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THE COURTTHE COURT
• Architect:Lord Richard Rogers
HUMAN RIGHTS BUILDING
IN FIGURES
Architects Consortium:
Richard Rogers PartnershipLtd, London,& Claude Bucher, Strasbourg• Cost: FRF 455 million
• Usable floor area: 28,000 sq.m, including,
- 860 sq. m for the Hearing Room
- 520 sq. m for the small Hearing Room
- 4,500 sq. m of meeting rooms
- 16,500 sq. m of offices
• Number of meeting rooms: 18, including,
- the Hearing Room (243 seats + 49 for the judges + 22 for applicants)
- the small Hearing Room (101 seats + 25 for the judges + 12 for applicants)
- the Court Deliberations Rooms (seating space 47-52)
- Meeting rooms (average of 47 seats around the table, plus 52 at the rear)
• Not forgetting:- 490 km of electric cables- 5,500 lights- 10 km of piping- 500 metres of document conveyors
- 9 lifts/goods lifts- 450 tonnes of metal frame- 1,450 tonnes of concrete reinforcement
- 15,000 cubic metres of concrete
- 2,800 linear metres of fixed plant window boxes
- 4 heatpumps- l6 separate air-handling units- 50 firms with 125 subcontractors
- 1,500 site workers- 800,000 hours of building work
• Number of offices: Variable (535 offices)
• Audiovisual equipment: Press room (204 seats)
Seminar room (104 seats)
Court of Justice of the European Union
Based in Luxembourg, this Court ensures compliance with
EU law and rules on the interpretation and application
of the treaties establishing the European Union.
International Court of Justice
Judicial organ of the United Nations, based in The Hague.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Text adopted by the United Nations in 1948 in order to
strengthen human rights protection at international
level.
Charter of Fundamental Rights
European Union text on human rights and fundamental
freedoms, adopted in 2000.
in brief
European Court of Human Rights
Public Relations
67075 Strasbourg cedex
France
www.echr.coe.int
THE EUROPEAN COURT
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
KEY DATES
THE GUARANTEES
AND PROHIBITIONSThe European Court of Human Rights is an
international court set up in 1959. It rules on individual
or State applications alleging violations of the civil and
political rights set out in the European Convention on
Human Rights.
Since 1998 it has sat as a full-time court and individuals
can apply to it directly.
In almost fifty years the Court has delivered more
than 10,000 judgments. These are binding on the
countries concerned and have led governments to
alter their legislation and administrative practice in a
wide range of areas. The Court’s case-law makes the
Convention a powerful living instrument for meeting
new challenges and consolidating the rule of law and
democracy in Europe.
The Court is based in Strasbourg, in the Human Rights
Building designed by the British architect Lord Richard
Rogers in 1994 – a building whose image is known
worldwide. From here, the Court monitors respect for
the human rights of 800 million Europeans in the 47
Council of Europe member States that have ratified
the Convention.
5 May 1949
Creation of the Council of Europe
4 November 1950
Adoption of the Convention
3 September 1953
Entry into force of the Convention
21 January 1959
First members of the Court elected by the
Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe
23-28 February 1959
The Court’s first session
18 September 1959
The Court adopts its Rules of Court
14 November 1960
The Court delivers its first judgment:
Lawless v. Ireland
1 November 1998
Entry into force of Protocol No. 11 to the
Convention, instituting “the new Court”
18 September 2008
The Court delivers its 10,000th
judgment
1 June 2010
Entry into force of the Protocol No. 14, whose aim is
to guarantee the long-term efficiency of the Court
The European Convention
on Human Rights is an
international treaty under
which the member States of
the Council of Europe promise
to secure fundamental civil and
political rights, not only to their
own citizens but also to everyone
within their jurisdiction. The Convention,
which was signed on 4 November 1950 in
Rome, entered into force in 1953.
The Convention secures in
particular:
• 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,
• slavery and forced labour,
• death penalty,
• arbitrary and unlawful detention, and
• discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms
set out in the Convention.
THE EUROPEAN
CONVENTION ON
HUMAN RIGHTS