Seventy years ago today, on 4 November 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was signed in Rome. Recognised as one of the most important international treaties in history, and the cornerstone of the Council of Europe’s work, the Convention has and still changes lives. In fact, the Convention protects the rights of all within the jurisdiction of the 47 Council of Europe member States.
The ECHR is a key instrument for the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons in Europe. The European Court of Human Rights, the judicial organ set up in 1959 to ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the Convention and its Protocols, has played an essential role at the European level in advancing equality for LGBTI persons. On a number of occasions, its judgments created the necessary momentum for the introduction of major legislative changes to domestic legal systems of Council of Europe Member States on matters pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
Since the creation of the Council of Europe’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Unit in 2014, assisting the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgments on SOGIESC-related issues has been a key aspect of the Unit’s work. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Convention, our Unit, in cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights and its Registry, organised an online conference that took place on 8 October 2020. “A ‘Living Instrument’ For Everyone: The Role of the European Convention on Human Rights in Advancing Equality for LGBTI Persons” highlighted and celebrated the progress achieved in the area of equality for LGBTI persons in Europe through the Convention mechanism. It also served as a platform for exchange between Judges of the Court, representatives of various bodies of the Council of Europe, and representatives of civil society, on challenges in achieving real and sustainable equality for LGBTI persons. As remarked by Robert Spano, President of the European Court of Human Rights, in his keynote speech:
“the European Court of Human Rights has been a judicial pioneer in its interpretation of the Convention requiring for the recognition and protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people over the last few decades. In this endeavour, the Court has served as a rich source of jurisprudential inspiration for other national and international courts.”
If you would like to know more about this important celebration, join us as we look back at the way ECHR has changed the landscape of our lives, and look forward to facing future challenges. Council of Europe resources to celebrate #ECHR70 include an insight of several cases that have been key for the advancement of the rights of LGBTI persons in Europe, including Norris v. Ireland (1988) and Modinos v. Cyprus (1993).
The challenges faced by LGBTI persons around Europe, exacerbated by the current pandemic, are a daily reminder that there is still a long way to go on the road to equality. However, the Convention has been and remains a powerful and practical instrument which helps societies advance in this direction.
