The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe met in Strasbourg to examine how member states of the Council of Europe implement judgments by the European Court of Human Rights. As a result, the Deputies:

1. recalling that in its judgment on just satisfaction, of 31 January 2019, the European Court of Human Rights held that the respondent State is to pay the applicant government, within three months, EUR 10,000,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals, and that the applicant government is to set up an effective mechanism for the distribution of the just satisfaction sums to the individual victims of the violations found in the principal judgment while having regard to the indications given by the Court and excluding individuals who cannot be classified as victims; recalling further that the mechanism must be put in place under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers and in accordance with any practical arrangements determined by it in order to facilitate execution and that the distribution must be carried out within 18 months of the date of the payment or within any other time-limit considered appropriate by the Committee of Ministers;

2. recalled their decision adopted at their 1416th regular meeting on 3 November 2021 welcoming the Russian authorities’ and the Georgian authorities’ written confirmation that they accept the terms and conditions and are ready to sign, without delay, the draft Memoranda of Understanding to enable payment of the just satisfaction together with default interest accrued to take place through a Council of Europe bank account held in escrow;

3. noted with satisfaction that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Georgian authorities have now signed the Memorandum of Understanding; looked forward also to the swift signature of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Russian authorities and the payment of the funds to the Council of Europe bank account held in escrow in the shortest possible timeframe and in any event by the end of the year, as well as to the completion of the remaining steps to execute the Court’s judgment as soon as possible;

4. invited the Russian authorities to provide the additional information on general measures requested in their decision adopted at their 1250th meeting (March 2016) (DH) to enable the Secretariat to prepare an analysis in good time for the next examination of the case;

5. decided to resume examination of the progress made at their 1428th meeting (March 2022) (DH).