The European Court of Human Rights has published its annual report for 2025 and an overview of the Court's most significant cases during the year.
The annual report summarises the Court's activities during the year, which notably saw the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.
It also provides the latest overall and country-by-country statistics on incoming applications, rulings and pending cases.
Huge drop in number of pending cases
The report shows that the Court received a total of 31,800 applications during 2025, representing a 10% increase on the previous year.
The total number of applications decided by the Court rose by 5%, from 36,819 in 2024 to 38,573 in 2025. Around 7,000 of those applications were decided by a judgment, with the rest being struck out or declared inadmissible.
The Court delivered a total of 914 judgments in 2025, of which 816 found at least one violation of the human rights convention.
The number of cases pending before the Court fell by 11% to 53,450 by the end of the year - the lowest figure for 20 years.
Speaking to journalists at the presentation of the report, President Matthias Guyomar explained that only around 1.5% of those pending cases concern migration, either directly or indirectly.
Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights
