On October 30, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the Law “On ratification of Protocols No.15 and No.16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” adopted by the Parliament on October 5.
In accordance with Protocol No.15, the period for applying to the European Court of Human Rights is reduced from 6 to 4 months after the final decision of the national court. The document also provides for the abolition of the age limit for holding the position of a judge of the ECHR.
The changes introduced by Protocol No.16 consist in providing the Supreme Court of Ukraine with an opportunity to apply to the ECHR for an advisory opinion on the matters of interpretation or application of the European Convention on Human Rights before making a decision on a particular case.