2. The European Convention on Human Rights

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress, and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter explores the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It also tackles the general idea of legally protected human rights, which gained momentum towards the end of the Second World War. The United Nations was an inspiration, specifically the organisation’s Charter that adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. After 1945, the goal was reconstruction, removing the causes of war, and providing protection from any threat potentially posed by a totalitarian government. In this regard, two main solutions were adopted: the European Union (as it eventually became), and the Council of Europe. The chapter aims to distinguish between these two solutions. The principal focus of the chapter is on the Convention system and the obligations of the states which have agreed to its requirements. The nature of the Court and the process of taking a claim through its procedures is explored, as is the system of enforcement.