Increases in appeals to the ECtHR mainly due to Turkey

According to the Court's annual activity report for 2017, the countries with the most convictions are Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, followed by Bulgaria and Greece.

Last year, a total of 52 applications concerning Cyprus were submitted, of which 16 were notified to interested parties, 3 were accepted, 9 were referred to a judge or Commission and 24 are awaiting their first reading.

Moreover, in 2017 a total decision was made in three cases concerning Cyprus. In the same year, there were a total of 31 applications assigned to a formation of one or more judges, while 30 applications were declared inadmissible or dismissed. Also, 3 cases were notified to the Cypriot Government.

As far as Turkey is concerned, in 2017 7.518 applications were filed against Ankara. In the same year, the cases assigned to a formation amounted to 25.978, from 8.303 in 2016.

Speaking today during the annual press conference in Strasbourg, Mr. Raimondi said that the volume of cases pending before the court was reduced by 30%, compared to 2016. Specifically, he said that while at the end of 2016 there were approximately pending cases. 80 thousand cases, this number had decreased at the end of 2017 to 56 thousand.

The significant reduction in the volume of cases is due, according to the President of the Court, to the large number of those who were deemed inadmissible due to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.

President Raymondi also referred to the importance of the principle of subsidiarity, which, he said, puts states at the forefront of protecting the rights and freedoms protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

For this reason, he added, it is absolutely necessary for applicants to apply to them before going to the Court in Strasbourg, while at the same time the states must take care to eliminate any structural problems in their judicial systems.

According to statistics for 2017, Russia ranks first in convictions for at least one breach of the Convention, with 305 judgments against it. It is followed by Turkey with 116, Ukraine with 87, Bulgaria with 39 and Greece with 37.

Also, on December 31, 2017, the majority of pending cases were directed against Romania at a rate of 17,6% of the total, followed by Russia with 13,8%, Turkey with 13,3%, Ukraine with 12,6% and Italy with 8,3%.