Is There a Need to Advance the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights with Regard to the Award of Damages?

The Committee of Ministers is overburdened by more and more repetitive cases, because of the reluctance of some States to implement a previous judgment delivered by the Court. This is the reason why such a measure must clearly be distinguished from the award of a just satisfaction to the applicant, and why the concept of aggravated damages is not appropriate. Historically the European Court of Human Rights has refused to condemn States to pay ‘punitive damages’, despite requests to that effect by applicants. The Practice Direction on Just Satisfaction Claims Issues in 2007 repeats that “the purpose of the Court’s award in respect of damage is to compensate the applicant for the actual harmful consequences of a violation. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe reiterated this opinion several times. The Parliamentary Assembly’s proposal to introduce a system ofastreintes may be read in conjunction with the imposition of daily penalties in the European law.