On 12 February members of the Committee against Torture went to Moscow to participate in a seminar devoted to the “Reform of the European Court of Human Rights: viewpoint of Russian NGOs”.

The seminar was organized by the Helsinki Committee (Norway), Demos Centre, Memorial human rights centre, Moscow Helsinki group. Among the participants of the seminar there were representatives of human rights organizations from Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St-Petersburg and other regions. The Council of Europe was represented by Mr. David Milner.  

Famous lawyers and human rights defenders discussed the ways to reform the system of the European Court of Human Rights. In particular, they assessed advantages and disadvantages of Protocol 14 to the European Convention as well as the issue of ratification of this protocol by Russia. The participants put a special emphasis on the reform of the system ensuring execution of ECtHR judgments.

The seminar resulted in an official statement containing recommendations for the ECtHR reform.