European Convention on Human Rights

I

Introduction

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), convention adopted in 1950 and put into effect in 1953 by the Council of Europe. It is an intergovernmental organization concerned with the importance of political and civil rights for the contracting states. It protects most of the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though less extensively. Rights included are the right to life, freedom from slavery, freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom from torture, protection of privacy and family life, and freedom from discrimination in the application of these rights and freedoms. The ECHR established the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, both of which sit in Strasbourg, France, to enforce the convention.

II

Articles of the ECHR

Article 1 of the ECHR requires states to secure the nondiscriminatory protection of the rights and freedoms listed under the convention. Article 13 requires that where rights are violated, persons will have an effective remedy before a national authority. It is implicit from the convention that states have an obligation to ensure that the necessary legislative measures are taken and implemented.

Under Article 24 of the ECHR, any contracting party may refer any alleged breach of the convention by any other party. Further, under Article 25, individuals have the right to lodge claims as victims of alleged violations. Under existing institutions, cases are first referred to the European Commission of Human Rights.

III

The European Commission of Human Rights

The commission can only deal with a claim if all domestic remedies have been exhausted, unless a state waives the benefit of this rule. Local remedies do not have to be applied, however, if they are not genuine and effective or if they are subject to unreasonable delay.

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The commission must decide whether an application is admissible—that is, the commission must establish whether there has been a prima facie (valid) breach of the convention. Once a case is found to be admissible the commission must investigate the accuracy of the facts alleged. Once these are established the commission acts in the role of conciliator with the aim of securing a friendly settlement of the case. In the absence of a settlement, the commission must draw up a report and transmit it to the Committee of Ministers.

IV

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights is composed of a number of judges equal to the number of members of the Council of Europe.

The majority of cases referred to the court come from the commission, usually where there are difficult points of law or sharp differences in opinion between the members of the commission. In essence, the function of the court is to be a supranational body that places a primary obligation on states to comply with the convention. Decisions are therefore not binding on domestic courts. This is examined below with respect to the relevance of the ECHR to domestic authorities in the United Kingdom.

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