[JURIST] The Council of Europe (COE) [official website] reported Wednesday that several member states frequently fail to comply with judicial decisions against public authorities handed down by their own domestic courts. A COE expert panel [program, PDF] determined last week that general non-enforcement of court decisions is widespread in Georgia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.

In a statement [text] summarizing its conclusions, the panelists said:

[I]t is incumbent on the State to execute spontaneously all judicial decisions rendered against public authorities, without compelling the claimants to go through enforcement proceedings. [However,] this spontaneous execution continues to be hampered by a number of persistent problems resulting in repetitive violations of the Convention in a number of states.

The panel listed several problems, including civil and criminal procedures that are ineffective at compelling authorities to comply with judicial decisions and an absence of appropriate legal frameworks to ensure compulsory enforcement. It recommended several remedies, including increasing monetary penalties for noncompliance with judicial decisions and enforcing the personal responsibility of state agents when a country does not comply appropriately. COE Press Service has more.