European Convention on Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights, StrasbourgThe European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. It was drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe. Ireland was one of the first State's to ratify the ECHR in February 1953. All 47 Council of Europe member states are party to the ECHR. New members are expected to ratify the ECHR at the earliest opportunity.
Ireland was, however, the slowest member state to "bring home" the rights in the Convention. Through the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003, our Courts are now obliged to interpret Irish laws in a way that gives effect to Ireland's obligations under the ECHR. Organs of state (such as government ministers and state bodies) are also now obliged to act in compliance with the ECHR. The provisions of the ECHR do not directly come into Irish law by virtue of this legislation. Rather its provisions have only been partially or indirectly introduced in this jurisdiction.
The ECHR provides mainly for the protection of not only civil and political but also social and economic rights. These include:
Article 1 Respecting rights
Article 2 Right to life
Article 3 Prohibition of torture, ill-treatment
Article 4 Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Article 5 Right to liberty and security
Article 6 Right to a fair trial
Article 7 No punishment without law
Article 8 Right to respect for private and family life
Article 9 Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Article 10 Freedom of expression
Article 11 Freedom of assembly and association
Article 12 Right to marriage
Article 13 Right to an effective remedy
Article 14 Prohibition of discrimination
Protocols to the Convention - additional rights
The Convention also has several protocols. For example, Article 1 of Protocol 1 governs the right to the peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, while Article 2 of Protocol 1 deals with the right to education. Protocol 6 prohibits the death penalty.
The European Court of Human Rights
The Convention established the European Court of Human Rights. Any person who feels his/ her Convention rights have been violated by a member state can take a case to the Court. The Judgements of the Court are legally binding on the State Parties who must take measures to rectify the problem. The Court has the power to award damages/ compensation.The amounts awarded are usually small.
Certain criteria apply to applications to the European Court of Human Rights. Most importantly, you must first exhaust all domestic remedies available to you, such as through the Irish Courts.
The principle of subsidiarity is an increasingly important concept in the framework of the ECHR. This means that State Parties must attempt to reflect the Convention in their national laws thus preventing cases having to be taken to Strasbourg and thus assisting in lowering the backlog of over 110,000 cases presently before the
Court.
Other Council of Europe Treaties
Further information
More information is available on the website of the Council of Europe.