The 47 member states of the Council of Europe have reaffirmed their support for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and given their backing to a series of measures to improve the implementation of judgments from the Strasbourg court.

Government representatives unanimously adopted the Brussels Declaration, together with an accompanying action plan, at the end of a two-day conference held in the Belgian capital, as part of the country’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe.

The declaration welcomes the results of the ECHR reform process so far, notably the huge drop in cases pending before the court, but adds that additional measures are now needed to deal with challenges including repetitive applications resulting from the non-execution of judgments.

The action plan subsequently outlines a number of steps to be taken by the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and national authorities to help ensure that judgments from the court are quickly and effectively put into practice.

Adapted from the Council of Europe