A Convention to protect your rights and liberties
The European Convention of Human Rights is the first Council of Europe’s convention and it aims at protecting human rights. Its ratification is a prerequisite for joining the Council of Europe. It was adopted in 1950 and entered into force in 1953.
More than 200 conventions are a part of the Council of Europe legal framework. They are legally binding agreements with which a member state is obliged to comply once it has signed and ratified them.
Comment: Notice the difference between the headline and first paragraph? The former makes a categorical statement. The latter inserts the caveat "aims at protecting human rights". Hirst v UK (No2) is evidence that the aim has missed the target.
Given the stated "a member state is obliged to comply" and "legally binding agreements", why hasn't the UK complied and doesn't feel it is legally binding on the UK? Why is the Council Europe not using the enforcement powers at its disposal?
The European Convention on Human Rights at a glance
The member governments of the Council of Europe work towards peace and greater unity based on human rights and fundamental freedoms. With this Convention they decide to take the first steps to enforce many of the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 1 ‐ Obligation to respect human rights
States must ensure that everyone has the rights stated in this Convention.
Article 13 ‐ Right to an effective remedy
If your rights are violated, you can complain about this officially to the courts or other public bodies.
Comment: With signing they take the first step. The next step should put it into practice. The UK did not go beyond the first step. The Interlaken process requires that Member States incorporate the whole Convention into domestic law, not like the UK leaving out Articles 1 and 13 in the HRA 1998.
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