70 years on, the human rights Convention is more important than ever
In these challenging times, when governments are forced to take exceptional measures to protect their people, human rights can sometimes be seen as a dispensable luxury – temporarily, at least.
I believe the opposite is true. When times are hard is when we most depend on our core values to guide us.
Although its steadying influence is largely below the surface, the European Convention on Human Rights (the ECHR or the Convention) is helping states across Europe to navigate these heavy seas without losing precious cargo – our basic values of fairness, equality and justice.
Firstly, the Convention helps to guarantee that any restrictions on our basic rights that are introduced by governments to help tackle COVID-19 are both necessary and in proportion to the threats that we face. Our liberties cannot be taken away at will.
Emergency measures, which have been adopted in one form or another by every country across Europe, must be limited both in scope and time. They must have a clear legal basis and it must be possible for the people affected by those measures to be able to challenge them in court.
At the same time, the ECHR requires states to take positive steps to protect the lives of their citizens and to make sure that no-one suffers from inhuman or degrading treatment – including victims of domestic violence or sexual exploitation, for example, as well as the elderly, people with disabilities and those being held in places of detention.
The Convention contains an obligation to respect our right to liberty, as far as possible in the circumstances, as well as our security in these uncertain times when feelings are running high on all sides. This is equally true with regard to the obligation to carry out effective investigations when things go badly wrong.
By making sure that justice systems continue to function effectively, the Convention also helps to protect people from crime – on the understanding that everyone has the right to a fair trial, within a reasonable period of time, and people are not unfairly punished. Justice systems also protect people’s freedoms by acting as an important brake on the power of governments.
Crucially, the ECHR upholds our right to enjoy a family life – alongside our rights to get married and to receive a quality education – as well as our privacy, notably through the protection of our personal data, at a time when new technologies are being rapidly developed and put into practice in order to help manage the pandemic.
The human rights Convention guarantees our right to follow our religions or beliefs, which are crucial in helping so many of us through these difficult times, as well as protecting us all from discrimination.
Furthermore, the Convention provides clear guarantees as to our right to receive information about the pandemic as well as our freedom of speech – the freedom to openly say what we think about the challenges we are going through, to disagree with those whose opinions differ, and to come together with others to make our voices heard more clearly.
Last but not least, by ensuring everyone’s right to elect their governments at regular intervals, the Convention helps to make sure that governments can be held to account for their actions during this crisis and cannot use these extraordinary circumstances as an excuse for subverting basic democratic principles in order to hold on to power indefinitely.
There will inevitably be some restrictions placed on many of these rights during the pandemic for the sake of public health.
The limited exceptions which are provided for in the Convention prove that it is flexible enough to allow states to effectively manage extraordinary challenges but also strong enough to make sure that they do not go too far.
If there are problems at the national level, as there inevitably will be as states grapple with numerous and unprecedented issues affecting many different areas of our lives , then the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg provides a safety net to more than 835 million people across the continent.
As well as providing redress to people whose rights have been violated, the legally-binding ECHR system works to ensure that lessons are learned and the same mistakes are not repeated in the future.
As it approaches its 70th anniversary, on 4 November, the COVID-19 situation is clearly demonstrating that the European Convention on Human Rights is more valuable than ever.
The Convention is strong and flexible enough to guide us through this storm whilst staying true to our key values.
Furthermore, sticking to the principles underpinning the Convention – alongside the economic and social rights set out in the European Social Charter – will help ensure that member states are better prepared to face future challenges.
Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe