Signing Ceremony of the European Convention on Human Rights

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, opened for signature in Rome on November 4, 1950, and came into force in 1953. It was the first act to put into effect certain rights mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and made them binding.
The ECHR, signed in 1950 by the Council of Europe, is an international treaty for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Europe. All 47 countries of the Council of Europe participate in this Convention, 27 of which are EU members.
The Convention established the European Court of Human Rights, which aims to protect individuals from human rights violations. Any individual whose rights have been violated under the Convention by a participating state can appeal to the Court. This is an innovative feature, as it provides individuals with rights in the international arena. Decisions finding rights violations are binding on the countries concerned. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the decisions.
The Convention includes several protocols that modify its framework.
The Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force on December 1, 2009, allows the EU to accede to the ECHR, and a draft accession agreement was finalized in 2013.