The European Convention on Human Rights: pillars, shifts, and challenges

ABSTRACT On the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights, the author, a judge of the Strasbourg Court, shares some general thoughts on the system set up by this international treaty, assessing the progress made since 1950 and putting contemporary issues into perspective. To that end, he looks back at the origin of the Convention, by way of a reminder of its raison d’être and specificity. He focuses on its underlying values, the rule of law and democracy, closely scrutinizing their relevance. The role of the European Court of Human Rights, an international court responsible for a subsidiary review of Convention compliance by the States Parties, is then discussed in depth. The author explains the essence of this subsidiarity and emphasizes the need to see it in its positive dimension, in the sense of ensuring the effectiveness of rights. After tracing the evolution of the Convention mechanism from its inception until the recent reforms, he lastly identifies the major challenges that it is facing today. The author concludes by pointing to the Convention’s crucial importance in a difficult context. He highlights the historic responsibility that falls to the Court to ensure that the promises of justice and freedom remain a reality for future generations.