Russia's lower house of parliament on Friday backed a long-delayed reform to the European Court of Human Rights.
   

Lawmakers voted 392 in favour and 56 against.

The Kremlin has been involved in a protracted spat with the Strasbourg-based court for refusing to ratify the legal changes, which will allow the court to speed up its work.

Russia agreed to the reforms in 2004, but stalled on the final ratification despite persistent pleas from both the court's president and the Council of Europe.

The protocol, known by its legal reference Protocol 14, will allow the court to process submitted cases more efficiently and decide on how to handle the small number over which it has jurisdiction.

Seen as a last shot at justice, the European court is becoming increasingly popular in Russia, which had the largest number of accepted cases in 2008 at 8,161.

Russia's human rights record has been frequently criticised by the court, with a large number of cases linked to the ongoing conflict in Russia's North Caucasus region.
 

REUTERS