Editing European Court of Human Rights (section)

== Member states ==
[[File:Council of Europe (orthographic projection).svg|thumb|[[Member states of the Council of Europe]]. In addition, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) applies in [[Kosovo]] as a result of domestic incorporation of the ECHR.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Istrefi |first1=Kushtrim |title=Kosovo's Quest for Council of Europe Membership |journal=Review of Central and East European Law |date=2018 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=255–273 |doi=10.1163/15730352-04303002 |language=en |issn=1573-0352|doi-access=free }}</ref>|262x262px]]
The jurisdiction of the court has been recognized to date by all 46 [[member states of the Council of Europe]]. On 1 November 1998, the court became a full-time institution and the [[European Commission of Human Rights]], which used to decide on admissibility of applications, was abolished by Protocol 11.<ref name="essentials">{{Cite book| last1 = Smith| first1 = Rhona K.M.| last2 = van der Anker| first2 = Christien| title = The essentials of Human Rights| publisher = Hodder Arnold| year = 2005| page = 115 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BvR_QgAACAAJ| isbn =0-340-81574-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Details of Treaty No.155|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/155|website=Council of Europe|access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref>

The accession of new states to the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] following the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] in 1989 led to a sharp increase in applications filed in the court. The efficiency of the court was threatened seriously by the large accumulation of pending applications.

In 1999, 8,400 applications were allocated to be heard. In 2003, 27,200 cases were filed and the number pending rose to approximately 65,000. In 2005, the court opened 45,500 case files. In 2009, 57,200 applications were allocated, with 119,300 pending. At the time, more than 90 per cent of applications were declared to be inadmissible, and the majority of cases decided—around 60 per cent of the decisions by the court—related to what is termed ''repetitive cases'': where the court has already delivered judgment finding a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights or where well established [[case law]] exists on a similar case.

Protocol 11 was designed to deal with the backlog of pending cases by establishing the court and its judges as a full-time institution, by simplifying the procedure and reducing the length of proceedings. However, as the workload of the court continued to increase, the contracting states agreed that further reforms were necessary and in May 2004, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted [[Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joint Committee on Human Rights |date=1 December 2004 |title=Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200405/jtselect/jtrights/8/8.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200405/jtselect/jtrights/8/8.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=9 June 2022 |page=5}}</ref> Protocol 14 was drafted with the aim of reducing the workload of the court and that of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which supervises the execution of judgments, so that the court could focus on cases that raise important human rights issues.<ref name="proto14">{{cite web| title = Protocol no.14 Factsheet: The reform of the European Court of Human Rights| publisher = Council of Europe | date = May 2010| url = http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/57211BCC-C88A-43C6-B540-AF0642E81D2C/0/CPProtocole14EN.pdf| page = 1  | access-date = 25 September 2011 }}</ref>