04/11/2025 European Convention on Human Rights | President
In an address at a solemn ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the signature of the European Convention on Human Rights, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos hailed the Convention as “the most powerful act of imagination in our continent’s history”.
Speaking at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the President said the Convention, “born out of fire and sorrow” in the aftermath of the second world war, had been drafted by those who saw what happens when power goes unchecked, and human dignity has no defender.
The President said recent attempts to question the authority of the Convention, renegotiate it or even to withdraw from it were “not about improving our institutions” but rather eroding them: “If changes are ever needed, they must be discussed calmly, thoroughly and democratically – never under the pressure of populism.”
Out of more than a million Court rulings, only 250 concerned migration, the President pointed out, adding: “For 75 years solutions were found and immigration was always there, in Europe and globally.”
Europe without the Convention, he said, would leave the continent without its soul: “Fortunately, the Convention has been there – whispering to every government: remember your promise.”
Earlier in the day, the President launched a special web page showcasing the Assembly’s historical role in initiating and shaping the Convention in 1949, as well as the role it continues to play in electing the judges of the Court, encouraging states to implement rulings or proposing changes to the Convention machinery.
The European Convention on Human Rights was opened for signature by Council of Europe member states in Rome on 4 November 1950. It protects the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of some 700 million people across the continent.