European Convention on Human Rights – France’s ratification of Protocol No. 16 (13 April 2018)

Share

During the conference on reform of the Human Rights Convention system held in Copenhagen, Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet conveyed to the secretary-general of the Council of Europe our instrument of ratification of Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

This protocol makes it possible for the highest state jurisdictions to address the demands of advisory opinions at the European Court of Human Rights on questions of principle relating to the interpretation or application of rights and liberties defined by the convention or its protocols. For France, this possibility will be open to the Constitutional Council, the Council of State and the French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”).

France is the 10th State Party to depose its ratification instrument, making the protocol’s implementation possible in three months. During his speech to the European Court of Human Rights on October 31, 2017, President Macron expressed his commitment to this swift ratification. The law authorizing the ratification of Protocol No. 16 was passed on April 4.

The protocol will considerably strengthen the European legal basis for human rights and the legal edifice surrounding the European Convention on Human Rights.