Abstract

Since its pilot judgment in the "Ivanov" case, the Court held that the Ukraine's systemic problem of non-execution of national judgments clearly violates the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective remedy and the right to property, respectively established under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. Despite the systemic problem at domestic level had persisted, in the "Burmych and Others v. Ukraine" judgment of 12 October 2017 the ECtHR held by majority that all similar pending cases deriving from a situation of mass non-execution by Ukraine of its own national judgments would be struck out from its list and 'absorbed' in the Committee of Minister's execution process of the Ivanov case, thus leaving thousands of victims without the possibility to bring their application before the Court. As highlighted in the joint dissenting opinion of the minority judges, with this judgment both the principle of subsidiarity and the right to individual application underpinning the Convention will be facing a serious challenge.