The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has strongly urged the Hungarian authorities to intensify their efforts to introduce compensatory remedies for people affected by excessively-long legal proceedings.
In an interim resolution* adopted at this week’s meeting to supervise the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee underlined that this issue has been pending for many years and was the subject of a pilot judgment from the European Court in 2015.
Emphasising the legal obligation of every state, under the human rights convention, to abide by the Court’s final judgments, the Committee of Ministers noted with grave concern the continued absence of a reaction from the Hungarian authorities to many of its prior decisions on this issue.
The Committee strongly urged the Hungarian authorities to provide a concrete timetable for the legislative process for administrative and criminal remedies. It also strongly called upon the authorities to find a solution ensuring that all kinds of civil proceedings falling under the scope of the human rights convention – in particular non-contentious proceedings – are covered by a remedy.
The Committee of Ministers invited the Hungarian authorities to submit an updated action plan, including information on all outstanding issues, by 1 December 2024 at the latest. It decided to resume its examination of this group of cases by March 2025.
*An interim resolution is a form of decision adopted by the Committee of Ministers aimed at overcoming more complex situations requiring special attention.
