25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration and the 20th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights

Resolution 552 (1973)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 27 September 1973 (12th and 13th Sittings) (see Doc. 3334, report of the Legal Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 September 1973 (13th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Considering that the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution 2860 (XXVI) expressed its conviction of the historic significance and enduring value of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, and decided to commemorate in 1973 the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration ;

2. Considering that this year is also the 20th anniversary of the entry into force on 3 September 1953 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ;

3. Considering the report of its Legal Affairs Committee (Doc. 3334),

4. Reiterates its support for the principles expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and for the declarations of the General Assembly of the United Nations to the effect that all States should observe its provisions faithfully and strictly ;

5. Expresses its satisfaction that the European Convention on Human Rights, proposed by the Assembly in 1949, was able to "take the first steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration" by transforming its principles into legal obligations subject to jurisdictional control, and that the First and Fourth Protocols to the convention have taken additional steps for the same purpose ;

6. Pays tribute to the European Commission and Court of Human Rights and to governments of the Contracting Parties which have ensured the effective application of the convention and its protocols ;

7. Emphasises that the programmes of the United Nations and of the Council of Europe for the protection and promotion of human rights are complementary and not competitive, and that all necessary steps should be taken to ensure their effective coordination, particularly after the entry into force of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol thereto ;

8. Calls on member governments which have not yet done so to ratify the United Nations covenants and the Optional Protocol ;

9. Calls on member governments which have not yet done so to ratify the European convention and accept its optional provisions ;

10. Requests the President of the Assembly to transmit this resolution and the report of the Legal Affairs Committee (Doc. 3334) to the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations as a token of the Assembly's support for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Universal Declaration and the 20th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.