The European Court of Human Rights’ remedial practice and its impact on the execution of judgments

This article analyses the developing approach of the European Court of Human Rights to the indication of specific non-monetary individual or general remedies and the impact of this practice on the execution of its judgments. It draws on interviews with Judges of the Court and officials in Council of Europe institutions, and a statistical analysis of pilot judgments and judgments that invoke Article 46 of the European Convention of Human Rights issued between 2004 and 2016. The article argues that the Court’s remedial practice is fluid and pragmatic, with differences of perspective between Judges. It discusses the factors that influence judicial decision-making, and examines the implications of the Court’s remedial approach both for its ‘horizontal’ relationship with the Committee of Ministers and its ‘vertical’ relationship with states. It concludes that from both these perspectives, the door is open to continued evolution, if not revolution, in the Court’s remedial practice.

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Human Rights Law Review following peer review. The version of record Alice Donald, Anne-Katrin Speck; The European Court of Human Rights’ Remedial Practice and its Impact on the Execution of Judgments, Human Rights Law Review, Volume 19, Issue 1, February 2019, Pages 83–117 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/19/1/83/5304971 and https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngy043.