The European Implementation Network and Democracy Reporting International released their new report entitled 'Justice Delayed and Justice Denied: Non-Implementation of European Courts’ Judgments and the Rule of Law'. It is their third edition, with again the specific focus on the non-implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice in member states of the European Union - and thus with particular relevance for the EU's internal rule of law monitoring.
Specifically on implementation of Strasbourg judgments, the best functioning state is Sweden, with an excellent record of implementation according to the report. And the five states with the worst record of performance, reflecting very serious problems are Hungary, Malta, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria. Hungary has the highest percentage of non-implemented judgments in the last decade (a staggering 76%) and Romania performs worst in absolute numbers (115 unimplemented judgments).
This is part of the summary (for more, see here):
'The non-implementation of European courts' rulings by EU member states, which has long been growing into a systemic problem, is now unequivocally recognised as a rule of law matter. Non-implementation undermines the authority and effectiveness of both the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The EU member states are bound by the rulings of these courts. Yet, national authorities fail to make their laws and practices consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law requirements respectively.
Significant gains for the upholding of democratic principles and the rule of law provenly result from effectively implementing the European Courts’ rulings. That notwithstanding, governments' responses to the non-implementation crisis fall short of expectations, often ranging from sluggishness in following the European Courts’ guidance to active resistance thereto and extreme attempts to undermine these courts’ authority. These delays in implementing judgments lead to prolonged rule of law and human rights infringements and have far-reaching consequences for individuals who are denied timely justice.'
