Introduction to Political Theory

European Convention on Human Rights (1950)

The European Convention on Human Rights – officially the Convention for the

Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – was adopted in 1950

by the Council of Europe, an international organisation that began with 10 member

states and now has 47 (www.coe.int). The Preamble to the ECHR makes explicit

its relationship to the UDHR by stating as its aim the ‘collective enforcement of

certain rights stated in the Universal Declaration’. There are, however, several

important features that distinguish the ECHR from the UDHR. These differences

flow from the fact that the ECHR is intended as a legal document, whereas the

UDHR is a general statement of aspiration:

1. Many of the articles of the ECHR are double-headed, meaning that the first part
   sets out the rights, but the second states a limitation on the right. For example,

Chapter 18 Human rights 407

Article(s)

1–2 Human beings should be treated equally, irrespective of personal characteristics or
citizenship.
3 Right to life, liberty and security of person.
4–5 Prohibition on slavery, and on torture.
6–11 Equality before the law: equal protection by the state; right to an effective remedy for
violation of one’s rights; prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention; right to a fair trial;
presumption of innocence until guilt is proven; prohibition on retroactive laws.
12 Prohibition on arbitrary interference in private life.
13–14 Freedom of movement, including emigration; right to asylum in another country.
15 Right to nationality; prohibition on deprivation of nationality.
16 Right to marry; prohibition on forced marriage.
17 Right to own property; prohibition on arbitrary seizure of property.
18–20 Freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; right
to peaceful assembly; prohibition on compulsion to belong to an association.
21 Right to political participation; equal access to public service; ‘the will of the people
shall be the basis of the authority of the government’.
22–26 Right to social security; right to work, and the free choice of employment; equal pay for
equal work; right to ‘just and favourable remuneration’; right to join a trade union; right
to rest and leisure; right to an ‘adequate’ standard of living; ‘motherhood and childhood
are entitled to special care and assistance’; equal protection of children; right to
education; right of parents to determine the kind of education their children receive.
27 Right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community.
28 ‘Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized’.
29 Everyone has duties to his or her community; the exercise of the above rights can only
be limited in order to meet the ‘just requirements of morality, public order and the
general welfare in a democratic society’.
30 Nothing in the Declaration should imply that any state, group or person can engage in
actions destructive of any of the rights and freedoms set out in it.