**Russia’s lower house of parliament has backed a long-delayed reform to the European Court of Human Rights.**Before Friday’s vote Russia was the only one of the Council of Europe’s 47 member states that had not ratified Protocol 14.
The Council is based in Strasbourg, France.
The protocol is part of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. It was ratified by 392 Duma deputies, with 56 against.
Ratification in the upper house, the Federation Council, is expected to be a formality.