Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov met the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, and signed the Protocol No. 15 amending the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg.

The system created by the European Human Rights Convention is subsidiary to the safeguarding of human rights at national level, as all Council of Europe’s member States have a margin of appreciation in the way they apply it, depending on the circumstances of the case. The Protocol No. 15 introduces into the preamble of the Convention an explicit reference to the principle of subsidiarity and the doctrine of the margin of appreciation. It also introduces other changes, including reducing from six to four months the time-limit within which an application may be made to the Court following the date of a final domestic decision. The Protocol No. 15 is the outcome of the work carried out as part of the reform of the European Court.

The Russian Federation is the 43rd member state of the Council of Europe to sign the Protocol No. 15. Thirty-two states have ratified it. The protocol will enter into force once it has been signed and ratified by all member states.