Since 1950, the Convention has been amended and supplemented by additional protocols. Apart from adding one or more rights to the original Convention, several protocols amend certain of its provisions with the aim of improving the efficiency of the European Court of Human Rights:

  • Protocol No. 11, which entered into force on 1 November 1998, set up a new full-time Court, to which all individual applicants are now entitled to refer their cases directly.
  • Protocol No. 14, which entered into force on 1 June 2010, optimizes the filtering and processing of application. It envisages, among other measures, the creation of new judicial formations for the simplest cases, a new admissibility criterion (the existence of ”significant disadvantage”) and introduces a nine-year non-renewable term of office for judges.
  • Protocol No. 15, not yet in force, introduces a reference to the principle of subsidiarity and the doctrine of the margin of appreciation. It also reduces 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. Protocol No. 15 will enter into force as soon as all the States Parties to the Convention have signed and ratified it.
  • Protocol No. 16, not yet in force, will allow the highest courts and tribunals of a member country to request the Court to give advisory opinions on questions of principle relating to the interpretation or application of the rights and freedoms defined in the Convention or the protocols thereto.


  More information on the Convention and its Protocols