Efficient human rights protection

From its early beginnings, the Human Rights Court has grown in influence to become a touchstone for human rights protection, but its success brought with it a heavy workload that meant cases were taking longer to be heard. Protocol 14 marked an important reform that brought in changes to the way the Court handled cases, leading to a 35% increase in the number of cases heard in the first year. It also brought in stricter rules for cases that are not serious enough to be considered human rights abuses and strengthened the Council of Europe’s hand in making countries comply with judgments.

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