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The following is a news item of BBC Online of 3 November 2000, written by Diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason. Mention is made of the "most blatant case" of the failure to carry out the rulings of the Human Rights Court in the case of Turkey's failure to compensate Greek Cypriot property owner Titina Loizidou. The article is misleading in suggesting that Turkey has refused to compensate Mrs Loizidou for the loss of her property in occupied Cyprus. The Court in fact ruled she should be compensated for loss of use of her property as it remains hers, despite the current illegal occupation of the area by Turkish forces.
"Europe reviews human rights Ministers from more than 40 European countries are meeting in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the European Convention on Human Rights. At the meetings, on Friday and Saturday, they will discuss how to make the Convention more effective. One particular issue is a demand for more resources for the European Court of Human Rights, which now handles five times as many cases as seven years ago. Governments are also being asked to sign an additional protocol to the Convention banning discrimination on any grounds. No budget growth But across the continent there is also a much greater public interest in human rights and awareness of how to remedy individual grievances against the authorities. The Council is also under pressure from its parliamentarians to take strong measures against member states who refuse or fail to carry out the rulings of the Human Rights Court. The president of the Court, Luzius Wildhaber, says the constantly rising case load means that it cannot remain effective and credible with zero growth in its budget. It is intolerable, he says, that the European Court is having difficulty maintaining the standards that it asks domestic courts to observe, especially in dealing with cases in a reasonable time. The Council of Europe, which is organising the Rome conference, says it expects a statement of political intent to boost the Court's resources, but it is unclear how specific this will be. Rulings ignored The most blatant cases include one where Turkey has refused to compensate a Greek Cypriot woman who lost her property in northern Cyprus as a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974. Another is that of a man, Abdelhamid Hakkar, sentenced to life imprisonment in France in 1989 at a trial where he was not present or legally represented. Without mentioning France by name, Mr Wildhaber said that the refusal of an old established democracy to abide by a judgment set an appalling example to newer states joining the Convention. New protocol Council of Europe officials said they hoped for about 20 signatures. The UK will not be one of them, but British officials were not immediately able to explain why." For further information please contact Lobby via e-mail: |