MOSCOW, February 16 (RAPSI) – Russia will continue cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, the country’s Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov said on Friday during the meeting of the board discussing the ministry’s work results in 2017.

According to Konovalov, in most cases judicial practice of the ECHR improves Russian legal system and protects interests of Russian citizens.

The Minister noted that of 47 member-states of the Council of Europe Russia is in the middle of the ranking on number of appeals submitted to the ECHR per capita. Also, Russia no longer holds the first place in terms of the number of appeals filed.

However, Konovalov expressed concern over the rising number of rulings in cases against Russia as well as the number of appeals communicated to the government. The Minister believes that this does not mean that protection of human rights in Russia is deteriorating, but that may be explained by changes in the court’s policy.