Check against delivery - Speech by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

GREETINGS

President of the European Court of Human Rights,

President of the Republic of Malta,

President of the Parliamentary Assembly,

Judges,

Ambassadors,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

INTRODUCTION

It is with great emotion that I join you here at the Court to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The European Convention on Human Rights, of which the depositary is the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who is responsible for ensuring its continuity.

Allow me to take a moment to acknowledge the fourteen Secretaries General who came before me and ensured this continuity.

The ECHR forms the bedrock for everything we do.

It sets out a certain idea of Europe, a certain idea of our destiny.

The ECHR has been passed down from generation to generation.

[Secretary General Berset shows the pocket Convention to the audience]

I. A COMPASS FOR EUROPE

Everything is in this.

Our rights.

Our freedoms.

Our wounds as well — and our promises.

The landmark decisions of the Court, the voices of the victims, the patience of the law.

All of that, right here in the palm of my hand.

Seventy-five years of European history, boiled down to a few articles.

A Convention born out of ruins, drawn up to prevent darkness from redescending.

A Convention that is enriched every day by the case law of the Strasbourg court.

It is a living, breathing text that grows as we do.

It’s a text that protects the weak, calls the powerful to account and supports the work of courts across the continent.

It inspires each and every one of us.
The Convention is our compass.

It is Europe’s democratic compass.

And for as long as it remains part of our lives...

Then Europe will still be with us.

II. A THREAD THROUGH HISTORY

But the world around us is changing.

New frontiers are emerging — digital, environmental and geopolitical borders.

Artificial intelligence is already shaping the choices we make.

Climate change is testing our most basic rights.

And migration is driving home our humanity.

The Convention must embrace this century as it did the last.

Not by turning inward, but by opening up to the future.

Tonight, as I hold it in my hands, I don’t see a piece of ancient history.

I see a thread.

A tenuous thread that runs from justice to freedom...

From our memory to the future…

I see the tenuous thread that binds Europe to itself.

III. A shared responsibility

On the back of this little book, there’s a reminder.

All the Council of Europe member states have signed and ratified the Convention.

Every single one of them. There are no exceptions.

They are all bound by the same duty: to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

And they must do so under the watchful eye of the Court, which stands guard over its interpretation and application.
 

The Convention and the Court are sometimes the subject of debate.

That, too, isdemocracy.

But the execution of the Court’s judgments is a shared responsibility.

It is a duty, to restore trust in justice and the rule of law.

It is also imperative.

To preserve the credibility of the Convention system and the credibility of national institutions — in Europe and beyond.

IV. STRIKING A BALANCE, GUARANTEEING SUPPORT

That is why ongoing dialogue with States is vital to the proper functioning of the system.

So, too, is upholding the independence and impartiality of the Court.

In its decisions in the face of threats to justice, in the face of political excesses, and even in war.

There’s no need to remind you of the Court’s role regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
 

In each case, the Court defends the rule of law and protects individual rights.

Within the system of checks and balances that our states chose to build together.
 

But we must provide those within the system with the means to act.

National authorities must have the independence and the capacity to apply the Convention.

And the Court and the Convention bodies must have the necessary resources to fulfil their mission.
 

V. SHARING DEMOCRACY
 

Upholding the Convention means reaffirming the democratic values it represents.

For there can be no human rights without democracy.

And no democracy without the rule of law.

Any deviation from these principles was deemed unthinkable.

Yet today, they are again under threat.

Europe is investing heavily in defence.

And democracy seems so fragile.

Europe is rearming, but a society left defenseless.

Herein lies the paradox — and above all the danger.

Due to democratic backsliding, an extremist group could take power in a heavily armed state tomorrow.

At whom would they point their weapons?

In the name of which values?

We need a new Democratic Pact for Europe.

To put democracy back at the very heart of security.

Through what we call democratic security.

Our work on the Pact reflects this common will.

It is based on the Convention.

And dialogue with the Court remains one of its key drivers.

CONCLUSION

A few days ago, a BBC journalist asked me:
“What will become of the Convention in seventy-five years’ time? Will it still exist?”
I replied:
We should actually be asking ourselves whether we will still be worthy of it.

The European Convention on Human Rights is one of those rare texts that does not say what the world is — but what it could become.

In the face of the upheavals of our times, we must keep it alive and strong.

It is the guarantor of the balance between freedom and security.

Between justice and responsibility.

That is the legacy we inherit.

That is the role we must play.  

Thank you.