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Ref. DC 132(2016)

Secretary General receives notification from Turkey of its intention to temporarily suspend part of the European Convention on Human Rights

http://bit.ly/29W8rYj

Strasbourg, 21.07.2016 – The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has been informed by the Turkish authorities that Turkey will notify its derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights under the Convention’s Article 15.

The possibility of a derogation is foreseen by Article 15 of the Convention in times of public emergency threatening the life of a nation and has been used in the past by other member states, most recently by France and by Ukraine.

There can be no derogation from the following articles: Article 2 (Right to life), Article 3 (Prohibition of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment), Article 4 para. 1 (prohibition of slavery), Article 7 (No punishment without law).

It is important to note that the European Convention on Human Rights will continue to apply in Turkey. Where the Government seeks to invoke Article 15 in order to derogate from the Convention in individual cases, the European Court of Human Rights will decide whether the application meets the criteria set out in the Convention, notably the criteria of proportionality of the measure taken.

The Turkish Government will inform the Secretary General about measures taken.

Fact sheet on Article 15

Contacts :

Daniel Höltgen, Spokesperson of the Secretary General, tel. +33 6 68 29 87 51

Panos Kakaviatos, Spokesperson/Press officer, tel +33 3 90 21 50 27