THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: A LIVING INSTRUMENT

Abstract

This Conference is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights the Convention was adopted in 1950, when the founding fathers could hardly have  imagined that it was the doctrine of a living / evolutionary instrument that would make the Convention the most frequently
cited international treaty. At that time, coming out of the World War II, Europeans needed a strong agreement built on the principle of consensus on what the new post-war Europe should look like. The
result was the European Convention as "an instrument designed to uphold and promote the ideals and values of a democratic society" aided by "institutions created to protect individuals"¹. On the other
hand, this written instrument could not cover all possible challenges, so the evolutionary approach embedded in the Tyrer v. United Kingdom case opened the door to the Convention to meet all the challenges and changes that were coming^2.. Through this judgment, the Court was given the task of "interpreting and applying" the Convention, which left the Convention open for the society that was developing very rapidly.