a 4 fa 4 oes oe COUNCIL — CONSEIL (ela Uitel Uo i ee Tey La RUC) Dr Convention on TEMS Council GH) ID Ta Ge Cm Ct URS www.coe.intIn 1949, in the aftermath of the second world war, ten European states came together to found the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France). Their goal was to put an end to dictatorship, safeguard peace and uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law throughout Europe. The following year, on 4 November 1950, twelve states signed the European Convention on Human Rights. This Council of Europe treaty came into force in 1953 and the European Court of Human Rights was established in 1959. The Court’s task is to examine all alleged violations of the Convention. For 60 years now, the European Convention on Human Rights has been the landmark text on rights and freedoms across the continent. Assembly Chamber Article 14 of the ConventionIneo years, the rights enshrined in the Convention have evolved thanks to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and to various protocols which have established new rights relating to situations that could not have been anticipated when the Convention was first adopted, such as Protocol No. 13 of 2002 on the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. Protocol No. 11, which came into force in 1998, radically altered the machinery for protecting the rights safeguarded by the Convention. A new full-time Court was set up, to which all individual applicants are now entitled to refer their cases directly. Over the years, the Council of Europe has drawn up further treaties giving protection in the area of human rights. The European Social Charter extends the protection of social and economic rights. The range of rights protected has also been increased through the adoption of new conventions such as the Convention for the Prevention of Torture, the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Bioethics Convention. Other instruments are specially designed to promote cultural diversity and combat racism: these include the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the setting up of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). An office of Commissioner for Human Rights was established by the Council of Europe in 1999. This is an independent authority whose task is to promote human rights in the Organisation's member states, in particular through dialogue and reports. Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention Article 1 of Protocol No. 13 to the Convention Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention47 signatories, PYM CLC The g4 Neth Sea STUNT) ee LRA CPST on the same footing roar) cena Say of % ms Franc Switéerland ai crs In order to join the Council of Europe, states must first sign and ratify the European Convention on Human Rights. There are 47 states, stretching from Iceland to Azerbaijan, which have undertaken to safeguard human rights on their territory. The European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols : « protect the right to life, security, property, freedom of thought and expression and the rights to marry and to vote. « prohibit torture, inhuman treatment, discrimination, the death penalty, slavery and the collective expulsion of aliens. fy earth Roe Rr eat sie] een cule the Council of Europ The Convention and its protocols protect the rights and freedoms of every human being - man, woman or child. The Convention system is unique in providing a final avenue of appeal for any person within the jurisdiction of any of the 47 Council of Europe member states whose fundamental rights have been violated. Any individual, group of individuals, company or non-governmental organisation can apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, provided in particular that they have exhausted all domestic remedies. Most applications to the Court are submitted by individuals, but a state may also lodge an application against another state party to the Convention.PTET LLG take precedence CR | the Convention system The Convention was a milestone in the development of international law. Once states had accepted that a supranational court could challenge decisions taken by their own courts, human rights gained precedence over national legislation and practice. Court judgments are binding and have real practical consequences. They lead states to take compliance measures and to amend parts of their legislation. For example, Denmark has changed its rules on custody of illegitimate children, France has enacted legislation on telephone tapping, Italy has made it compulsory for defence lawyers to be present during judicial proceedings and the United Kingdom has banned corporal punishment in state schools. The Court has become a victim of its own success. Every year it receives a huge number of applications, which stretch its resources to the limit. The explosion in the number of cases over the last ten years is the result of both the accession of new Council of Europe member states and a massive influx of individual applications against both old and new member states. This situation poses a threat to the efficient running of the Court. If it is to fulfil its key functions, it is vital to simplify and speed up the processing of cases that are manifestly inadmissible or repetitive in nature. That is the intention behind Protocol No. 14 to the Convention, whose aim is to guarantee the long-term efficiency of the Court by optimising the filtering and processing of applications. The Protocol entered into force in June 2010. Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Convention Article 10, paragraph 1 of the Convention Article 4 of the ConventionThe European Court The Convention provision of Human Rights deals with which has been violated both individual and most is Article 6, inter-state applications. as regards first the right Its judges, who are totally to a fair trial, then the independent, are elected by reasonable time requirement. the Parliamentary Assembly The next most frequent of the Council of Europe. violations are under Article 1 Allthe Court’s judgments _ of Protocol No. | (protection are based on the European of property) and Article 5 Convention on Human Rights. | of the Convention Hearings are held (right to liberty and security). at the Human Rights However, the Court has also Building in Strasbourg. given rulings on various In its fifty years of existence, | social issues such the Court has delivered as abortion, assisted some 10 000 judgments suicide, body searches, finding violations | domestic slavery, adoption of states’ obligations by homosexuals, wearing under the Convention. | religious symbols At the beginning of 2010, | at school, the protection some 120 000 cases were of journalists’ sources and pending before the Court. | even environmental issues. SS OE ; Human Rights Building Article 3 of the Convention Article 9, paragraph 1 of the Convention[ool \el eo) C1 OF EUROPE DE L'EUROPE CTT Ta ea) www.coe.int To consult the Court's judgments : www.echr.coe.int To read the text of the Convention : www.conventions.coe.int Produced by the Directorate of Communication / Design : Les Explorateurs / © Photos, Council of Europe / June 2010