Joint Letter on European Court Reform

The Open Society Justice Initiative and seven other human rights groups have advised the United Kingdom against trying to rush through reforms of the European Court of Human Rights over the next six months, while it holds the chairmanship of the Council of Europe.

In a letter to the UK's Commission on a Bill of Rights, the groups welcomed a focus on increasing the effectiveness of the court, but raised a number of issues with proposed reforms. They also lodged a "strong objection" to the notion of a "democratic override" advanced by the UK, which would allow member states to selectively set aside court rulings on issues that had been subject to domestic political debate.

The letter is available for download.