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Human Rights Protection

European Court of Human Rights and the HUDOC database

The centerpiece of the European system is the European Court of Human Rights, which decides cases under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, usually known as the European Convention on Human Rights. The case law of the European Court can be searched using the database called HUDOC.  The HUDOC database contains over 62,000 judgments.

Other Components of the European System

Selected Secondary Sources

Human Rights Action in the European Union

The European Union has adopted a Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Charter was drafted in 2000 and came fully into force in 2009. The European Union has also established an Agency for Fundamental Rights, which does research and advises the institutions of the European Union about fundamental rights. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is justiciable in both the European Court of Justice and in the national courts of member states. The Agency for Fundamental Rights has produced a Case-law Database that collects decisions by the European Court of Justice, by the European Court of Human Rights and by national courts of member states that refer directly to the Charter of Fundamental Rights.