Ireland ‘compliant’ on CJEU ruling implementation
Ireland has earned a top ranking for its implementation of judgments issued by both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
A report from Democracy Reporting International, in collaboration with the European Implementation Network (EIN), evaluates the adherence of EU member states to rulings from both courts.
It refers to non-implementation as a “systemic failure of the rule of law within the EU”.
The study covers a period from 2019-25, and examines 382 rulings from the CJEU and 650 judgments from the ECtHR.
Ireland was a leader in compliance with these judicial decisions, and was the only EU member state to achieve an “excellent” ranking for its full compliance with CJEU rulings during the five-year evaluation period.
The report found that Ireland had fully implemented all 22 of the CJEU judgments in the period.
On European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments, Ireland was ranked as “good” for its compliance.
The report noted that two major ECtHR judgments remained pending as of January 2025.
These cases have been awaiting full implementation for an average of 12 years and seven months, illustrating the complex nature of certain rulings and the time needed to fully comply with them, the report states.
The authors say that the failure to implement judgments from both the CJEU and ECtHR is a systemic issue within the EU.
The issue is particularly significant because the EU’s legal framework is built on the assumption that all member states will comply with the rulings of these courts, they add.
UCD’s Dr Imelda Maher (the report's Ireland country expert) said: “Ireland’s relatively high compliance rate is commendable, but the challenges faced in implementing certain ECtHR judgments show that there is still room for improvement.”