained of.

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Appendices

References to Council of Europe sources

Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, Vols. 1-, 1959-, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague/London/Boston. Contains selected decisions of the European Commission of Human Rights; the work of the European Court of Human Rights; and selected human rights (DH) resolutions of the Committee of Ministers

European Commission of Human Rights

•Collection of decisions of the European Commission of Human Rights, Vols. 1-46, 1960-1974, Council of Europe

•Decisions and Reports (DR), Vols. 1-94, 1975-1998, Council of Europe

European Court of Human Rights

•Series A: Judgments and decisions, Vols. 1-338, 1961-1995, Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne

•Series B: Pleadings, oral arguments and documents, Vols. 1-104, 19611995, Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne

•Reports of judgments and decisions, 1996-, Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne

Committee of Ministers

Collection of resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers in application of Articles 32 and 54 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 1959-1989, 1993, and supplements, Council of Europe.

Gazette – Committee of Ministers from January 1999-2000.

Note: during the course of 2001, the prefix used to identify human rights resolutions was changed from DH to ResDH. For simplicity, this book uses DH for all resolutions until the end of 2000, and ResDH thereafter.

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Internet

•Council of Europe’s website: http://www.coe.int/

•Website of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs: http://www.coe.int/human_rights/

•HUDOC: database of European human rights case-law: http:// hudoc.echr.coe.int/

•European Court of Human Rights: http://www.echr.coe.int/

•Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int/ cm/

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Other titles in the “Human rights files” series

The execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Elisabeth Lambert-Abdelgawad, 2008

Social security as a human right: The protection afforded by the European Convention on Human Rights. Ana Gómez Heredero, 2007

The length of civil and criminal proceedings in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. Frédéric Edel, 2007

The position of aliens in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hélène Lambert, 2007

Freedom of expression in Europe: case-law concerning Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Directorate General of Human Rights, 2007

Environmental protection and the European Convention on Human Rights. Daniel I. García San José, 2005

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights: freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Jean-François Renucci, 2005

Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights: the rights guaranteed and the protection mechanism. Jean-François Renucci, 2005

Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights: the protection of liberty and security of person. Jim Murdoch, 2002

Asylum and the European Convention on Human Rights. Nuala Mole, 2000

The margin of appreciation: interpretation and discretion under the European Convention on Human Rights. Steven Greer, 2000

The European Convention on Human Rights and property rights, rev. ed. Laurent Sermet, 1998

The exceptions to Articles 8 to 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Steven Greer, 1997

To order these titles and more, see Council of Europe Publishing on the Internet, http://book.coe.int/

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