Interim Resolution CM/ Res DH ( 2020 ) 202

Execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

McFarlane against Ireland

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 1 October 2020

at the 1383 rd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

Application No.

Case

Judgment of

Final on

31333/06

McFARLANE

10/09/2010

10/09/2010

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”),

Recalling that more than 17 years have elapsed since the Court first established a violation of Article 13 of the Convention due to the lack of an effective remedy for the excessive length of proceedings in the Irish legal system; recalling further that the Court has reiterated this finding in cases involving civil and criminal proceedings since then, most recently in the Keaney v. Ireland judgment ;

Emphasising the legal obligation of every State, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the final judgments of the European Court in any case to which they are a party, fully, effectively and promptly;

Recalling Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)3 on effective remedies for excessive length of proceedings and stressing that the introduction of measures to address the excessive length of proceedings contributes, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, to enhancing the protection of human rights in member States and preserving the effectiveness of the Convention system, including by helping to reduce the number of applications to the Court;

Expressing their profound disappointment that no final consensus has been achieved among the different domestic stakeholders as to the model of the remedy to be adopted;

EXPRESSED DEEP CONCERN that, despite the Committee’s repeated calls to this end, no tangible progress has been achieved;

EXHORTED the Irish authorities to give the necessary priority to the establishment of a remedy for excessive length of judicial proceedings in line with Convention principles as established in the Court’s case law , to decide on next steps and to speed up the legislative process to that end;

CALLED UPON them to provide by 1 March 2021 updated information describing in detail the model of the remedy and a revised calendar for its establishment and entry into force; urged them also to provide updated information in relation to the additional measures taken and underway to reduce delays, in particular before the Court of Appeal, and accelerate judicial proceedings as well as up-to-date statistical information on the length of proceedings before all courts;

DECIDED to resume consideration of this case, in the light of the information received from the authorities, at its DH meeting in September 2021 at the latest.