The European Court of Human Rights has a queue of more than 120,000 cases waiting to be heard, including 3,000 cases against the UK alone.
However, the backlog has started to clear, falling 18% last year, while the number of cases pending against the UK dropped 11%.
This is due to a number of procedural changes, including stricter adherence to the court’s application procedures, and more extensive use of pilot judgments and single-judge panels, according to legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell.
Tim Eicke QC, of Essex Court Chambers, said the court “now provides clearer guidance to applicants, but also appears to be taking a stricter approach and these time limits are now being much more strictly enforced.
“This might catch out some individual applicants, but it does mean that those who have followed procedure correctly can be progressed more quickly.”
