Lawyers warn against damaging ECHR appeal rights amid reforms to cut cases

Europe's lawyers have cautioned against damaging the individual's right to complain to the European Court of Human Rights after reforms were agreed to tackle fears that the court's caseload is running out of control.

Addressing the 98th plenary session of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), held in Bergen, Norway, Roderick Liddell, head of the court's private office, told the plenary meeting that the court registered a record 30,000 cases last year and could hit 50,000 in three to five years.

This could mean cases taking up to seven years to determine.

While recognising the importance of individuals having the right to make petitions to the court, Mr Liddell said the biggest threat to this was the 'sheer mass of applications'.

Under plans agreed by the Council of Europe earlier this month, contracting states will seek to improve the domestic resolution of complaints, while there will also be a new summary procedure to dispose of cases where the underlying question has already been decided by case law.

A more controversial reform will allow the court to reject cases if the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage and the case does not raise serious issues either about the European Convention on Human Rights or of general importance.

Also, for the first time, countries that do not comply with a ruling could face infringement proceedings and a fine.

Mr Liddell said the court was likely to stress two points in its response to the reforms: the need for a separate filtering mechanism to address fully the problem of the mass of unmeritorious cases, which constitute more than 90% of the court's caseload; and the need for formal recognition of a procedure by which countries introduce retroactive legislation following a 'pilot judgment' from the court to remedy a specific problem that has caused multiple complaints.

He also questioned the adequacy of the court's resources.

Its 2003 budget is almost 35 million, a 15% rise on 2002 but a quarter of that of the European Court of Justice.

He noted that the court's jurisdiction ran to 45 countries and 800 million people.

'As one of the pillars of the future stability and prosperity of Europe as a whole, one might think that further investment would be warranted,' he said.

Swedish lawyer Christian Ahlund, chairman of the CCBE's human rights committee, said reform was needed and that the CCBE backed the moves being taken so long as the individual's right to apply to the court was not impaired.

Neil Rose