1. In reply to the question put by the Honourable
Parliamentarian, the Committee of Ministers notes that the European
Convention on Human Rights provides that the Court shall draw up
its own rules and determine its own procedure. Therefore, the Committee
considers that it is not for it to take any action about the scope and
functionality of the Court’s rules. Nor can the Committee comment
on individual cases.
2. The Committee notes that documents deposited with the Registrar
are accessible to the public unless the President of the Court decides
otherwise. All requests to access those documents must be made via
the dedicated form available on the Court’s website. In line with
the measures taken by the Council of Europe in respect of the Covid-19
pandemic, case file consultations on the Court's premises have been
suspended since March 2020 due to sanitary restrictions.
3. Finally, the Committee highlights that ethics is an essential
issue for the Council of Europe. All members of the Court’s Registry
are required to adhere to strict conditions as to their independence
and impartiality. The activities of Court staff, as for all staff
of the Council of Europe, are governed by the internal regulations
of the Organisation, which reflect a set of ethical values rooted
in its culture with appropriate oversight and guidance (see https://www.coe.int/en/web/ethics/home).
