EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION / Alla Tymofeyeva (ed.)

protocols to it. However, if we have a look, for example at Article 5 of the First additional protocol to the Convention, we will find a provision in accordance with which a number of the provisions contained in this protocol “shall be regarded as additional Articles to the Convention”. It means that all the material provisions in additional protocols to the Convention should be seen as a part of the Convention itself. Consequently, the Convention includes not only the text adopted in 1950, but also a number of other Articles, which were added by means of additional protocols. States that have ratified the Convention and protocols to it, also known as “States Parties”, have undertaken to secure and guarantee to everyone within their jurisdiction, not only their nationals, the fundamental civil and political rights defined in the Convention. The rights and freedoms secured by the Convention include the right to life, the right to a fair hearing, the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the protection of property. The Convention prohibits, in particular, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, forced labour, arbitrary and unlawful detention, and discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms secured by the Convention. The Convention has also grown, and protocols have added new rights: for example, in July 2003, with Protocol No. 13 concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, or in April 2005, with Protocol No. 12 on non-discrimination. The Convention evolves especially by means of the interpretation of its provisions by the European Court of Human Rights (Court/ECtHR). Through its case-law the Court has made the Convention a living instrument; it has thus extended the rights afforded and has applied them to situations that were not foreseeable when the Convention was first adopted. The Convention is applicable at national level. It has been incorporated into the legislation of the States Parties, which have undertaken to protect the rights defined in the Convention. Therefore, domestic courts must apply the Convention. Otherwise, the European Court of Human Rights would find against the State in the event of complaints by individuals regarding the failure to protect their rights. Primarily, the working mechanisms under the Convention were the European Court and the European Commission on Human Rights. Although the Commission became obsolete in 1998 with the restructuring of the Court of Human Rights, it held an important role in assisting the European Court of Human Rights from 1953 to 1998. Commission members were elected by the Committee of Ministers and would hold office for six years (during which time they were to act independently, without allegiance to any state). Their role was to consider whether a petition was admissible to the Court. If so, the Commission would examine the petition to determine the facts of the case and look for parties that could help settle the case in a friendly manner. If a friendly settlement could not take place, the Commission would issue a report on the established facts with an opinion on whether or not a violation had occurred. A Committee of three members determined the admissibility of a petition. For difficult decisions, however, a Chamber consisting of seven members handled it. To date, 16 additional protocols to the Convention have been adopted, but only 14 of them have entered into force already. Protocol No. 14, whose aim is to guarantee the long-term efficiency of the Court by optimising the filtering and processing of applications, provides in particular for new judicial formations to deal with the simplest cases, for a new admissibility criterion (that of “significant disadvantage”) and for judges’ terms of office to be extended to nine years without the possibility of re-election. This Protocol entered into force on 1 June 2010. To date, 16 additional protocols to the Convention have been adopted and all of them have entered into force. Protocol No. 14, whose aim is to guarantee the long-term efficiency of the Court by optimising the filtering and processing of applications, provides in particular for new judicial formations to deal with the simplest cases, for a new admissibility criterion (that of “significant disadvantage”) and for judges’ terms of office to be extended to nine years without the possibility of re-election. This Protocol entered into force on 1 June 2010.

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EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACTION