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Thursday 25 November 2010

Report on Implementing Regional Human Rights Decisions

The NGO Open Society Justice Initiative has just published a new report online, entitled 'From Judgment to Justice. Implementing International and Regional Human Rights Decisions'. It focuses on challenges of implementation in respect of four human rights systems: the Strasbourg system, the Inter-American and African ones and the UN Human Rights Committee. For the ECHR system the report concludes that although compliance is relatively high - especially in relation to the payment of compensation - the more general measures which are often required to implement a judgment are much more problematic. Many of the recommendations focus on a more effective approach in tackling systemic problems. The report calls for greater synergies between Council of Europe institutions, a further refinement and clarification of the pilot judgment procedure and a more robust monitoring on the national level both by parliaments and by national human rights institutions. This is the abstract:

Despite unquestionable achievements over the past 25 years, the Inter-American, European, African, and UN systems all face tremendous obstacles in translating their verdicts into change on the ground. In many cases, landmark decisions have not yet yielded meaningful reform.

From Judgment to Justice, a report launched this week by the Open Society Justice Initiative, reviews the implementation of judgments across the world's four human rights systems. Working from empirical data as well as interviews conducted with court personnel, human rights advocates, and academics, authors David C. Baluarte and Christian M. De Vos provide a comprehensive review of the dynamics involved in putting international commitments into practice. The report provides recommendations tailored to each system, while also pulling together common points of concern in its final chapter.