Lawyers' Associations Now Also Explicitly Allowed to Make Rule 9 Submissions

The Council of Europe's communications department has reported a small but significant change in the practice surrounding the supervision of implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Under the so-called Rule 9 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and Non-Governmental Organisations are allowed to make submissions. These rules have now apparently been updated (although not yet visible on the website) to make explicit that, in the words of the communcations department "bar associations, law societies and other lawyers’ groups can make formal submissions concerning the implementation of #ECHR judgments." One can imagine this may be of importance in any issues related to Article 6 ECHR cases on fair trial rights ,of course, but also much more broadly - a good development.