ABTTF President: “The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should immediately initiate the infringement procedure against our country, which persistently and deliberately fails to fulfil its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, without further delay. Indeed, every day lost means further damage to democracy and the rule of law in our country’’.
President of the Plenary of the Greek Bar Associations Dimitris Vervesos indicated that the recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) constitute a great warning for Greece. Vervesos stated that these judgments not only revealed the issues in the Greek judicial system but also reminded that the Greek state and judiciary are incompatible with the European legal culture.
Informing the relevant committee of the Greek Parliament, Vervesos pointed out that according to the data published in 2023, 969 of the 1,082 judgments of the ECtHR regarding Greece found violations of fundamental rights and stipulated that the most common violation was the late delivery of court decisions, which violated the right to a fair trial. Vervesos also added that the ECtHR’s pilot judgments also reveal that there is a serious structural issue in the country’s judicial system.
“The statements of President of the Plenary of the Bar Associations of our country Vervesos, once again confirm the bankruptcy of the judicial system, which has recently become highly politicised in our country, and the systematic violation of the rule of law and fundamental rights. The execution of ECtHR judgments is the most basic indicator that the rule of law is respected in the member states of the Council of Europe, of which our country is a member. However, our country, which has not executed and does not intend to execute the ECtHR judgments with respect to the Bekir-Ousta and Others group of cases, which includes associations of our community, for the past 17 years, disregards the rule of law and international law. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should immediately initiate the infringement procedure against our country, which persistently and deliberately fails to fulfil its obligations arising from the European Convention on Human Rights, without wasting any more time. Indeed, every day lost means further damage to democracy and the rule of law in our country”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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