At its Human Rights meeting of 3-5 March, the Committee of Ministers examined the progress of execution by Hungary of the European Court’s judgments concerning the structural problem of excessively lengthy judicial proceedings (Gazsó group of cases).
The Committee urged the authorities to submit, without further delay, a concrete legislative proposal for a compensatory remedy for criminal cases – a remedy which, in November 2019, the authorities announced to put in place. Given that the obligation, flowing from the Court’s judgments, to introduce a domestic remedy is not limited to criminal cases, the Committee also urged the authorities to present, no later than by the end of March 2020, a concrete plan aimed at the adoption of a remedy or a combination of remedies covering all types of judicial proceedings. Up-to-date statistical information on the length of proceedings before all courts, as well as information on the discernible trends, allowing the Committee to assess the impact of the 2018 procedural reforms and other measures envisaged or taken, is also required within the same deadline.
The Committee expressed its deepest concern at the fact that the deadline set by the Court’s pilot judgment in the Gazsó case for the introduction of an effective domestic remedy expired more than three years ago without any tangible progress having been presented by the authorities. Recalling that excessive delays in the administration of justice constitute a serious danger for respect for the rule of law, it also noted that Hungary is one of the very few remaining member states faced with the issue of excessively lengthy judicial proceedings which have not yet introduced an effective remedy.
The Committee decided to resume examination of this group of cases at its next Human Rights meeting on 2-4 June. The adoption of an interim resolution, a type of decision adopted by the Committee aimed at overcoming more complex situations requiring special attention, is foreseen to be considered at that meeting, should no tangible progress be achieved by then.
