CYIL 2012

THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN 2011 As a result of the first trend, we can see that the overall backlog of “Czech” cases is in fact decreasing – from 3853 at the end of 2006 to 2074 in 2009 to 1207 in 2011. 50 At the time of a skyrocketing backlog, this direction is highly unusual and stands as welcome promise for the drowning ECtHR. It is also evidence that not the entireStrasbourg Court is doomed and in a dire need for draconian reforms which could close the gates to the applicants. Finally, the overview shows that even the lasting backlog could be quickly reduced had the Czech Republic responded timely to the old judgments. Both the issue of the conflicting remedies and the issue of the adversarial hearing producing the highest number of judgments against the Czech Republic in 2011 were detected more than seven years ago and yet still have not been resolved satisfactorily. This article supports the view that the true reform of the ECtHR has to start at the domestic level. If effective remedies are developed and the trust of citizens in the local courts and authorities rises, the backlog of the Strasbourg court may go significantly down. At the same time, even the successful example of the Czech Republic has still room for improvement.

50 Data come from the respective Annual Reports http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/ Reports+and+Statistics/Reports/Annual+Reports/ accessed 27 May 2012.

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