European Court of Human Rights (Hansard, 4 February 1997)

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy on referring cases to the European Court of Human Rights following receipt of the opinion of the Commission; and what are the procedures for implementing that policy. [13569]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
The handling of each case is decided on its merits, taking into consideration factors such as the opinion of the European Commission of Human Rights and the desirability of obtaining a Court ruling having regard to the potential wider significance of the case.
Referral of a case by the Government is by letter from the Government agent to the registrar of the Court in Strasbourg.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what records are kept by his Department of cases brought against the United Kingdom before(a) the European Commission and (b) the European Court of Human Rights; and if he will publish such records. [13567]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
The case files relating to each case are of necessity confidential to the Government as a party to the litigation. Proceedings before the Commission are, under its own rules, confidential save to the extern540W that the Commission publishes its decisions. Court proceedings are in principle public and application for information concerning them may be made to the Court registry.
We do not keep a complete record of judgments affecting the UK. A comprehensive list is openly available from the registrar of the European Court of Human Rights. The publication is entitled "Statistics".

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what compliance measures have been taken and by whom in respect of the 1989 European Court of Human Rights case concerning Graham Gaskin; what obligation there is on his Department as regards the timing of compliance measures; when he expects measures to be introduced in respect of the Graham Gaskin case; and what conclusions he has drawn from the Graham Gaskin case as regards policy on compliance. [13574]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
We are aware that there has been a delay in implementation of the judgment in the Graham Gaskin case. This is an exception to what is in general an excellent record of prompt compliance with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Under the convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe oversees the implementation of judgments. Payment of any compensation and costs awarded must be made within three months of the judgment. There is no set limit for any other measures of implementation required, but the committee expects them to be introduced within a reasonable time. We expect measures in respect of the implementation of this case to be in place within the next year.
As this is exceptional, the Government see no reason to alter their current practice in relation to the implementation of judgments.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases against the United Kingdom before(a) the European Commission and (b) the European Court of Human Rights have involved friendly settlement negotiations in the past 10 years; which cases were settled as a result of friendly settlement negotiations; what were the terms of such settlements; and what is the Government's policy on friendly settlement. [13577]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
We keep no consolidated records of the numbers of cases brought against the United Kingdom before the European Commission and Court of Human Rights where friendly settlement was attempted or achieved, nor of the terms of those settlements.
We address each case before the ECHR organs on its merits. We support the friendly settlement mechanisms and employ them wherever the circumstances of the case suggest that such a settlement would be negotiable and in the interests of both parties.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights since 1 January 1975 which have resulted in a finding of a violation of the convention on human rights against the United Kingdom, indicating when such findings were made. [13571]
541W

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
The list is published in the Council of Europe reference charts, "Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights", published in 1995, which is available from the House of Commons Library.
The list is accurate to October 1994. Since then, violations have been found in the following cases: Welch (February 1995), McMichael (February 1995), Tolstoy (July 1995), McCann, Farrell and Savage (September 1995), John Murray (February 1996), Hussain (February 1996), Singh (February 1996), Goodwin (March 1996, Benham (June 1996), Chahal (November 1996), Saunders (December 1996).

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what account is taken of(a) costs of litigation and (b) the consequences of any adverse finding by the European Court of Human Rights in determining the Government's approach to such litigation, including its policy towards friendly settlements. [13579]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
We deal with each case before the European Commission and Court of Human rights on its merits. We take a variety of factors into consideration in deciding how to respond to applications, including whether to attempt friendly settlement negotiations. Potential costs and legislative consequences of adverse decisions are two such factors. Their relative weight in deciding the Government's approach will depend on the circumstances of the case under consideration.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will list for each European Court of Human Rights finding requiring United Kingdom legislation or other compliance measures the time taken to introduce such measures, indicating in each case the Government Department principally responsible; what were(a) the average and (b) longest times taken; in how many cases legislation or other compliance measures have not yet been introduced; and what obligations there are on the Government in respect of the time taken to introduce compliance measures; [13572]
(2) what legislation or other compliance measures have been introduced as a result of findings of violation of the convention on human rights against the Government, specifying in respect of each case the date of the finding and the date and nature of the legislation or other compliance measures introduced. [13580]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
We have no consolidated record of the time taken to introduce legislation or other compliance measures in each violation found against the United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights.
The Council of Europe reference chart book, "Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights," which is available from the House of Commons Library, contains some details of the measures taken by states parties, including the United Kingdom, to implement judgments of the Court, up to the end of 1994.
542W
Under the convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the implementation of judgments. There are no set time limits for general compliance measures, but the Committee expects them to be introduced within a reasonable time.
The provision of the additional information required to answer this question would require considerable research. We have assessed the volume of work involved and concluded that it would involve a disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many cases against the United Kingdom have been referred to the European Court of Human Rights since 1 January 1975; and how many of these were referred by(a) the European Commission and (b) the Government. [13568]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
A total of 87 cases against the United Kingdom have been referred to the European Court of Human Rights since 1 January 1975.
We do not keep records of the additional information, but whether the Government or Commission or both have referred a case to the court is stated in each judgment, as published by the Council of Europe. These are available in the Library of the House of Commons.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures there are for obtaining advice from other Departments in respect of cases before the European Court of Human Rights. [13578]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
The Government agency, who is an FCO official, consults other Government Departments as necessary on cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy as regards the timing of the implementation of legislation or other compliance measures following European Court of Human Rights findings; what guidelines exist for officials in implementing such policy; what steps are taken to ensure that the necessary work is undertaken; and what performance-related sanctions or bonuses exist for officials in this respect. [13573]

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
According to article 54 of the European convention on human rights, the Committee of Ministers is responsible for supervising the execution of the judgments of the Court. It is Government policy to implement the judgments of the Court as soon as practicable.
Responsibility for the effective implementation of ECHR judgments falls to Ministers and not to officials. There are no performance-related bonuses or sanctions for officials in respect of implementation of ECHR judgments.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in how many cases in the past 10 years the Government have considered referring a case to the European Court of Human Rights but decided not to do so; and if he will list each such case. [13570]
543W

§ Sir Nicholas Bonsor
We keep no consolidated record of such matters. The formulation of an answer to this question would require considerable research. We have assessed the volume of work involved and concluded that it would involve disproportionate cost.