Minister urges European Court of Human Rights reform

The Minister for Development Co-operation and Human Rights has urged reform of the European Court of Human rights.

Tom Kitt was the keynote speaker today at the 112th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The Minister signed two new Council of Europe protocols on behalf of Ireland, the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism.

Currently, the European Court is facing a huge backlog of over 35,000 cases.

In his remarks, Minister Kitt noted the urgency of the need for reform given that the Court's caseload continued to grow by more than 1,000 new cases per month.

He called for speedy implementation of a reform package allied with increased financial support for the European Court itself.

The Minister welcomed the decision of the Committee to implement the reform package and said: "These measures are very welcome. They will protect the essence of the right of individual petition and will ensure that ordinary European people will continue to have meaningful access to the European Court.

"The European Convention on Human Rights is the foundation stone of modern human rights protection. It is playing a central role in the process of reconstruction and integration in Europe on the basis of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

"The Convention has developed into the strongest and most robust human rights treaty there is. I believe it to be a model of effective international justice."