Press release 04 June 2008
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Justice

Meeting in Stockholm on how to relieve the pressure on the European Court of Human Rights

On 9-10 June 2008 there will be an international expert meeting in Stockholm on the European Court of Human Rights.

The meeting will particularly discuss how the member states of the Council of Europe can help reduce the number of applications to the Court, which receives far more cases each year than it can possibly deal with. Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask will give the opening address at the meeting.

The meeting is being held in the context of Sweden's present chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The meeting is an expert meeting with participants from the member countries of the Council of Europe, as well as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg.

Representatives of the Swedish Riksdag, Swedish courts, government agencies and the Swedish legal profession will also participate.

Individuals in the member countries can turn to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if they consider that their rights under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms have been violated. The Court currently has over 100 000 applications awaiting decision. The number of cases that have not yet been dealt with by the Court is growing all the time. A reform process has been under way for several years in the Council of Europe to try to ease the workload. At the same time it is also important that the member states take measures at national level that can help reduce the number of applications to the Court.

Representatives of the media are invited to attend the seminar. Advance notice is required. Please contact Maria Arenbjörk at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.