Both protocols were adopted in 2013 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the framework of the reform of the European Court of Human Rights.

Protocol number 15 provides for the abolition of the age limit for employment of the judge of the ECHR, the abolition of the veto of the parties under the appeal procedure before the Grand Chamber of the Court, as well as shortening the appeal to the Court from six to four months after the final decision of the national court. This protocol also slightly changed the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights by the inclusion of the reference to the principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation doctrine limits.

In light of the reform of justice in Ukraine, the Protocol number 16 is the most important. Article 1 of this document provided that the High Contracting Parties, taking into account the peculiarities of Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, may appeal to the ECHR on the request for its consultative opinions regarding issues related to the interpretation and application of the rights and freedoms established in the Convention and its protocols. Part 2 of the same article stipulates that national courts or tribunals may apply to the ECHR asking for their advisory opinions only on matters that are in their production. The Para 3 of Article 1 provides that in the event of appeal of national courts or tribunals before the ECHR, they must provide adequate legal and factual information about the case, which is up for consideration.

The bilateral meeting between the Minister of Justice of Ukraine and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe took place after the signing ceremony. During the meeting bouth sides exchanged views on prospects for constitutional reform in Ukraine. H.E. Thorbjørn JAGLAND has stressed the need to accelerate the completion by our state the justice and prosecutors reforms. He also expressed the willingness of this Organization to promote the Ukrainian side in order to achieve concrete results in order to bring our legislation to the European standards.