“The multilateral, rules-based international order,” which includes the European Convention on Human Rights and the Strasbourg Court, “is being defamed more frequently than at any time since the end of the Second World War.” This was stated by the President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Síofra O’Leary, as keynote speaker today at the Constitutional Court in Vienna. At the same time, she highlighted that the ECHR is potentially the last refuge for more than 600 million residents of the Council of Europe’s jurisdiction.
With a ceremony on Constitution Day – yesterday, October 1st – the Constitutional Court annually commemorates the resolution of the Federal Constitutional Law in the National Constituent Assembly on October 1st, 1920. In addition to O’Leary, the President of the Constitutional Court, Christoph Grabenwarter, was also able to thank Federal President Van der Bellen. Welcome Federal Minister Edtstadler, Rauch and Zadić, as well as numerous other people as guests of honor.
Reflections on the future of the ECtHR: How would faster decisions be possible?
According to Síofra O’Leary – the judge appointed by Ireland to the ECHR and who has been its President since 2022 – at the beginning of her speech, especially in Vienna, it is easy to point to the origins of the ECHR in the atrocities committed by totalitarian regimes committed during the Second World War World Cup on European soil and beyond.
However, she quickly turned to the present and future of the Court in Strasbourg and considered how the ECtHR could make faster decisions. According to the President, there are currently 75 thousand pending complaints, with only 46 judges. Although almost 75 percent of pending cases consist of appeals that deal with issues on which there is already well-established jurisprudence or that are repetitive, there are still around 20,000 appeals pending at the level of the seven-member Chamber. These are, President O’Leary noted, so-called “priority” or “impact” cases that raise issues that require immediate attention.
Firstly, according to the President of the ECtHR, the Court could often use the admissibility criterion of “no significant disadvantage”. To date, this measure has been little used and resulted in a chamber of seven judges having to decide on a parking fine of around 25 euros, along with 5 points on the complainant’s traffic record.
Secondly: “To move forward with more substantive change at the level of Member States – which are the key institutional actors determining the future of the Court and the Convention system – consideration could be given to developing an institutional mechanism to the Court that This allows the latter to further filter cases that have a ‘constitutional’ relevance to jurisprudence.” However, O’Leary emphasized that he had neither the intention nor the desire to enter the territory of the constitutional courts. However, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the ECtHR was endowed with certain “constitutional” features from the beginning.
The President of the ECtHR also highlighted that 70 percent of pending cases come from just four states (Turkey, Romania, Ukraine and Russia, where cases filed before September 2022 are still pending). Only 0.12 percent of pending complaints came from Austria: “This highlights the fact that in many of the 46 states incorporation of the ECHR has been achieved, which ensures that the Strasbourg Court only intervenes in exceptional cases.”
Grabenwarter: “A clear commitment to European human rights”
The President of the Constitutional Court, Grabenwarter, considered the meeting with Síofra O’Leary as a clear commitment to European human rights – at a time when these are sometimes questioned – and as an indication of how intense the exchange of jurisprudence is between the Constitutional Court and the ECHR. , how judicial dialogue works. The ECHR has been “a kind of central massif of the Austrian fundamental rights landscape for 65 years”.
As an example of judicial dialogue, Grabenwarter cited a decision by the Constitutional Court, in June this year, on the ban on fossil fuels. In its reasoning, the Constitutional Court emphasized the State’s so-called protective duties with regard to serious environmental deficiencies and made some very specific statements, such as that protective duties also exist in relation to imminent natural disasters. According to Grabenwarter, none of these statements had to be justified for long; were included in the decision of the Constitutional Court with reference to the relevant rulings of the Strasbourg Court.
Van der Bellen: Using the Constitution to respond to the challenge of climate protection
In his speech, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen drew a link between the ECHR and climate protection. It took decades for the ECHR to become an integral part of legal life in Austria, but “now courts and administrative bodies always keep human and basic rights in mind in hundreds of individual decisions”. However, when it comes to effective climate protection, the Federal President said, “we simply don’t have that time.” Van der Bellen referred to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, according to which the state’s protective duty resulting from the German Basic Law also includes the obligation to protect life and health from the dangers of climate change.
It is clear that he sees that concrete determinations for climate protection measures are the responsibility of politicians and the legislature. But there is not enough time to rely solely on new legal regulations. “But perhaps the ECHR will help us emphasize the urgency of climate protection measures”, suggested the Federal President. The best service provided to the Constitution is to use it to respond to new challenges.
For Constitutional Minister Edtstadler, the ECHR is a pillar of the rule of law
Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler stated in her welcome speech that the European Convention on Human Rights is a fundamental pillar of the rule of law in Europe and reflects European values: “In my opinion, the human rights reflected in it are the greatest achievement of our society. They are a non-negotiable compass that puts people at the center and gives us direction as a society.” Unfortunately, the current situation in the world shows us every day that human rights cannot be taken for granted and that we all have to stand up. for them every day and work on its implementation.
According to Edtstadler, about a year before the National Council elections, the focus is on the right to vote, which in a democracy is one of the most important instruments of freedom of expression within the meaning of Article 10 of the ECHR. “As Constitutional Minister, I have made it my main objective for the coming year to encourage everyone to participate in our vibrant democracy and make use of their right to vote.”
You can watch the Constitution Day speeches from October 6th on the VfGH You Tube page.
Guests of Honor of the Constitutional Court on Constitution Day 2023