European Convention on Human Rights facts for kids

Many countries in Europe, which are part of the Council of Europe, agreed on important rules. These rules are about protecting human rights, similar to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They wrote these rules down in a document called the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Most people call it the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for short.

This Convention also created a special court, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The decisions made by this Court are very powerful and must be followed by countries.

The ECHR was first written on 4 November 1950.

What are the ECHR's Important Rules?

The ECHR has added many extra rules over time. These extra rules are called protocols. They help make human rights even stronger. For example:

• Protocol 1 protects your right to education. This means you have a right to go to school.
• Protocol 12 works against all kinds of discrimination. It makes sure public authorities treat everyone fairly.
• Protocol 13 completely got rid of the death penalty. This means no country that follows this rule can use the death penalty.

All countries that are members of the Council of Europe must follow these important rules.

How Does the European Court of Human Rights Work?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) helps make sure countries follow the ECHR rules. If someone believes that a European country has not respected their human rights, they can take their complaint to the judges at the ECtHR.

The judges will carefully listen to the complaint. They will then make a decision. The governments of the countries involved must follow these decisions. This helps protect everyone's human rights across Europe.

Related pages

• Council of Europe
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• International human rights law
• Human rights

Images for kids

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  Ukrainian stamp, celebrating 60 years of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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  In 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands used Article 2 of the ECHR. They said the government must limit climate change to keep people healthy.

See also

In Spanish: Convención Europea de Derechos Humanos para niños