The European Union and the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Supreme Court of Georgia, organized a workshop on the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and reopening cases based on its judgments

The workshop brought together members of High Council of Justice, judges from the first, appellate and cassation courts, and Council of Europe representatives.

Mr. Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, and Ms. Nino Gvenetadze, Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Georgia, addressed the participants in the opening.

Mr. Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia underlined that ”the Georgian authorities are taking the responsibility of implementing and enforcing the decisions of the Strasbourg Court, recognizing the Court as an instance capable of upholding the fundamental rights of the ordinary citizens of Georgia. Executing a judgment of the Court means, in the end, a contribution to fostering a solid human rights and rule of law system throughout the European continent, which is the goal of our organization.”

Ms. Nino Gvenetadze, Chairperson of Supreme Court of Georgia emphasised that “the reason of our meeting today is the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The absolute and accurate execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgments, as final litigation phase for restoration of violated rights, is of particular importance. The proper enforcement of Court decisions is one of the means to achieve the goal determined in the first Article of the Convention – 'the High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention'. Convention as 'living organism', as it was named by the Strasbourg Court, 'aims to protect not theoretical or illusory, but specific and efficient rights'. Performance of European standards is mandatory for all convention contracting states. The role of the Supreme Court in the above mentioned process is crucial as it defines and uses the legislation. The Supreme Court, as the 'final gate' before applying by the applicant to the Strasbourg Court, is a 'bridge' between the State and the European Court of Human Rights.”

The workshop discussed the role of courts in the process of a full, effective and prompt execution of the Court's judgements, and overviewed the state of execution of judgments in respect of Georgia. The representative of the Department for the Execution of Judgements of the European Court of Human Rights discussed with the participants the Committee of Ministers’ supervision of the execution of the Court's judgments and the importance of effective analytical work of the courts’ relevant units.

The event was organised as part of of the project “Strengthening the application of the European Convention on Human Rights in Georgia”, within the European Union-Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance.