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A) Introduction to the European Convention THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION 14 The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was drawn up within the Council of Europe. The purpose of the Convention was to enable the enforcement of certain of the rights set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The Convention was opened for signature in Rome on 4 November, 1950 and entered into force in September 1953. It has since been ratified by all the member States of the Council of Europe. In addition to laying down a catalogue of civil and political rights and freedoms, the Convention set up a system of enforcement of the obligations entered into by Contracting States. Three institutions were entrusted with this responsibility: the European Commission of Human Rights (European Commission) which was established in 1954, the European Court of Human Rights (European Court) which was established in 1959, and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Committee of Ministers). A new system has recently been established where the European Court assumes the responsibilities traditionally entrusted to the European Commission and the Committee of Ministers. The "new" European Court is described more fully below. Summary of the Treaty The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms defines, in Section I, the rights and freedoms which it guarantees. The Rights under this Convention which are particularly relevant to reproductive and sexual health include: In accordance with the provisions of the Convention, the European Commission and European Court were established to ensure that the Contracting Parties complied with their obligations under the Convention. In addition, the Convention gave the Committee of Ministers an autonomous decision-making power when a case had not been brought before the Court, and the authority to supervise the execution of the Court's judgment when the case had been brought before the latter. Since the adoption of the European Convention, eleven Protocols to the Convention have come into force. Several of those Protocols are particularly important for reproductive and sexual health rights as they add further rights and liberties to those guaranteed by the Convention: Protocol No. 1: Article 2 of this Protocol establishes the right to education Protocol No. 7: Article 5 of this Protocol establishes equal rights and responsibilities of spouses in marriage Protocol No. 12: This protocol is dedicated to the elimination of discrimination The texts of the above Protocols are included in the Basic Text sections of this Part. Several Other Protocols should be considered when considering the submission of an application because they alter the Convention machinery. Protocol No. 9, which entered into force on 1 October 1994, allowed the submission of individual complaints to the European Court of Human Rights. Although the right to submit individual complaints remains, Protocol No. 9 has been repealed by Protocol No. 11: Protocol No. 11: This Protocol, which entered into force on 1 November 1998, was the protocol that brought about a radical reform of the Convention machinery by replacing the present Commission and Court with a single, permanent European Court of Human Rights. In addition to the amendments made to the European Convention and repeal of Protocol No. 9, Protocol No. 11 amended Protocols 1, 4, 6, and 7. One of the most significant changes brought about by this Protocol was the opening of the possibility of submitting information to the Court in an "Amici Curia" submission regarding state or individual violations of rights. Protocol No. 11 required ratification by all the Contracting States and has now entered into force. New Member States of the Council of Europe are required to ratify both the European Convention and Protocol No. 11. The New European Court of Human Rights The new European Court of Human Rights - which began operating on 1 November 1998 - has taken up the responsibilities that were handled by the European Court of Human Rights, the European Commission of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers. The new Court was created to strengthen the judicial character of the system, to make the machinery more accessible to individuals, to speed up the procedure, and ensure greater efficiency. Under the new system, the Court deals with all allegations of violations of individuals' rights as well as inter-state complaints. The Committee of Ministers no longer has jurisdiction to decide on the merits of certain cases, though it retains its important role of monitoring the enforcement of the Court's judgments. In addition, any cases that are clearly unfounded are sifted out of the system at an early stage by a unanimous decision of the Court, sitting as a three-judge committee. Starting in November 1998, the Court took up all cases currently pending before the old Court as well as cases currently pending before the Commission that had not been declared admissible. The old Court no longer exists, but the Commission had an extra year to deal with cases it had declared admissible before November 1998. Although there is a new European Court, there are some cases of the former European Court and European Commission that are relevant to reproductive and sexual health and should be consulted when considering the jurisprudence of the new European Court. Those cases have been included below in the "Case-law" section of Part II. Information contained in the introductory section of Part II regarding the European Convention and the European Court was obtained from the European Court of Human Rights Website at:http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/General.htm. This is a brief overview of Court procedures for a more complete description see the above website.
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