§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those cases against the United Kingdom that have been lodged and are awaiting consideration by the European Court of Human Rights, indicating(a) which Articles of the 416W Convention are cited as having been breached in the application and (b) those cases which have been ruled admissible. [118975]
§ Mr. HainIn 1999, 429 applications involving the United Kingdom were registered before the European Court of Human Rights. Of these, 32 have been declared admissible. To list the situation regarding each of these cases would be too detailed for theOfficial Report. I shall write to my hon. Friend with further details and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how long it took to process each stage in each case brought against the United Kingdom in the last four years before the European Court of Human Rights; and what estimate he has made of when it will be possible to form an assessment of the impact of structural changes to the European Court mechanisms upon the length of proceedings. [118976]
§ Mr. HainSeveral hundred cases involving the United Kingdom have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights in the last four years. It would not be feasible to list how long each stage of the proceedings took in each of these cases. The procedure for each case is determined individually by the Court taking into account the particular facts and circumstances of the case. A proper assessment of the impact of the new procedures in Strasbourg will not be possible until a sufficient number of cases have been determined exclusively by the new Court. The European Commission on Human Rights ceased to consider cases only on 31 October 1999. It is still too early, therefore, to attempt such an assessment.