On 29 January 2020, the ECtHR published its annual activity report and statistics for 2019. At the close of 2019, the number of applications pending before the Court totalled 59,800. The majority of pending cases were against the Russian Federation (25.2 %), followed by cases against Turkey (15.5 %), Ukraine (14.8 %), Romania (13.2 %), and Italy (5.1 %).

The number of new cases in 2019 rose on account of an increase in applications against Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and Ukraine. During the year, the Court delivered judgments in 2187 applications (a 20% decrease compared to 2018). A large proportion of these applications were joined, and the number of judgments actually delivered was 884 − a decrease of 13%.

The total number of decisions on interim measures (1570) is stable compared with 2018 (1540). The Court granted requests for interim measures in 145 cases (a 1% increase compared to 143 in 2018), with half of the requests granted in expulsion or immigration cases.

On 31 December 2019, there were 24,424 priority applications, the cases falling within the top three categories. This is an increase of 18% compared to the beginning of the year and can be explained mainly by the higher number of applications concerning conditions of detention in Russia and the lawfulness of detentions in Turkey. The Court and its Registry have continued to implement new methods and procedures in order to speed up the processing of cases.

Among the major events in 2019, the Court delivered its first advisory opinion under Protocol No. 16 and the first infringement proceedings. The Superior Courts Network expanded considerably, now covering 86 superior courts from 39 countries, and dialogue has continued with the Court of Justice of the European Union. Lastly, a delegation from the Court attended the first Forum of Regional Courts, bringing together the three human rights courts: beside the ECtHR, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, which President Sicilianos considered to be the main achievement of the year 2019.