Government should ratify Protocol 15 ECHR after debate in Parliament
2 December 2014
Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) makes an important change to that Convention which increases the transparency of the Convention and signifies a new emphasis on the responsibility of states signed up to it to secure the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention. This should in the long run increase both the democratic legitimacy and the effectiveness of the ECHR system.
- Report: Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights
- Report: Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights (PDF 768 KB)
- Protocol 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights
- Joint Committee on Human Rights
Reform of the European Cout of Human Rights
Protocol 15 is the culmination of the UK Government’s contribution to the process of reform of the European Court of Human Rights which was one of the Government’s key objectives during its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the first half of 2012. It gives legal effect to measures designed to strengthen the implementation of the Convention at the national level, to strengthen the principle of subsidiarity in the ECHR system, and to help the Court to focus its resources on the most important cases.
Amendments to the Preamble of the Convention
The Committee welcomes the amendment to the Preamble of the Convention which introduces into the text of the Convention, for the first time, express reference to the principle of "subsidiarity" and the doctrine of “the margin of appreciation”. Renewed emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation will require the Court to pay close attention to the reasoned assessment by national authorities of the Convention compatibility of laws and policies and will, therefore, place a greater onus on Government departments to conduct detailed assessments of the Convention compatibility of their laws and policies. It will also place a greater responsibility on Parliament to subject the Government’s assessment to careful scrutiny and debate. These changes should in the long run increase both the democratic legitimacy and the effectiveness of the ECHR system.
The Committee hope these changes will be an incentive to the Government to make continued improvements in the quality of its assessments in human rights memoranda accompanying Bills and to provide more opportunities for informed parliamentary debate about such assessments.
The admissibility criteria
Protocol 15 also makes some significant changes to the requirements that must be satisfied before the Court will consider the merits of a complaint (“the admissibility criteria”), by reducing the time limit from six months to four months and by making it easier for an application to be dismissed on the basis that the individual has not suffered a “significant disadvantage”. The Committee draws to Parliament’s attention the considerable concerns that exist about the impact of the changes to the admissibility criteria on practical and effective access to the Court. The Committee shares the concerns about maintaining practical and effective access to the Court, but make recommendations about how they can be addressed; and concludes that on balance the real concerns about the changes to the admissibility criteria do not amount to reasons for not ratifying the Protocol.
The Committee also welcomes two further amendments to the Convention which are uncontroversial and should be beneficial: the change to the age rules for judges of the Court, and the removal of the power of the parties in a case to veto the decision that a case should be decided by the Grand Chamber.
Dr Hywel Francis MP, the Chair of the Committee, said:
At first sight this Protocol might seem rather technical, but one of the changes it makes goes to the heart of how the system founded on the European Convention on Human rights currently operates. We hear a lot about there being a “democratic deficit” in our institutional arrangements for protecting human rights, and this treaty makes an important change to the Convention which recognises the crucial role played by elected politicians in relation to human rights. It has to be a good thing for governments – and parliaments – who are part of this system to have to take more responsibility for the protection of human rights at the national level, and we feel that this change contained in the Protocol has the potential to accomplish that. Whether it does so, however, depends on the significance of the amendment being widely understood – which is why we have produced our Report.
Because this increased responsibility should change the way national governments and parliaments function, it is vital that our Government arrange for debates in both Houses on this Protocol before it is ratified so that Members of Parliament can discuss the implications of this for the way they scrutinise the Government – and so the Government sets out how it intends to take forward its own enhanced responsibility in this area.