Chapter 6

Enforcing Women’s International Human Rights Under Regional Treaties: The European

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

On This Page

• Introduction to the Chapter
• Documents from the Chapter
• Links From the Chapter
• Other Developments

Introduction to the Chapter

In 1949, ten European countries – Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the

Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – established the Council of Europe

through a new treaty, the Statute of the Council of Europe.  The new body had many purposes,

among them the “further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”  This led the

Council to adopt the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

(“European Convention”) in November 1950.  It entered into force on September 3, 1953.

Documents from the Chapter

Each document has its own box.  The box contains, on the top bold line, the name of the document. 

This is followed by the legal citation (not in bold).  Under these lines, the box contains one or more

sources for opening the document.  In the left-hand column (“HTML”or “PDF”), the reader can access

the official document copy, hosted on RossRights.  This permits rapid access to the document.  In the

right-hand column (“External Link”), the reader can access the same document on an official website. 

This link will often take more time to appear than the PDF or HTML copy, but should be used for

official legal citations. Where there is an asterisk (*) in the box, it indicates that there is an explanatory

footnote directly below the box, which tells the reader how to access/locate the document.

Key:
Map(s) Available
Photo(s) Available

• [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,
  • Protocols 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13

• Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali v. United Kingdom
• Airey v. Ireland
• Schmidt v. Germany
• Burghartz v. Switzerland
• Gubernat v. Deremer

 

[European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, (ETS 5), 213 U.N.T.S. 222 entered into force Sept. 3, 1953, as amended by Protocol 11 (ETS 155) which entered into force May 11, 1994.
European Court of Human Rights	PDF	External Link*

*Enter "European Convention" into the search field to find the document and its relevant

protocols.

For the original version of the European Convention and as amended by protocol 11, click on the appropriate link below:

• [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as Amended

       by Relevant Protocols:

• Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

              ("Protocol No. 1")

• Protocol No. 4
• Protocol No. 6
• Protocol No. 7
• Protocol No. 12
• Protocol No. 13
• Other Protocols (Scroll down to the section headed "Europe" and select from the list)

 

Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali v. United Kingdom, 7 Eur. H.R. Rep. 471 (1985).
European Court of Human Rights	HTML	External Link*

*Search for "CASE OF ABDULAZIZ, CABALES AND BALKANDALI".

The United Kingdom consists of islands in Western Europe, including the northern one-sixth of the

island of Ireland, between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France.

• Population: 61,113,205 (July 2009 est.)
• Ethnic Groups: white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%)

       92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

• Religions: Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%,

       Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)

• More information at the CIA World Factbook

 

Airey v. Ireland, 2 Eur. H.R. Rep. 305 (1979).
European Court of Human Rights	HTML	External Link*

*Search for "CASE OF AIREY v. IRELAND".

Ireland, in Western Europe, occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean,

west of Great Britain.

• Population: 4,203,200 (July 2009 est.)
• Ethnic Groups: Celtic, English
• Religions: Roman Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%, other 1.5%,

       unspecified 2%, none 3.5% (2002 census)

• More information at the CIA World Factbook

 

Schmidt v. Germany, 18 Eur. H.R. Rep. 513 (1994).
European Court of Human Rights	HTML	External Link*

*Search for "CASE OF KARLHEINZ SCHMIDT v. GERMANY".

Germany lies in Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the

Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark.

• Population: 82,329,758 (July 2009 est.)
• Ethnic Groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek,

       Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish)

• Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%
• More information at the CIA World Factbook

 

 

Now she can fight fires too.

 

Burghartz v. Switzerland, 18 Eur. H.R. Rep. 101 (1994).
European Court of Human Rights	HTML	External Link*

*Search for "CASE OF BURGHARTZ v. SWITZERLAND".

Switzerland is located in Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy.

• Population: 7,604,467 (July 2009 est.)
• Ethnic Groups: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%
• Religions: Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%,

       other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)

• More information at the CIA World Factbook

 

Gubernat v. Deremer, 657 A.2d 856 (NJ 1995).
N.J. Supreme Court (at Rutgers)	PDF*	External Link*

*Slip Opinion

New Jersey is located on the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States of America, between New York

and Delaware; Pennsylvania is its neighboring state to the west.

Links from the Chapter

• European Court of Human Rights - The Court

 

• European Court of Human Rights - Organization of the court
• European Court of Human Rights - Basic information on procedures
• Information on the Human Rights building
• The Council of Europe

 

Other Developments

 1. On page 232 of the casebook, in the Notes section, there is a footnote about the ratification status of

Protocol 7, Article 5 of the European Convention. As of the book's publication in August 2007, only forty

European countries had ratified this protocol. However, as of October 2009, Andorra has become the forty-first

country to ratify and Spain the forty-second. Information on the status of the protocol can be found here.

2. Likewise, page 232 of the casebook refers to the ratification status of Protocol 12 of the European Convention.

As of the book's publication, only 15 states had ratified said protocol. However, in the last year, 2 more countries

have ratified: Slovenia and Andorra, for a total of 17. Information can be found here.