Greetings all! Be alert, a conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights is taking place at The Brighton Centre, Kings Rd, Brighton BN1 2 GR on 18-20 April 2012 (on the A259 on the sea front). The conference will be attended by Government ministers of EU countries. I am now living on a boat on the canals and British Waterways is violating my convention rights and is attempting to evict me from the waterways (trial in Bristol 23-25 April 2012). I will be protesting at the conference and I invite anyone who has ever been evicted or threatened with eviction, and everyone who cares about human rights, to come to Brighton and join the action. I will be taking my tent and staying while the circus is in town. Bring drums, banners, musical instruments and love. Rave on, it's a crazy feeling! We are normal and we want our freedom!

Contact  georgenormal@hotmail.co.uk

Below is an appeal which is circulating in the European Parliament in view of the Brighton Conference, scheduled on 18-20 April, on the future of the ECHR.

Save the European Court of Human Rights!

We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, would like to express our deep concern at a number of the measures currently being proposed to reform the European Court of Human Rights. Some suggested measures are most welcome, including enhancing state responsibility for implementing the Court’s judgments and improving the procedures for selection of judicial candidates at national level.

However, other proposals currently contained in the draft declaration to be agreed at the Brighton Conference from 18-20 April pose a serious risk to the ability of the Court to safeguard democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. In particular, restricting the right to access the Court runs contrary to the very purpose of EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is to improve accountability and to ensure that victims unable to get redress at the national level can have an effective remedy.

The impact of such measures will be particularly detrimental for victims in those countries without independent and effective judiciaries. While the number of applications awaiting a decision by the Court is unacceptably high, reforms introduced by Protocol no. 14 to the Convention have surpassed expectations in accelerating the resolution of cases. Several reforms which could further increase efficiency have yet to take full effect.

In view of these considerations we urge governments not to proceed with further reform of the Convention at this time. Rather we encourage them to allow existing reforms to take full effect and support the Court by providing the necessary resources to ensure their complete success. We also urge governments to pay greater heed to their existing legal obligations under the Convention. The number of victims requiring recourse to the Court will be significantly reduced by properly implementing Court judgments, and by creating effective national protection mechanisms.

See  http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/The+Court/Reform+of+the+Court/Conferences/