Protocol 14 to the Convention, designed to simplify and speed up litigation, has been signed and ratified by all Council of Europe states except Russia, which said the document could encourage more politically motivated decisions against the country.
The protocol will only come into force once it has been ratified by all member-countries.
Andreas Siegel, head of the Directorate of Strategic Planning at the Council of Europe, said although there is no deadline for signing the document, Russia should at least put some kind of time frame forward.
He said the document is extremely important for all CE member countries.
The protocol to the Convention that established the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was introduced to help the Court cope with the growing influx of complaints and to speed up investigations and trials, some of which last up to 10 years.
The State Duma, dominated by the Kremlin-backed United Russia party, declined to ratify the protocol last December on the grounds that the proposed norms contradicted the basic principles of the Convention, infringed human rights, and could lead to discrimination against Russia.
