Launch of 50th Anniversary Website for European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights was inaugurated on April 20, 1959.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the event, the Court has launched a new special event-oriented website.

Among other features, the site contains:

• an interactive map of the 47 member States: basic information on each State includes the date it ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge elected in respect of that State, major cases brought against it
  
• original historical documents, such as texts concerning the first case examined by the Court in 1960 (Lawless v. Ireland)
• an overview of 50 years of activity and developments can be gleaned from various reference documents including: preparatory work of the Convention, simplified version of the Convention, annual report on execution of judgments, case-law information, amendments to the Convention and Rules of Court, and reports on future reforms

The Court is an institution under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (AKA European Convention of Human Rights) that was drawn up by the Council of Europe. The Court sits in Strasbourg, France.

The Council of Europe is one of the continent's oldest political organizations, founded in 1949. It groups together 47 countries, and it has granted observer status to five other countries (the Holy See, United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico).