Νon-executiοn of ECHR rulings a bitter experience says FM

Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said Cyprus on Thursday has unfortunately long and bitter experience due to the non-execution of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings, as authorities in Ankara persistently refuse to comply and execute decisions against Turkey.

These rulings, often involving Cyprus, concern landmark cases such as the four inter-state applications of Cyprus against Turkey, the cases of Loizidou and Xenides-Aresti vs Turkey as well as many other cases and more recently that of Güzelyurtlu, Christodoulides noted, addressing an event organised by the School of Law of the European University Cyprus on the challenges which the ECHR faces and its contribution to European legal order.

In his address, that was read out at the event, the minister reassured of Cyprus’ commitment to the unwavering support of the Court, through the strict application of its decisions and not only “so that the ECHR will continue to effectively play its role as the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights and remain the major player for the protection, dissemination and continuous renewal of the pan-European principles of freedom, human dignity, equality, democracy and the rule of law.”

The minister underlined that the role of the ECHR as a genuine and steadfast advocate and guardian of European principles and values is in no doubt decisive, maybe more decisive than ever before. He noted that the greatest achievement of this inspired project has been the pan-European consolidation of human rights protection through the establishment of the individual right of every European citizen to apply to the court.

The foreign minister said that there are challenges and issues related to the ECHR’s operation that need to be addressed, noting that inevitably the Court has to a great extent become a “victim” of its own success.

He said that during the 60 years of its operation the Court has examined and dealt with 840,000 individual applications – of which 1,150 concern Cyprus – and has issued more than 21,000 judicial decisions.

Currently approximately 60,000 other applications are still pending before it, he added.

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