ECtHR applications from Turkey increased by 29 percent in a year

Photo: ECtHR

Click to read the article in Turkish

The president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held the annual press conference, giving an overview of the court's activities in 2020.

Also presenting statistics for the past year, Robert Spano said that applications related to four Council of Europe member states –Russia (13,650), Turkey (11,750), Ukraine (10,400) and Romania (7,550)– made up more than 75 percent of all 62,000 pending applications.

The number of applications from Turkey increased by 29 percent compared to 2019, he noted.

CLICK - Turkey has failed to enforce 689 ECtHR rulings, ranks first in violations of free expression

Also, the number of applications leading toa Grand Chamber or Chamber judgment increased by 22% compared with 2019, which Spano said was a "very important point."

"... The judgments delivered by the Grand Chamber and the Chambers are the most complex ones and raise the most serious issues," he said.

He also emphasized that very important Chamber and Grand Chamber judgments had been delivered in cases concerning, in particular, issues relating to the rule of law, such as the independence of the judiciary, electoral rights,and the arbitrary detention of politicians, public figures and judges.

The Grand Chamber ruled for the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), in late December. He is still behind bars.

"Without independent judges in our member States, the Convention
system cannot function," said Spano. "Indeed, the rule of law is an empty vessel without independent courts embedded within a democratic structure which protects and preserves fundamental rights." (HA/VK)