On 4 November 1950 the "Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms", better known as the "European Convention on Human Rights" was signed at the Barberini Palate in Rome by member States of the Council of Europe. The picture shows Robert Schuman, Minister of Foreign Affairs for France, signing the Convention.

After 10 countries had ratified it, the Convention entered into force on 3 September 1953..

The Council of Europe has published the text as Convention no. 5 in the "Council of Europe Treaty Series" (CETS) and is searchable at the Treaty database.

The "Travaux préparatoires" contain the various documents that were produced during the drafting of the Convention and its first Protocol. They contain reports of discussions in the Consultative Assembly and its Committee on Legal and Administrative Questions, as well as the Committee of Ministers and certain of its committees of experts.

The official version of the “Travaux préparatoires” are published in 8 volumes from 1975-1985 by Martinus Nijhoff in the Hague. The Registry’s internal working documents provide a full text access.

The official original text dates from 1950. Since 1950 the Convention has been amended by further Protocols (P). Today, the text of the Convention contains the basic version as amended by Protocols 11 and 14, and 6 other protocols : the Additional Protocol (also called "Protocol No. 1") and Protocols Nos. 4, 6, 7, 12, and 13.

For the text of the latest edition in the 2 official languages, English and French, together with the non-official translations click here.

Until 1998 the two Convention bodies were :
• the European Commission of Human Rights, created on 18 May 1954, and empowered to decide on the admissibility of applications ("decisions") and to deliver "reports" (to encourage friendly settlements) in respect of applications found admissible; and
• the European Court of Human Rights, established on 21 January 1959, which, under certain conditions, could re-examine cases brought before the Commission and deliver "judgments".

On 1 November 1998, with the coming into force of Protocol No. 11 the system of the Court/Commission was abolished and replaced by a single Court to examine applications presented under the Convention and its Protocols.

The Rules of Court were adopted on 18 September 1959.

The Rules are in a permanent state of evolution, and since 1959 to present there have been many amendments.

HUDOC – is the official case law database of the Court. It contains nearly all decisions and judgments of the Court, and the decisions and reports of the Commission.

The “User Manual” explains how to carry out an effective search, and details the contents of the database. The video version is also available.

HUDOC is a full-text database which can be used free of charge.

The official reference source is “Reports of Judgments and Decisions = Recueil des arrêts et decisions”, published until 2012 by Carl Heymanns Verlag to vol. 2007-V. From 2013 produced by Wolf Legal Publishers (WLP) starting with vol. 2008.

Reports of Judgments and Decisions = Recueil des arrêts et décisions / European Court of Human Rights. - Oisterwijk : Wolf Legal Publishers. - Vol. 2008 - .

•Citation to 2007 : ECHR-2007-V

•Citation from 2008 : ECHR-2008

The judgments were published in "Série A : Arrêts et décisions = Series A : Judgments and Decisions", volume 1 (1960) to 338 (1996). This series was superseded by " Reports of Judgments and Decisions = Recueil des arrêts et décisions".

Série A : Arrêts et décisions = Series A : Judgments and Decisions / Conseil de l'Europe. Greffe de la Cour. - Köln ; Berlin ; Bonn ; München : Carl Heymanns Verlag. - Vol. 1-338

•Citation : Series A no. 139

There also was another publication, "Série B : Mémoires, plaidoiries et documents = Series B : Pleadings, Oral Arguments and Documents", volume 1, 1960-1961 (1961) to 104, 1985-1988 (1995) containing the pleadings, oral arguments, etc., in cases brought before the Court.

Série B : Mémoires, plaidoiries et documents = Series B : Pleadings, Oral Arguments and Documents. - Köln ; Berlin ; Bonn ; München : Carl Heymanns Verlag. - Vol. 1-104

•Citation : Series B no. 22, p. 6

The Commission published its decisions in 46 brochures making up the "Collection of Decisions of the European Commission on Human Rights = Recueil des décisions de la Commission européenne des Droits de l'Homme".

Collection of Decisions of the European Commission on Human Rights = Recueil des décisions de la Commission européenne des Droits de l'Homme / Council of Europe. European Commission on Human Rights. - Vol. 1-46

•Citation : Collection 14, p. 29-33

The decisions and reports of the Commission were published in "Decisions and Reports = Décisions et rapports", (94 instalments). Five indexes provide various possibilities of access, including by the number of the application.

Право на Европейската конвенция за правата на човека / [Дейвид Харис, Майкъл О‘Бойл, Колин Уорбрик, Ед Бейтс, Карла Бъкли]. - София : Сиела Норма АД, 2015. - xlvi, 1192 p. ; 27 cm. ISBN 9789542817284 (pbk.)

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人權之跨國性司法實踐 : 歐洲人權裁判研究（四）/ 顏厥安， 林鈺雄 ; 延斯•梅耶-拉德維奇 ... [et al.] = Judicial practice on transnational human rights : research on European precedents of human rights (Ⅳ) / Juean Yan, Yuxiong Lin [eds.] ; Jens Meyer-Ladewig ... [et al.].- 臺北 : 元照出版公司, 2012. 386 p. ; 22 cm. - ISBN: 9789860331257 (pbk.)
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奥维, 克莱尔 欧洲人权法原则与判例 / 克莱尔•奥维, 罗宾•怀特 = The European Convention on Human Rights / [this edition written by] Robin C.A. White and Clare Ovey. - 第三版. - 3rd ed. - 北京 : 北京大学出版社, 2006, 692 p. ; 24 cm. -
ISBN: 9787301097618 (pbk.)

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Evropska umluva o lidskych pravech : komentar / Jiri Kmec ... [et al.]. - Praha : C.H. Beck, 2012. - xxvii, 1660 p. ; 25 cm. ISBN 9788074003653 (hbk.)

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The European Convention on Human Rights : a commentary / by William A. Schabas. - Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015. - cxxiii, 1308 p. ; 26 cm. ISBN: 9780199594061 (hbk.)

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European Convention on Human Rights : commentary / by Christoph Grabenwarter. - München : C.H. Beck ; Oxford : Hart ; Baden-Baden : Nomos ; Basel : Helbing Lichtenhahn, 2014. - xix, 554 p. ; 25 cm. ISBN : 978340660321 (Beck) (hbk.)

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Ihmisoikeudet : käsikirja EIT:n oikeuskäytäntöön / Päivi Hirvelä, Satu Heikkilä. - Helsinki : Edita, 2013. - xxxvii, 934 p. ; 26 cm.
ISBN : 9789513763398 (hbk.)

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Euroopan ihmisoikeussopimus / Matti Pellonpää. - 4., uudistettu painos. - Helsinki : Talentum, 2005. - xviii, 647 p. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 952-14-0820-0 (hbk.)

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Quel filtrage des requêtes par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme ? / sous la direction de Pascal Dourneau-Josette et d'Elisabeth Lambert Abdelgawad ; [préface de Jean-Paul Costa]. - Strasbourg : Editions du Conseil de l'Europe, 2011. - 567 p. ; 25 cm.
ISBN: 9789287170286 (pbk.)

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ISBN: 9782275036557 (pbk.)

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Les grands arrêts de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme / Frédéric Sudre ... [et al.]. - 6e éd. mise à jour. - Paris : Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), 2011. - xiv, 902p. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 9782130582267 (pbk.)

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Jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des Droits de l'Homme / Vincent Berger ; préfaces par Louis-Edmond Pettiti. - 13e éd. - Paris : Sirey, 2014. - xiv, 953 p. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 978-2-247-13082-5 (pbk.)

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EMRK : Konvention zum Schutz der Menschenrechte und Grundfreiheiten : Kommentar / von Ulrich Karpentstein und Franz C. Mayer. - München : C.H. Beck, 2012. - xxii, 733 p. ; 20 cm.
ISBN : 9783406608124 (hbk.)

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Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention : ein Studienbuch/ von Christoph Grabenwarter. - 5. Aufl. - München : Beck ; Basel : Helbing Lichtenhahn ; Wien : Manz, 2012. - xxv, 552 p. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 9783406627644 (C.H. Beck) (pbk.)

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Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention : Handkommentar / Jens Meyer-Ladewig. - 3. Aufl. - Baden-Baden : Nomos, 2011. - 574 p. ; 21 cm.
ISBN: 9783832962104 (Nomos) (hbk.)

Internationaler Kommentar zur Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention : mit einschlägigen Texten und Dokumenten / hrsg. von Katharina Pabel und Stefanie Schmahl. – (W. Karl editor until delivery no. 13 (2010). - Köln ; Berlin ; München : Carl Heymanns, 1986- : 4 vols. ; 25 cm. (loose-leaf). - ISBN: 9783452199355 (hbk.)
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Ευρωπαϊκή Σύμβαση Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου : Ερμηνεία κατ’ άρθρο : Δικαιώματα, Παραδεκτό, Δίκαιη ικανοποίηση, Εκτέλεση / Διεύθυνση έκδοσης Λίνος-Αλέξανδρος Σισιλιάνος ; Πρόλογος Χρήστος Λ. Ροζάκης. - Αθήνα : Νομική Βιβλιοθήκη, 2013. – xxxv, 817 p. ; 25 cm. – ISBN 9789605621261 (hbk.)
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Commentario breve alla Convenzione europea per la salvaguardia dei diritti dell'uomo e delle libertà fondamentali / [a cura di] Sergio Bartole, Pasquale De Sena, Vladimiro Zagrebelsky ; con la collaborazione di Silvia Allegrezza ... [et al.]. - Padova : CEDAM, 2012. - xxi, 940 p. ; 22 cm.

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ヨーロッパ人権裁判所の判例 / 戸波江二 ...［ほか］（編）= Essential cases of the European Court of Human Rights / editors Koji Tonami ... [et al.] (eds.)
東京 : 信山社, 2008. - xl, 558 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.
ISBN: 9784797255454 (pbk.)

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Konwencja o Ochronie Praw Człowieka i Podstwowych Wolności : komentarz do artykułów 1 - 18 (T.1) ; 19-59 (T. 2)/ redaktor Leszek Garlicki ; autorzy L. Garlicki, P. Hofmanski, A. Wrobel. - Warszawa : C.H. Beck, 2010-2011. – 2 vols. ; 23 cm. -
ISBN: 9788325513375 (vol.1) (hbk.)  ; 9788325517144 (vol.2) (hbk.)
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El Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos, el Tribunal de Estrasburgo y su jurisprudencia  / Casadevall, Josep . - Valencia : Tirant lo Blanch, 2012, 558 p. - ISBN: 9788490046883 (hbk.)

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Convenio europeo de derechos humanos : comentario sistemático / Lasagabaster Herrarte, Iñaki (ed.). - 2a ed. - Cizur Menor : Aranzadi : Civitas/Thomson Reuters, 2009. - 949 p. ; 25 cm.
ISBN : 9788447032174 (hbk.)

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La Europa de los derechos : el Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos / García Roca, Javier (ed.). - Madrid : Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales, 2005. – 940 p. ; 24 cm.
ISBN : 84-259-1299-7

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Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi Hukuku / David Harris, Michael O'Boyle, Ed Bates, Carla Buckley ; [Çevirmenler : Mehveş Bingöllü Kılcı, Ulaş Karan]. - Ankara : Avrupa Konseyi, 2013. - lii, 924 p. ; 24 cm.

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The Library of the Court holds a rich collection of periodicals covering human rights law and public international law.

The complete list of the Library's periodical collection comprises subscription and non-subscription titles, as well as current and defunct titles.