CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 3 septembre 2003

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s2CBCE082 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:288pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:36pt } .s94F12178 { width:44.55pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s23A41E03 { width:36pt; display:inline-block } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s3964C3A3 { width:1.36pt; display:inline-block } .s901C2590 { width:56.7pt; display:inline-block } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS       427                   3.9.2003       50 years since the European Convention on Human Rights entered into force   Statement by the President of the European Court of Human Rights   On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the entry into force of the European Convention on Human Rights, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Luzius Wildhaber, issued the following statement:   “Fifty years ago, on 3 September 1953, the European Convention on Human Rights, drawn up by the member States of the Council of Europe in 1950, entered into force. Just ten States had signed and ratified it. Today the Convention’s reach stretches right across the European continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Reykjavik to Vladivostok. It covers an area with a population of some 800 million. 44 States are Contracting Parties to the Convention, which has become an integral part of the great majority of their national legal systems. It is deeply entrenched in the legal and moral fabric of many European societies.   In 1953 the Convention was perceived as a bulwark against totalitarian regimes. Today it has a crucial role to play in the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as retaining its place as the litmus test for the health of democratic society in the older members States of the Council of Europe.   The Convention represents the greatest achievement of the Council of Europe and lies at the heart of the organisation’s activities, the star by which it steers its course. It is a shared enterprise which involves either directly or indirectly all the Council’s actors, including the Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly and Secretary General.   It is the genius of the Convention that it has proved capable, through the case-law of its institutions, first the European Commission and Court of Human Rights, now merged into the present full-time Court, of accommodating changes in society and technology so that its guarantees remain as relevant as they were in 1953.   Fifty years on the Convention faces two major challenges: first the sheer mass of applications to the Court of Human Rights makes it necessary to adjust the system to ensure its continuing effectiveness. Secondly, the Convention’s place in the evolving European architecture must be secured to preserve the coherence and collective character of fundamental rights protection in the greater Europe. To achieve this the European Union must be encouraged to accede to the Convention.”       Further information about the Court, and its decisions and judgments, can be found on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Joanna Reynell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.