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'Only European Community
legislation as printed in the Official Journal of the European Union is
deemed to be authentic'.
Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
as amended by Protocol No. 11
Rome, 4.XI.1950
The text of the Convention had been amended according
to the provisions of Protocol No. 3 (ETS No. 45), which entered into force on
21 September 1970, of Protocol No. 5 (ETS No. 55), which entered into force on
20 December 1971 and of Protocol No. 8 (ETS No. 118), which entered into force
on 1 January 1990, and comprised also the text of Protocol No. 2 (ETS No. 44)
which, in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 3 thereof, had been an integral
part of the Convention since its entry into force on 21 September 1970. All
provisions which had been amended or added by these Protocols are replaced by
Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155), as from the date of its entry into force on 1
November 1998. As from that date, Protocol No. 9 (ETS No. 140), which entered
into force on 1 October 1994, is repealed and Protocol No. 10 (ETS No. 146)
has lost its purpose.
The governments signatory hereto, being
members of the Council of Europe,
Considering the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th
December 1948;
Considering that this Declaration aims at
securing the universal and effective recognition and observance of the Rights
therein declared;
Considering that the aim of the Council of
Europe is the achievement of greater unity between its members and that one of
the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further
realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Reaffirming their profound belief in those
fundamental freedoms which are the foundation of justice and peace in the
world and are best maintained on the one hand by an effective political
democracy and on the other by a common understanding and observance of the
human rights upon which they depend;
Being resolved, as the governments of
European countries which are like-minded and have a common heritage of
political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law, to take the first
steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the rights stated in the
Universal Declaration,
Have agreed as follows:
The High Contracting Parties shall secure to
everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section
I of this Convention.
- Everyone's right to life shall be protected
by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the
execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for
which this penalty is provided by law.
- Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as
inflicted in contravention of this article when it results from the use of
force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
- in defence of any person from unlawful
violence;
- in order to effect a lawful arrest or to
prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
- in action lawfully taken for the purpose
of quelling a riot or insurrection.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude.
- No one shall be required to perform forced
or compulsory labour.
- For the purpose of this article the term
"forced or compulsory labour" shall not include:
- any work required to be done in the
ordinary course of detention imposed according to the provisions of Article
5 of this Convention or during conditional release from such detention;
- any service of a military character or, in
case of conscientious objectors in countries where they are recognised,
service exacted instead of compulsory military service;
- any service exacted in case of an
emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the community;
- any work or service which forms part of
normal civic obligations.
- Everyone has the right to liberty and
security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the
following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law:
- the lawful detention of a person after
conviction by a competent court;
- the lawful arrest or detention of a person
for non-compliance with the lawful order of a court or in order to secure
the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law;
- the lawful arrest or detention of a person
effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal
authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it
is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or
fleeing after having done so;
- the detention of a minor by lawful order
for the purpose of educational supervision or his lawful detention for the
purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority;
- the lawful detention of persons for the
prevention of the spreading of infectious diseases, of persons of unsound
mind, alcoholics or drug addicts or vagrants;
- the lawful arrest or detention of a person
to prevent his effecting an unauthorised entry into the country or of a
person against whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or
extradition.
- Everyone who is arrested shall be informed
promptly, in a language which he understands, of the reasons for his arrest
and of any charge against him.
- Everyone arrested or detained in accordance
with the provisions of paragraph 1.c of this article shall be brought promptly
before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power
and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending
trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.
- Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by
arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the
lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his
release ordered if the detention is not lawful.
- Everyone who has been the victim of arrest
or detention in contravention of the provisions of this article shall have an
enforceable right to compensation.
- In the determination of his civil rights and
obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a
fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and
impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly
but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the
interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic
society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private
life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the
opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice
the interests of justice.
- Everyone charged with a criminal offence
shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
- Everyone charged with a criminal offence has
the following minimum rights:
- to be informed promptly, in a language
which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the
accusation against him;
- to have adequate time and facilities for
the preparation of his defence;
- to defend himself in person or through
legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to
pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice
so require;
- to examine or have examined witnesses
against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his
behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
- to have the free assistance of an
interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.
- No one shall be held guilty of any criminal
offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal
offence under national or international law at the time when it was committed.
Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the
time the criminal offence was committed.
- This article shall not prejudice the trial
and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when
it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law
recognised by civilised nations.
- Everyone has the right to respect for his
private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
- There shall be no interference by a public
authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with
the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national
security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the
prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or
for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his
religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and
in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship,
teaching, practice and observance.
- Freedom to manifest one's religion or
beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and
are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for
the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the
rights and freedoms of others.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of
expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive
and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and
regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring
the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
- The exercise of these freedoms, since it
carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such
formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law
and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national
security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of
disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection
of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of
information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and
impartiality of the judiciary.
- Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the
right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
- No restrictions shall be placed on the
exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are
necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or
public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of
health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the
exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of
the administration of the State.
Men and women of marriageable age have the
right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing
the exercise of this right.
Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set
forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a
national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by
persons acting in an official capacity.
The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set
forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground
such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, association with a national minority, property,
birth or other status.
- In time of war or other public emergency
threatening the life of the nation any High Contracting Party may take
measures derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent
strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such
measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international
law.
- No derogation from Article 2, except in
respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war, or from Articles 3, 4
(paragraph 1) and 7 shall be made under this provision.
- Any High Contracting Party availing itself
of this right of derogation shall keep the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe fully informed of the measures which it has taken and the reasons
therefor. It shall also inform the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
when such measures have ceased to operate and the provisions of the Convention
are again being fully executed.
Nothing in Articles 10, 11 and 14 shall be
regarded as preventing the High Contracting Parties from imposing restrictions
on the political activity of aliens.
Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted
as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity
or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms
set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided
for in the Convention.
The restrictions permitted under this
Convention to the said rights and freedoms shall not be applied for any
purpose other than those for which they have been prescribed.
To ensure the observance of the engagements
undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the Convention and the Protocols
thereto, there shall be set up a European Court of Human Rights, hereinafter
referred to as "the Court". It shall function on a permanent basis.
The Court shall consist of a number of judges
equal to that of the High Contracting Parties.
- The judges shall be of high moral character
and must either possess the qualifications required for appointment to high
judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognised competence.
- The judges shall sit on the Court in their
individual capacity.
- During their term of office the judges shall
not engage in any activity which is incompatible with their independence,
impartiality or with the demands of a full-time office; all questions arising
from the application of this paragraph shall be decided by the Court.
- The judges shall be elected by the
Parliamentary Assembly with respect to each High Contracting Party by a
majority of votes cast from a list of three candidates nominated by the High
Contracting Party.
- The same procedure shall be followed to
complete the Court in the event of the accession of new High Contracting
Parties and in filling casual vacancies.
- The judges shall be elected for a period of
six years. They may be re-elected. However, the terms of office of one-half of
the judges elected at the first election shall expire at the end of three
years.
- The judges whose terms of office are to
expire at the end of the initial period of three years shall be chosen by lot
by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe immediately after their
election.
- In order to ensure that, as far as possible,
the terms of office of one-half of the judges are renewed every three years,
the Parliamentary Assembly may decide, before proceeding to any subsequent
election, that the term or terms of office of one or more judges to be elected
shall be for a period other than six years but not more than nine and not less
than three years.
- In cases where more than one term of office
is involved and where the Parliamentary Assembly applies the preceding
paragraph, the allocation of the terms of office shall be effected by a
drawing of lots by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe immediately
after the election.
- A judge elected to replace a judge whose
term of office has not expired shall hold office for the remainder of his
predecessor's term.
- The terms of office of judges shall expire
when they reach the age of 70.
- The judges shall hold office until replaced.
They shall, however, continue to deal with such cases as they already have
under consideration.
No judge may be dismissed from his office
unless the other judges decide by a majority of two-thirds that he has ceased
to fulfil the required conditions.
The Court shall have a registry, the
functions and organisation of which shall be laid down in the rules of the
Court. The Court shall be assisted by legal secretaries.
The plenary Court shall:
- elect its President and one or two
Vice-Presidents for a period of three years; they may be re-elected;
- set up Chambers, constituted for a fixed
period of time;
- elect the Presidents of the Chambers of
the Court; they may be re-elected;
- adopt the rules of the Court, and
- elect the Registrar and one or more Deputy
Registrars.
- To consider cases brought before it, the
Court shall sit in committees of three judges, in Chambers of seven judges and
in a Grand Chamber of seventeen judges. The Court's Chambers shall set up
committees for a fixed period of time.
- There shall sit as an ex officio
member of the Chamber and the Grand Chamber the judge elected in respect of
the State Party concerned or, if there is none or if he is unable to sit, a
person of its choice who shall sit in the capacity of judge.
- The Grand Chamber shall also include the
President of the Court, the Vice-Presidents, the Presidents of the Chambers
and other judges chosen in accordance with the rules of the Court. When a case
is referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43, no judge from the Chamber
which rendered the judgment shall sit in the Grand Chamber, with the exception
of the President of the Chamber and the judge who sat in respect of the State
Party concerned.
A committee may, by a unanimous vote, declare
inadmissible or strike out of its list of cases an application submitted under
Article 34 where such a decision can be taken without further examination. The
decision shall be final.
- If no decision is taken under Article 28, a
Chamber shall decide on the admissibility and merits of individual
applications submitted under Article 34.
- A Chamber shall decide on the admissibility
and merits of inter-State applications submitted under Article 33.
- The decision on admissibility shall be taken
separately unless the Court, in exceptional cases, decides otherwise.
Where a case pending before a Chamber raises
a serious question affecting the interpretation of the Convention or the
protocols thereto, or where the resolution of a question before the Chamber
might have a result inconsistent with a judgment previously delivered by the
Court, the Chamber may, at any time before it has rendered its judgment,
relinquish jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber, unless one of the
parties to the case objects.
The Grand Chamber shall:
- determine applications submitted either
under Article 33 or Article 34 when a Chamber has relinquished jurisdiction
under Article 30 or when the case has been referred to it under Article 43;
and
- consider requests for advisory opinions
submitted under Article 47.
- The jurisdiction of the Court shall extend
to all matters concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention
and the protocols thereto which are referred to it as provided in Articles 33,
34 and 47.
- In the event of dispute as to whether the
Court has jurisdiction, the Court shall decide.
Any High Contracting Party may refer to the
Court any alleged breach of the provisions of the Convention and the protocols
thereto by another High Contracting Party.
The Court may receive applications from any
person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals claiming to be
the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting Parties of the rights
set forth in the Convention or the protocols thereto. The High Contracting
Parties undertake not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of this
right.
- The Court may only deal with the matter
after all domestic remedies have been exhausted, according to the generally
recognised rules of international law, and within a period of six months from
the date on which the final decision was taken.
- The Court shall not deal with any
application submitted under Article 34 that:
- is anonymous; or
- is substantially the same as a matter that
has already been examined by the Court or has already been submitted to
another procedure of international investigation or settlement and contains
no relevant new information.
- The Court shall declare inadmissible any
individual application submitted under Article 34 which it considers
incompatible with the provisions of the Convention or the protocols thereto,
manifestly ill-founded, or an abuse of the right of application.
- The Court shall reject any application which
it considers inadmissible under this Article. It may do so at any stage of the
proceedings.
- In all cases before a Chamber or the Grand
Chamber, a High Contracting Party one of whose nationals is an applicant shall
have the right to submit written comments and to take part in hearings.
- The President of the Court may, in the
interest of the proper administration of justice, invite any High Contracting
Party which is not a party to the proceedings or any person concerned who is
not the applicant to submit written comments or take part in hearings.
- The Court may at any stage of the
proceedings decide to strike an application out of its list of cases where the
circumstances lead to the conclusion that:
- the applicant does not intend to pursue
his application; or
- the matter has been resolved; or
- for any other reason established by the
Court, it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the
application.
However, the Court shall continue the
examination of the application if respect for human rights as defined in the
Convention and the protocols thereto so requires.
- The Court may decide to restore an
application to its list of cases if it considers that the circumstances
justify such a course.
- If the Court declares the application
admissible, it shall:
- pursue the examination of the case,
together with the representatives of the parties, and if need be, undertake
an investigation, for the effective conduct of which the States concerned
shall furnish all necessary facilities;
- place itself at the disposal of the
parties concerned with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the
matter on the basis of respect for human rights as defined in the Convention
and the protocols thereto.
- Proceedings conducted under paragraph 1.b
shall be confidential.
If a friendly settlement is effected, the
Court shall strike the case out of its list by means of a decision which shall
be confined to a brief statement of the facts and of the solution reached.
- Hearings shall be in public unless the Court
in exceptional circumstances decides otherwise.
- Documents deposited with the Registrar shall
be accessible to the public unless the President of the Court decides
otherwise.
If the Court finds that there has been a
violation of the Convention or the protocols thereto, and if the internal law
of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be
made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured
party.
Judgments of Chambers shall become final in
accordance with the provisions of Article 44, paragraph 2.
- Within a period of three months from the
date of the judgment of the Chamber, any party to the case may, in exceptional
cases, request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber.
- A panel of five judges of the Grand Chamber
shall accept the request if the case raises a serious question affecting the
interpretation or application of the Convention or the protocols thereto, or a
serious issue of general importance.
- If the panel accepts the request, the Grand
Chamber shall decide the case by means of a judgment.
- The judgment of the Grand Chamber shall be
final.
- The judgment of a Chamber shall become
final:
- when the parties declare that they will
not request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber; or
- three months after the date of the
judgment, if reference of the case to the Grand Chamber has not been
requested; or
- when the panel of the Grand Chamber
rejects the request to refer under Article 43.
- The final judgment shall be published.
- Reasons shall be given for judgments as well
as for decisions declaring applications admissible or inadmissible.
- If a judgment does not represent, in whole
or in part, the unanimous opinion of the judges, any judge shall be entitled
to deliver a separate opinion.
- The High Contracting Parties undertake to
abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case to which they are
parties.
- The final judgment of the Court shall be
transmitted to the Committee of Ministers, which shall supervise its
execution.
- The Court may, at the request of the
Committee of Ministers, give advisory opinions on legal questions concerning
the interpretation of the Convention and the protocols thereto.
- Such opinions shall not deal with any
question relating to the content or scope of the rights or freedoms defined in
Section I of the Convention and the protocols thereto, or with any other
question which the Court or the Committee of Ministers might have to consider
in consequence of any such proceedings as could be instituted in accordance
with the Convention.
- Decisions of the Committee of Ministers to
request an advisory opinion of the Court shall require a majority vote of the
representatives entitled to sit on the Committee.
The Court shall decide whether a request for
an advisory opinion submitted by the Committee of Ministers is within its
competence as defined in Article 47.
- Reasons shall be given for advisory opinions
of the Court.
- If the advisory opinion does not represent,
in whole or in part, the unanimous opinion of the judges, any judge shall be
entitled to deliver a separate opinion.
- Advisory opinions of the Court shall be
communicated to the Committee of Ministers.
The expenditure on the Court shall be borne
by the Council of Europe.
The judges shall be entitled, during the
exercise of their functions, to the privileges and immunities provided for in
Article 40 of the Statute of the Council of Europe and in the agreements made
thereunder.
On receipt of a request from the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe any High Contracting Party shall furnish an
explanation of the manner in which its internal law ensures the effective
implementation of any of the provisions of the Convention.
Nothing in this Convention shall be construed
as limiting or derogating from any of the human rights and fundamental
freedoms which may be ensured under the laws of any High Contracting Party or
under any other agreement to which it is a Party.
Nothing in this Convention shall prejudice
the powers conferred on the Committee of Ministers by the Statute of the
Council of Europe.
The High Contracting Parties agree that,
except by special agreement, they will not avail themselves of treaties,
conventions or declarations in force between them for the purpose of
submitting, by way of petition, a dispute arising out of the interpretation or
application of this Convention to a means of settlement other than those
provided for in this Convention.
- Any State may at the time of its ratification or at any time
thereafter declare by notification addressed to the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe that the present Convention shall, subject to paragraph 4 of
this Article, extend to all or any of the territories for whose international
relations it is responsible.
- The Convention shall extend to the territory
or territories named in the notification as from the thirtieth day after the
receipt of this notification by the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe.
- The provisions of this Convention shall be
applied in such territories with due regard, however, to local requirements.
- Any State which has made a declaration in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this article may at any time thereafter declare on behalf of
one or more of the territories to which the declaration relates that it
accepts the competence of the Court to receive applications from individuals,
non-governmental organisations or groups of individuals as provided by Article
34 of the Convention.
- Any State may, when signing this Convention
or when depositing its instrument of ratification, make a reservation in
respect of any particular provision of the Convention to the extent that any
law then in force in its territory is not in conformity with the provision.
Reservations of a general character shall not be permitted under this article.
- Any reservation made under this article
shall contain a brief statement of the law concerned.
- A High Contracting Party may denounce the
present Convention only after the expiry of five years from the date on which
it became a party to it and after six months' notice contained in a
notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who
shall inform the other High Contracting Parties.
- Such a denunciation shall not have the
effect of releasing the High Contracting Party concerned from its obligations
under this Convention in respect of any act which, being capable of
constituting a violation of such obligations, may have been performed by it
before the date at which the denunciation became effective.
- Any High Contracting Party which shall cease
to be a member of the Council of Europe shall cease to be a Party to this
Convention under the same conditions.
- The Convention may be denounced in accordance with the provisions
of the preceding paragraphs in respect of any territory to which it has been
declared to extend under the terms of Article 56.
- This Convention shall be open to the
signature of the members of the Council of Europe. It shall be ratified.
Ratifications shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe.
- The present Convention shall come into force
after the deposit of ten instruments of ratification.
- As regards any signatory ratifying
subsequently, the Convention shall come into force at the date of the deposit
of its instrument of ratification.
- The Secretary General of the Council of
Europe shall notify all the members of the Council of Europe of the entry into
force of the Convention, the names of the High Contracting Parties who have
ratified it, and the deposit of all instruments of ratification which may be
effected subsequently.
Done at Rome this 4th day of November 1950, in English and French, both texts
being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the
archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General shall transmit
certified copies to each of the signatories.
Notes :
1. Heading added according to the provisions of Protocol No. 11 (ETS No.
155).
2. New Section II according to the provisions of Protocol No. 11 (ETS No.
155).
3. The articles of this Section are renumbered according to the provisions
of Protocol No. 11 (ETS No. 155).
4. Text amended according to the provisions of Protocol No. 11 (ETS No.
155).
Reproduced from Council of Europe
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