MOSCOW, October 19 (RAPSI) – The fact that convicts were allowed to serve their terms near the places of residence of their relatives would permit to decrease the number of complaints submitted to the European Court of Human Rights by 40 percent, Russia’s Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova believes.

It is necessary to mark a special role the Strasbourg Court plays as the most important mechanism, which has affected the Russian legal framework, Moskalkova has said at a meeting convened to open the advanced training courses for state officials and judges.

Only over the last few years, the Ombudsman has observed, Russia has adopted laws on compensation and transfer of convicts in penitentiary facilities situated closer to the places of residence of their relatives resulting in a 40% decline in the number of claims addressed to the ECHR.

The respective law entered into force this September. Earlier, Moskalkova had petitioned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to back the initiative.