On 25 January 2018, Guido Raimondi, President of the European Court of Human Rights, presented the ECtHR’s annual results. 2017 saw an increase in the number of incoming applications, mainly as a result of new cases brought against Turkey. The number of pending applications decreased by 17%, however, when compared to the end of 2016. This decrease can be traced back to the considerably high number of inadmissible cases that resulted from failure to exhaust domestic remedies. In this context, the President highlighted the importance of the principle of subsidiarity, placing the States at the forefront of protecting the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention. The principle is the cornerstone of the Convention system, obligating applicants to avail themselves of all effective domestic remedies. It also requires the Member States to eliminate structural problems, e.g., by setting up such remedies.

The number of pending cases at the end of 2017 was down 29% compared to the end of 2016.

The Member States with the highest number of judgments against them were Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece. At the end of 2017, the majority of pending cases were against Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Italy.