STRENGTHS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE’S HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISM: THE CONVENTION AND THE COURT

Year 2006, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 56 - 68, 01.06.2006

Cenap Çakmak

Abstract

The Council of Europe has long been regarded very successful in the field of human rights. As a quasi-supranational regional organization, the Council has taken remarkable steps toward ensuring the protection of individuals’ rights and freedoms in Europe. Its success has mostly depended upon its two major tools of protection: the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. Both are to be recognized as innovations in the field. Although similar to other treaties in some respects, the European Convention significantly differs from “traditional” legal texts. This difference makes the Convention original as well as effective in the field. In addition to the Convention, the Court was introduced as a salient breakthrough toward remedying the violations of individuals’ rights. It has produced impressive remedies, outstanding in terms of both number and scope, for the violations that took place in the jurisdictions of member states. The acceptance and recognition of the Convention and the Court by the State Parties as the protection tools of human rights have made them legitimate and powerful

Keywords

Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, protection of human rights.

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