CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 23 janvier 2006

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s32B93E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:5pt } .s9B49264A { margin-top:5pt; margin-bottom:5pt } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s33165EBA { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .s83BE5C30 { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super } .s9AE6264A { margin-top:5pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s7C768949 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0000ff } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   34 23.1.2006   Press release issued by the Registrar   Brighter Prospects for the European Court of Human Rights   President of the European Court of Human Rights Luzius Wildhaber said today that he was feeling more optimistic about the Court’s future, given an increase in annual productivity and recent support from Europe’s governments.   Speaking at his annual press conference in the Human Rights Building in Strasbourg, Mr Wildhaber told journalists that the number of judgments delivered by the Court in 2005 had risen by 54% (from 718 in 2004 to 1105 in 2005) and that the number of cases terminated by a judicial decision had gone up by 36% (from 20,350 to 27,612). For certain months in the year output had even exceeded the number of incoming cases.   Additional support from national governments – another cause for optimism – had led to an increase in the Court’s budget, allowing it to recruit around 45 new members of staff.   The situation compares favourably to previous years when the President has expressed serious concerns about the Court’s capacity to deal with its ever-growing workload.   He said today: “We have been through a difficult and uncertain period, but, at last, the prospects are starting to look brighter for the Court. This year we have been able to increase substantially our productivity. We have also received useful ideas for making further administrative reforms in the report reviewing the Court’s working methods from Lord Woolf, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Finally we are satisfied that the composition of the Wise Persons Group [1] is a guarantee of a serious and independent study which will lead to concrete proposals. The challenge for us and the Wise Persons Group is to preserve the historic achievements of the Convention machinery and at the same time ensure that the system operates effectively in the Europe of the 21 st century. At the beginning of 2006 we are looking to the future, with renewed confidence that this unique system will, with the support of the Council of Europe member governments, confront successfully the challenges facing it.”   The Court has also issued its annual table of violations by country for 2005 at today’s press conference (link to table) , which reveals that Turkey had the highest number of judgments finding at least one violation recorded against it (270), Ukraine had 119, Greece 100, Russia 81, Italy 67, France 51 and Poland 44. A further 12 countries had between 10 and 30 judgments against them finding at least one violation and 27 had fewer than 10.     ***   Further information about the Court can be found on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Press contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54)   Beverley Jacobs (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments. [1] Set up by the Council of Europe, at its Summit of Heads of State and Government in May 2005, to secure the long term effectiveness of the European Convention and Court of Human Rights.