Respecting and implementing court judgments is a basic test of any State’s commitment to the rule of law. In Europe, this applies with particular force to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which safeguard fundamental rights and the integrity of the European legal order.

The fourth edition of the European Implementation Network (EIN) and Democracy Reporting International (DRI) joint report ‘Justice Delayed and Justice Denied’ examines how EU Member States implement the judgments of Europe’s two apex courts. Building on previous reports, it updates the data to 1 January 2025, expands the country coverage, and refines both the quantitative and qualitative assessments.

The focus remains on judgments with the greatest systemic impact. For the ECtHR, the analysis is based on “leading” ECtHR judgments, designated by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to identify human rights issues for the first time in a country, often revealing structural or systemic problems and therefore requiring broader reforms. For the CJEU, the report concentrates on rulings related to the rule of law, including justice systems, anti-corruption, media freedom and pluralism, and institutional checks and balances.

How well does your country implement Europe's Human Rights Court judgments?

We have launched an interactive map that shows how well each country implements judgments of ECtHR. See crucial facts on vital statistics for ECHR implementation, along with examples (for key countries) of what this means for important human rights issues.

Countries are coloured based on the proportion of leading judgments from the last 10 years that are pending implementation. The darker the red, the higher the proportion of unimplemented cases.