(Strasbourg) The Council of Europe has launched a new website illustrating the positive impact of the European Convention on Human Rights throughout Europe. It features, for instance, judgements from the Court of Human Rights implemented by European national authorities, which have affected people’s lives in many different ways across all 47 Council of Europe member states. It lists some concrete cases decided by the European Court, the judgements delivered by the Court, and the positive impact that they have had in areas such as the protection of the rights to freedom of speech and expression, the fight against trafficking in human beings, domestic violence, and child exploitation.

The 101 different cases, presented by country and by topic, are just “a small proportion of the cases decided by the Strasbourg Court”, said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland. However, they clearly demonstrate “what the convention system has achieved so far and the positive impact it continues to have”.

The website (https://go.coe.int/e3g7d) also explains how the system works and the state of implementation of other key Council of Europe conventions. The website is currently available in English, French and Turkish; the Russian version will be launched shortly. A statement from the Council explains that the website “will be updated and further developed on an on-going basis, depending on the funds available”. Its development and launch (which cost €92,000) was “funded through voluntary contributions from the governments of Finland, Ireland and Norway”.