Article 16 - aliens

Article 16 allows states to restrict the political activity of foreigners. The Court has ruled that European Union member states cannot consider the nationals of other member states to be aliens.^[22]

Article 17 - abuse of rights

Article 17 provides that no one may use the rights guaranteed by the Convention to seek the abolition or limitation of rights guaranteed in the Convention. This addresses instances where states seek to restrict a human right in the name of another human right, or where individuals rely on a human right to undermine other human rights (for example where an individual issues a death threat).

Article 18 - permitted restrictions

Article 18 provides that any limitations on the rights provided for in the Convention may be used only for the purpose for which they are provided. For example, Article 5, which guarantees the right to personal freedom, may be explicitly limited in order to bring a suspect before a judge. To use pre-trial detention as a means of intimidation of a person under a false pretext is therefore a limitation of right (to freedom) which does not serve an explicitly provided purpose (to be brought before a judge), and is therefore contrary to Article 18.

The substantive rights in the Convention have been supplemented by additional protocols to the Convention: the first protocol, the fourth protocol, the sixth protocol, the seventh protocol and the twelfth protocol. A protocol to the Convention is a text which adds one or more rights to the

original Convention or amends certain of its provisions. Protocols which add rights to the Convention are binding only on those States that have signed and ratified them; a State that has merely signed a protocol without ratifying it will not be bound by its provisions. To date, 14 additional protocols have been adopted.

States that have ratified the Convention, also known as «States Parties », have undertaken to secure and guarantee to everyone within their jurisdiction, not only their nationals, the fundamental civil and political rights defined in the Convention. The list of rights and freedoms secured by the Convention include the right to life, the right to a fair hearing, the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the protection of property. The Convention prohibits, in particular, torture and inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment, forced labour, arbitrary and unlawful detention, and discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms secured by the Convention.

The Convention is applicable at national level. It has been incorporated into the legislation of the States Parties, which have undertaken to protect the rights defined in the Convention. Domestic courts therefore have to apply the Convention. Otherwise, the European Court of Human Rights would find against the State in the event of complaints by individuals about failure to protect their rights.

Convention protocols

As of January 2010, fifteen protocols to the Convention have been opened for signature. These can be divided into two main groups: those amending the framework of the convention system, and those expanding the rights that can be protected. The former require unanimous ratification by member states before coming into force, while the latter require a certain number of states to sign before coming into force.