Russian lawmakers on Friday ended years of resistance and ratified an international agreement intended to strengthen the European Court of Human Rights. MOSCOW (AP) — President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law cementing Russia's ratification of Protocol 14, the raft of amendments that will strengthen and accelerate the work of the European Court of Human Rights.

Russian lawmakers approved the document last month, allowing it to finally be implemented. It needed to be approved by all members of the 47-nation Council of Europe to come into force, and Russia had been the only holdout. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma rejected the document in 2006.

The Strasbourg-based court has struggled to deal with a backlog of cases, and Protocol 14 to the European rights convention was seen as essential for streamlining the court's proceedings.

Russia has expressed irritation over court rulings that found the country at fault in scores of cases.