Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international treaty between the States of the Council of Europe. The United Kingdom was one of the States that drafted the ECHR and was one of the first States to ratify it in 1951. The Convention came into force in 1953.

The current version of the Convention incorporates the amendments made by Protocols No. 11, 14 and 15, in 1998, 2010 and 2021 respectively.

The substantive rights and freedoms contained in the Convention are:

Article 2: the right to life
Article 3: the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Article 4: the prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Article 5: the right to liberty and security
Article 6: the right to a fair trial
Article 7: the prohibition of retrospective criminal penalties
Article 8: the right to private and family life
Article 9: the freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Article 10: the freedom of expression
Article 11: the freedom of assembly and association
Article 12: the right to marry
Article 13: the right to an effective national remedy for breach of these rights
Article 14: the prohibition of discrimination in the protection of these rights
The UK has also ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention on the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, as well Protocol No. 1, which contains three additional rights:

Article 1 of Protocol No.1: the right to free enjoyment of property
Article 2 of Protocol No.1: the right to education
Article 3 of Protocol No.1: the right to free and fair elections