The (ECHR) is no longer a “desert” in domestic law, nor a distant treaty.
It has established itself as Europe’s last institutional line of defense, and today, as legal instability dominates the continent, that line is being tested as never before.
It is characteristic, after all, that just yesterday his proposal for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Convention was rejected. This action, although rebuffed, revealed the extent of political pressures and “interpretive relativism” that threaten the uniform application of rights.
This concern was expressed by Marialena Tsirli, Secretary General of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), who pointed out that the “Court is under attack”. As he underlined, the growing pressure and doubts about the application of the ECHR create an extremely difficult moment for the independence of the Court.
For their part, Theodoros Roussopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Yannis Ktistakis, President of the Third Section of the ECtHR, stood up to the unprecedented move of nine prime ministers, who asked the Strasbourg Court to differ in the way the Convention is interpreted. Both expressed concern that political pressures could influence the interpretation of fundamental rights, stressing the importance of the Court’s independence for the protection of rights at European level.
The weighty importance of the ECHR and the “displeasure of powerful governments” Christos Rozakis
In this context, the School of Law and the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of EKPA, in collaboration with the Department of Political Science and History of Panteion University and the Constantinos Simitis Foundation, organized today in the ESIEA Hall the day “Greece and the Court of Strasbourg”, dedicated to Professor Emeritus and former Vice-President of the Court Christos Rozaki.
The Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Greek Academy of Sciences, Konstantinos Christodoulou, pointed out that for the Athens Law School, these days are not only technical but also symbolic in nature. As he mentioned, the ECHR and, in particular, the Strasbourg Court, “with its jurisprudence, in addition to promoting individual branches of legal science, has included us in a new way of approach and interpretation”.
Dimitris Christopoulos, professor at the Department of Political Science and History of Panteion University, referred to the long term of Christos Rozakis at the ECtHR, underlining that it was decisive for the forging of a progressive jurisprudence in fields that often cause political and governmental resistance, such as freedom of expression and refugees.
As he noted, Rozakis “did not hesitate to displease powerful governments when he found that the injustice was on their side”, a position rare for European judicial data. He described him as a positivist, faithful to the guarantees of the law, but not a formalist and at the same time deeply committed to fundamental European values.
He made special reference to the “divergent speech” of Rozakis, who, as he said, “always expressed himself with scientific mastery, without ever putting him on the sidelines”, highlighting a form of judicial thinking that combined legal rigor with moral courage.
Marialena Tsirli: “The Court is under attack. Now everyone loves to hate it and criticize it”
Marialena Tsirli, Secretary General of the Court, reminded that this year the Court is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the ECHR, underlining its lasting and evolving nature. “The Convention is a living text and must be interpreted in a modern way, in order to harmonize with social and political developments, a task undertaken by the Strasbourg Court,” he noted.
Mrs. Tsirli characterized the right of individual appeal as a cornerstone of the ECHR protection system, pointing out that more than one million individual appeals have been submitted since the Court’s inception.
At the same time, he referred to the challenges facing the ECtHR today, stressing that “the Court is under attack. Now everyone loves to hate it and criticize it.” As he added, the legitimacy of the Court “is based on the fact that its judges are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe”, which ensures its democratic foundation and institutional independence.
Yannis Ktistakis: “The move of the nine prime ministers, who asked the ECtHR to review its jurisprudence on immigrants and respond to the demand for stricter control of immigration in Europe, is unprecedented”
The President of the Third Section of the ECtHR, Yiannis Ktistakis, pointed out that “on January 1, 2025, approximately 2,600 individual appeals against Greece were pending, 60% of which concerned and continue to concern conditions of detention in prisons and detention centers”.
Last year, the Strasbourg Court issued “38,000 judgments, of which 27,000 in single-member composition.”
In addition, he referred to the letter published last May by 9 prime ministers, which put the Strasbourg Court in “deep water”. In this “unprecedented move”, the prime ministers called on the ECtHR to “review its jurisprudence on migrants and respond to the demand for stricter control of immigration in Europe”.
Theodoros Roussopoulos: “If Europe loses the measure of humanity and independent Justice, it loses itself”
Theodore Roussopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, emphasized that the ECHR is not a cold legal text, but a moral contract between peoples and governments. As he said, “the drafters of the Convention understood that the value of the human being is not subject to revision”.
Referring to today’s action of the Parliamentary Assembly, he noted that the international recognition of its work and decisions has been strengthened, while the first global convention on Artificial Intelligence was recently passed.
Mr. Roussopoulos pointed out that “the easy way is to blame the Court, the hard way is to look for institutional solutions”. He was concerned that nine prime ministers had asked Strasbourg to review its jurisprudence on migrants, expressing reservations about the interpretation of the Convention. “The Court’s answer was clear: its independence is non-negotiable,” he stressed.
In closing, he underlined that “if Europe loses the measure of humanity and independent Justice, it loses itself”.
The intervention of Christos Rozakis
Emeritus Professor and former Vice-President of the Court Christos Rozakis noted that “the fact that we have a very small text, which is enriched daily through jurisprudence, shows the vitality of the Convention”. As he added, “jurisprudence gives life to the Convention and in a 75-year-old text, it can claim its sustainability”.
Mr. Rozakis also emphasized that “there is a flow in the jurisprudence that adds rights to the existing ones, such as the protection of the environment, which was not foreseen in the Convention, as a result of the dynamic interpretation”.
As far as European integration is concerned, he pointed out that “this Convention and the jurisprudence play a decisive role in European integration”.
“The initiative of the 9 prime ministers is paradoxical. In a phase of delegitimization of democracy, 9 states are trying to achieve something absolutely unacceptable and extremely sad”, concluded Christos Rozakis.
Important decisions of the European Court, some of which concern Greece
The second part of the event focused on the important decisions of the ECtHR’s General Section, under the coordination of Vassiliou Skouris (former ECJ President). G. Prezas, Rapporteur at the ECtHR, analyzed the historically important decision Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia (9.7.2025), which ruled multiple, flagrant and unprecedented violations of the ECHR and raised critical questions of jurisdiction and international humanitarian law. This was followed by the analysis of P. Asimaki, Rapporteur at the ECtHR, in the case of Semenya v. Switzerland (10.7.2025), analyzing the protection of the right to a fair trial of an international athlete during the judicial review of an international arbitration award.
The final part of the conference, under the coordination of Constantinos Menoudakou (former President of the CoE), analyzed the direct impact of ECtHR jurisprudence on the Greek legal order, focusing on three crucial decisions of 2024. Maria-Andriani Kostopoulou (President of GREVIO) presented decision X (13.2.2024), emphasizing the positive obligations of the state (articles 3 and 8 ECHR) after a complaint of rape. Next, Ilias Trispiotis (Professor of Law, Leeds) analyzed the Nsingi decision (15.10.2024), which concerns the wrongful detention of a person in the context of the execution of a sentence, raising serious issues of violation of Article 5 of the ECHR. Finally, P. Mouzouraki (Professor of Law, EKPA) analyzed the Tsiolis decision (19.11.2024), focusing on the impact of appeal filters in the Council of State on the core of the right to a fair trial (Article 6 par. 1 ECHR).
Attendance at the event
The event was attended by Anastasia Papadopoulou, President of the Supreme Court, Ioanna Klapa-Christodoulea, former President of the Court, Linos-Alexandros Sisilianos, former President of the European Court of Human Rights, Ioannis Sharmas, Honorary President of the Court of Auditors and former Interim Prime Minister, Tasos Giannitsis, Professor Emeritus of the University of Athens and former Minister, Konstantinos Menoudakos, former President of the Personal Data Protection Authority and Honorary President of the CoE, and Christos Rammos, former President of ADAE and Honorary Vice President of the CoE. The public law professors Nikos Alivizatos, Konstantinos Giannakopoulos, Ioannis Tasopoulos and Yiannis Drosos were also present.
