Friday 11 June 2021

Seminar on the Effective Implementation of the ECHR

On 15 June, PluriCourts at the University of Oslo and the Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe will host a seminar on the 'Effective implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights - Enhancing Domestic Dialogue and Co-ordination'. The seminar will be streamed live through this link. Here is the full programme:


10:00 Opening and welcome

- Mr Christophe POIREL, Director of Human Rights (DGI), Council of Europe (10 min)
- Mr Robert SPANO, President of the European Court of Human Rights (10 min)
- Mr Morten RUUD, Chair of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) (10 min)

10:30 Execution of the Strasbourg Court judgments as the cornerstone of the implementation of the Convention at the national level

Framing intervention: Ms Clare OVEY, Head of Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe (10 min)

Discussants:
- Mr Alfonso BREZMES MARTÍNEZ DE VILLARREAL, Agent for the Kingdom of Spain before the European Court of Human Rights, Head of the Area of Human Rights of the Constitutional & Human Rights Department, Ministry of Justice (national experiences of limitations/ barriers in respect of domestic structures and mechanisms for the implementation of judgments) (10 min)
- Mr Jan SOBCZAK, Agent of the Polish Government before the European Court of Human Rights, Deputy Director, Legal and Treaty Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (national experiences of limitations/ barriers in respect of domestic structures and mechanisms for the implementation of judgments) (10 min)
- Ms Debbie KOHNER, Secretary General, European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) (barriers/limitations encountered by NHRIs in participating in the execution of judgments) (10 min)
- Ms Başak ÇALI, Professor, Hertie School, Berlin (Germany) (10 min)

Discussion and intervention by Mr Matthew SAUL, Associate Professor, Inland University of Applied Sciences (Norway) (10 min) and ‪Mr Øyvind STIANSEN, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oslo (Norway) (10 min)

12:00 Lunch break

14:00 Inter-agency co-ordination and multi-stakeholder dialogue as a pre-condition for an effective execution of judgments

Framing intervention: Mr Philip LEACH, Professor, Middlesex University (United Kingdom) (5 min)

Discussants:
- Mr Vít Alexander SCHORM, Chair of the Drafting Group on enhancing the national implementation of the system of the European Convention on Human Rights (DH-SYSC-V) (sharing best practices on creation of multi-stakeholder working group – Committee of experts on the execution of the Court’s judgments and the implementation of the Convention) (10 min)
- Mr Murray HUNT, Legal Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the United Kingdom Parliament (mainstreaming accountability of the executive on execution matters in legislative oversight and budget approvals) (10 min)
- Mr Leif BERG, Head of Knowledge Management Division under the Jurisconsult Directorate, Jurisconsult Directorate of the Court (the role of dialogue with superior national courts in promoting the application of the Convention at the national level) (10 min)
- Dr Marcin SZWED, Lawyer, Strategic Litigation Programme, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (sharing good experiences of engagement with the executive, the parliament or national courts) (10 min)

Discussion and intervention by Ms Janneke GERARDS, Professor, Utrecht Law School (Netherlands) (10 min) and Mr Fredrik SUNDBERG, former Head of the Department for the Execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (10 min)

15:30 Making full use of the co-operation with the Council of Europe

Framing intervention: Mr Mikhail LOBOV, Head of Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI), Council of Europe (10 min)

Discussants:
- Mr Pavlo PUSHKAR, Head of Division, Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court, Council of Europe (10 min) (sharing good practices of its co-operation projects) (10 min)
- Ms Simona GRANATA-MENGHINI, Secretary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (“the Venice Commission”) (sharing good practices of its co-operation projects contributing to the execution of judgments) (10 min)
- Mr Hans-Jörg BEHRENS, Chair of the Committee of experts on the system of the European Convention on Human Rights (DH-SYSC) (highlighting the holistic approach of the CDDH to functioning of the system of the Convention and the special attention to the execution of judgments, plus the role of CDDH as a forum of the government agents sharing best practices) (10 min)

Discussion (30 min)

17:00 Main takeaways and conclusion of the seminar 

- Mr Geir ULFSTEIN, PluriCourts