What is the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)?
For over 75 years, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has protected rights and freedoms of people living in Europe.
© Marie-Anne Ventoura
What is the convention?
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international human rights treaty. It was drafted in 1950 by the Council of Europe (CoE), an international organisation that is seperate from the EU. For 75 years, the ECHR has championed human rights of people living in Europe, and today 46 countries have signed up to uphold its principles.
Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe protects human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The UK joined the Council of Europe at its inception, some 24 years before joining the EU, and remains a member post-Brexit. No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.
Signatories to the ECHR have committed to protect the basic rights and freedoms of people in their countries. The rights protected in the ECHR are incorporated into the UK’s law through the Human Rights Act. If states fall short of upholding their commitment to upholding human rights, people can go to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge these violations.
How was the European Convention on Human Rights created?
The Hall of Knights at the Europa Congress in The Hague, May 1948 © Wikimedia Commons
The idea for the ECHR was proposed in the early 1940s while the Second World War was still raging across Europe. Designed to help fulfil the promise of ‘never again,’ the ECHR ensures that governments would never again be allowed to dehumanise and abuse people’s rights with impunity.
In May 1948 after the war had ended, the ‘Congress of Europe’ was held in The Hague, a gathering of over 750 delegates which included leaders from civil society groups, academia, business and religious groups, trade unions, and politicians. They proposed a list of rights to be protected, and also drew a number of articles directly from the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The ECHR was formally drafted by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg during the summer of 1949. Over 100 members of parliament from across Europe came together to draft the charter to protect human rights. In March 1951 the United Kingdom became the very first nation to ratify the convention.
Since the ECHR came into full effect on the 3rd September 1953, it has been hugely important in raising standards and increasing awareness of human rights across CoE member states, and beyond.
What is the European Court of Human Rights?
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was set up in 1959 and is based in Strasbourg, France.
It exists to safeguard the ECHR, providing a forum for people who believe their rights have been denied, allowing them to have their cases heard.
Judgements of the Court legally bind countries to stand by its rulings. The court's decisions have influenced the laws and practices of governments across Europe.
Donate so people worldwide can exercise their rights
How does the ECHR relate to the UK’s Human Rights Act?
The Human Rights Act (HRA) was passed in 1998 and brings the ECHR into British Law. This means that judicial decisions on human rights cases can be reached within the domestic legal system.
The Human Rights Act contains most of the rights from the ECHR, taken word for word, and sets out how those rights are to be applied and enforced.
Before the Act was passed, the only way UK residents could bring a legal challenge under the ECHR was to go to the European Court of Human Rights. This process could be lengthy and expensive.
The Human Rights Act now allows the rights guaranteed by the ECHR to be enforced in UK courts – increasing everyone’s access to justice in this country.
Key articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
Article 1 – obligation to respect human rights Show Hide
The state has the responsibility to respect every individual’s human rights, as set out in the Convention itself.
Article 2 – right to life Show Hide
We all have the right to life, and not be killed by another person.
The state must protect people’s lives by enforcing the law, protecting those in danger, and safeguard against accidental deaths.
Article 3 – prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment Show Hide
Nobody, under any circumstances, can torture or abuse anyone else. We should never be treated in ways that cause us serious physical or mental suffering.
Article 4 – prohibition of slavery and forced labour Show Hide
Nobody should ever be made a slave or forced to work against their will.
There are minor exceptions to this article, for example in some cases it is legal to require someone to work in if they’re in prison or the military services.
Article 5 – right to liberty and security Show Hide
We can only be detained in certain circumstances, for example if we’ve been convicted by a court, or if we’re considered to be a danger to ourselves.
Article 6 – right to a fair trial Show Hide
We have the right to a fair and public trial, within a reasonable amount of time, by an independent and unbiased judge.
If charged with an offence we should be assumed innocent until proven guilty.
Article 7 – no punishment without law Show Hide
All crimes should be clearly defined by the law. We can only be found guilty of a criminal offence if there was a law against it at the time the act was committed. Once found guilty of a crime we cannot later be given a heavier sentence.
Article 8 – right to respect privacy and family life Show Hide
This right exists to protect four things: our family life, our home, our private life, and our correspondence.
We have the right to live with our family and our loved ones.
Respect for the home guards against intrusion into where we live, or to protect us being forced from where we live without good reason.
Respect for private life protects our personal freedoms, including respect for our sexuality, the right not to be placed under unlawful surveillance, or for us not to have personal information spread about us against our will.
Respect for correspondence allows for us to communicate with others freely and in full privacy.
Article 9 – freedom of thought, conscience and religion Show Hide
We all have the right to hold religious and other beliefs. We also have the right to change these beliefs when we choose. We should be free to worship and express our beliefs both in public and private spaces.
Article 10 – freedom of expression Show Hide
We have the right for us to hold our own opinions, to express our views and ideas, and to share information with others.
This article can protect our right to express views that some may find unpopular or offensive.
Article 11 – freedom of assembly and association Show Hide
We have the right to join with others to protect our common interests, to form trade unions political parties.
Importantly this article also exists to protect our right to hold meetings, and to assemble in groups to peacefully protest.
Article 12 – right to marry Show Hide
Men and women have the right marry whom they want to, and to start a family.
Article 13 – right to an effective remedy Show Hide
If our rights are violated then we must be able to challenge this through legal means. The state must make arrangement for this, and there may be compensation for any damage caused to us.
Article 14 – prohibition of discrimination Show Hide
Our rights should never be denied to us due to any form of discrimination, whether due to our ‘sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status’.
Article 15 – derogation in time of emergency Show Hide
A state can choose to ignore some specific rights in the ECHR at a time of war or other emergency threatening the life of the nation, but any removal of rights should be limited to those absolutely required by the situation. A state must always make sure these measures are consistent with its obligations under International Law.
Article 16 – restriction on political activity of non-nationals Show Hide
A state can restrict the political activity of non-nationals, but this does not apply to the nationals of EU member states when in an EU country.
Article 17 – prohibition of abuse of rights Show Hide
Nothing in the ECHR allows for any state, group or individual to destroy the rights and freedoms that the convention protects.
Article 18 – limitation on use of restriction of rights Show Hide
The restrictions allowed by the convention should not be applied for any other purpose than those explained in the convention itself.
The Convention also contains a list of protocols which make amendments to the original articles. These relate to the right to property, education, free elections and many other issues. To read more detail about the ECHR take a look at the Council of Europe’s webpages for PDF versions of the Convention and Protocol.
The ECHR under attack
Over the past 70 years, the ECHR has protected countless people from human rights violations, and ensured that abusers do not go unpunished. But in recent years governments, opposition parties and other people in public life have started to criticise the ECHR. They argue a foreign court shouldn't tell us what to do, and that the ECHR is undermining the UK’s ability to control immigration.
But these claims are simply not true. The ECHR is an international court with a UK judge on it. And the ECHR’s impact on immigration policy has been vastly overstated by those that wish to use it as a wedge issue to deflect from their own policy choices.
We can’t let them undermine the UK’s proud history of recognising and valuing human rights with falsehoods. At a time where our rights are backsliding, the ECHR and the UK’s Human Rights Act are more important than ever to uphold our human rights. We can’t let them water down protections that help UK residents every single day.
Withdrawing from the convention would be a shameful backwards step. Join us in our campaign to defend the ECHR.
Glossary of terms
- Article – the substance of a treaty or agreement.
- Council of Europe – The Council of Europe (CoE) was formed in 1949 as a way of encouraging cooperation between countries in Europe after the Second World War. It is not related to the European Union. There are 47 members of the CoE compared to the EU’s 28. The UK became a member of the CoE at its inception in 1949, some 24 years before joining the EU. The UK’s membership of the Council will be completely unaffected if it exits from the EU.
- ECHR - The European Convention on Human Rights
- ECtHR - The European Court of Human Rights
- Treaty – this is an agreement between states that has been ratified and formally concluded.
- Protocol – a treaty that supplements or adds to an existing treaty.
- Ratification - A state notifies the other parties that they consent to be bound by a treaty. This is called ratification. The treaty is now officially binding on the state.
- Signing - By signing a treaty, a state expresses the intention to comply with a treaty. However, this expression of intent is not binding on its own.
Join our mailing list
Would you like to receive the latest news about our campaigns, fundraising opportunities, ways to support our work, events and more straight to your inbox?
Article details