Turkey to sign Euro human rights protocol

ANKARA

This file photo shows Dean Spielmann (R), Luxembourg's president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivering the Grand Chamber judgment in the Del Rio Prada case, on October 21, 2013, in Strasbourg, eastern France. AFP PHOTO

Turkey will sign Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which aims to increase interaction between the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and local courts. The signing is expected in a couple of days, a Turkish official has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The Protocol introduces the possibility for the highest national courts to ask the ECHR for an advisory opinion and is a product of the ongoing reform process of the court.

“This particular Protocol to the ECHR aims to strengthen the national implementation of the Convention by increasing interaction (a word preferred over the often-used term ‘judicial dialogue’) between the European Court in Strasbourg and domestic courts,” the ECHR says on its blog page.

Only eight member countries out of 42 Council of Europe states have signed the Protocol up to now. Protocols only enter into force when the number of signatory countries reaches 10.

News reports also said the Justice Ministry would gradually begin translating the database of ECHR rulings, which is currently in French and English, into Turkish. Decisions directly concerning Turkey will be translated in a first stage, in a move aiming to help Turkish judges and prosecutors better understand EHCR decisions.