Committee of Ministers: Supervision of the execution of judgments of the ECtHR

Last week the Committee of Ministers held its first Human Rights meeting in 2013, during which it supervised the execution of some asylum-related and other judgments of interest:

• M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (no. 30696/09): The Belgian authorities were invited to submit information about the outcome of the consultations concerning the case-law of the Aliens Appeals Board on the remedy for a stay of execution under the extremely urgent procedure. As regards Greece, the Committee decided to postpone examination of steps taken in relation to conditions of detention and focused on the asylum procedure. The Committee urged Greece to accelerate reforms such as of the new Asylum Service and to resolve the problems related to the registration of asylum claims at the Aliens Department in Petrou Ralli. It also invited the Greek authorities to provide updated information on the functioning of the appeals committees, the proportion of asylum requests granted and rejected, and the implementation of the procedure of forced returns and the respect of the principle of non-refoulement in the context of the Xenios Zeus programme. Supervision was not closed and will be resumed in the Committee's December Human Rights meeting at the latest. See the full decision and related documents at the Committee of Minister's website.

• M.S. v. Belgium (no. 50012/2008):The Committee of Ministers invited the Belgian authorities to give information on the outcome of the steps taken to determine whether the applicant effectively faces a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in Iraq, and to provide a time-frame for their reflection on general measures regarding the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment and unlawful periods of detention. Supervision was not closed. See the full decision and related documents at the Committee of Minister's website.

• Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy (no. 27765/09):The Italian authorities were invited to submit a comprehensive action report allowing for a conclusive assessment of the case. The Committee noted that the Italian authorities had not been able to obtain assurances from the Libyan government against possible ill-treatment and deportation of the applicants to Eritrea and Somalia and their intention to continue their attempts to obtain the assurances. It also noted the steps taken to pay the just satisfaction owed to the applicants and expressed its expectation that such payment would be made without further delay. Supervision was not closed. The full decision and related documents can be found at the Committee of Minister's website.

• Gebremedhin v. France (no. 25389/05): As regards this case, the Committee considered that the measures presented by the French authorities were satisfactory and requested the Secretariat to prepare a final decision closing supervision. However, the question on the effectiveness of the remedy provided by the French law of 2007 against refusal of entry to the French territory to asylum seekers still needs to be assessed by the ECtHR. The full decision and related documents can be accessed at the Committee of Minister's website.

• Alim v. Russian Federation (no. 39417/07): The Committee of Ministers noted the solution proposed by the Russian Federation to regularise the applicant, a Cameroonian national with two children. The solution would involve him voluntarily leaving Russia, obtaining a Russian entry visa and, on his return, obtaining a residence permit. The Committee invited Russia to consider other possibilities for regularisation which would not imply departure from the country. In this connection, the Committee noted the existence of domestic case-law refusing to order the expulsion of persons in an irregular situation with family ties in the Russian Federation. Supervision was not closed and will continue at the latest in September 2013. The full decision and related documents are accessible at the Committee of Ministers' website.

• Liu and Liu and Liu no. 2 v. Russian Federation (nos. 29157/09 and 42086/05): The Committee of Ministers recalled the necessity to take individual measures to eliminate the consequences of the violation of the right to family life suffered by the applicants ensuing the removal from Russia of Mr. Liu, a Chinese national who was expelled and thus separated from his Russian wife and children. The Committee also invited the authorities to explore, in co-operation with the Secretariat, the most appropriate way to adopt such measures. Supervision was not closed and will continue in September 2013 at the latest. The full decision and related documents are available at the Committee of Ministers' website.

• Garabayev v. Russian Federation (no. 38411/02):The Committee noted that several complaints of foreign nationals concerning the non-observance of interim measures indicated by the court regarding their forced transfers were pending and called upon the Russian authorities to adopt the necessary measures to put an end to such incidents by taking further protective measures in respect of the applicants and by ensuring rapid and effective investigations into disappearances and forced  transfers. The President of the Committee of Ministers was commissioned to address a letter to the Russian President to draw his attention to the serious concerns of the Committee of Ministers as regards this kind of cases. Supervision was not closed and will continue in September 2013. However, if new similar incidents are brought to the Committee's attention before that date, it will be treated at the first following meeting. The complete decision and related documents are available at the Committee of Ministers' website.

For more information on the state of execution of ECtHR's judgments, please visit the website of the Service for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

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