The front of the Human Rights Building, seat of the European Court of Human Rights, was designed to resemble the scales of justice.

Until October 1954, the sittings of the Court of Justice are held in the office of the Court’s President, Massimo Pilotti, in the Villa Vauban, Luxembourg.

Aerial view of the buildings of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on the Kirchberg Plateau, Luxembourg. In the middle distance, in the centre of the photo, is the ‘Palais' of the Court of Justice. In the foreground are its annexes. From right to left, in order of construction, are the Erasmus Building, opened on 5 October 1988, the Thomas More Building, opened on 19 February 1993, and the C Building, opened on 15 September 1994.

Curricula vitae of the Members of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC), the Court’s Press and Information Division includes among the material made available to the press a list of ‘34 judgments of general interest’ that have greatly influenced its case-law.

The Van Gend & Loos judgment is one of the most important judgments in the development of the Community legal order. The European Court of Justice specifies that the Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the States have limited their sovereign rights and the subjects of which comprise not only Member States but also their nationals. The Court concludes from this a fundamental principle: that of the direct effect of Community law.

It emerges from the Hauer judgment that the right to property forms an integral part of the general principles of Community law, the observance of which is ensured by the Court. In safeguarding the fundamental rights, the Court is bound to draw inspiration from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States and the international Treaties for the protection of human rights on which the Member States have collaborated or of which they are signatories (in this case, the First Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights).

On 7 December 2000, on the margins of the opening of the Nice European Council, the Heads of State or Government of the Fifteen sign the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. From left to right: Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament, Hubert Védrine, French Foreign Minister, and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission.

Open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe in Rome on 4 November 1950, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms entered into force on 3 September 1953.

On 4 November 1950, in Rome, the representatives of the Member States of the Council of Europe sign the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which was inspired, in particular, by the work of the pro-European movements that attended the Congress of Europe in The Hague in May 1948.

Protocol No 11 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms replacing the existing European Commission and Court of Human Rights with a permanent Court. The Protocol is opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 11 May 1994 and enters into force on 1 November 1998.

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950, as last amended by Protocol No 11 of 11 May 1994, which enters into force on 1 November 1998.

Courtroom of the European Court of Human Rights in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg.

List of the members of the European Court of Human Rights (as of 20 September 2010).

The Judges of the European Court of Human Rights

Jean-Paul Costa (France), President of the European Court of Human Rights from 19 January 2007 to 31 octobre 2012.

Présentation du système de protection juridictionnel établi par la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme: le rôle de la Cour de Strasbourg, son siège, sa composition, son fonctionnement, l’étendue de la protection, les conditions de recevabilité des requêtes, les effets des arrêts et le contrôle de leur exécution. En particulier, la vidéo montre des exemples concrets de griefs soumis à la Cour ainsi que l’influence de sa jurisprudence dans les différents États ayant ratifié la Convention.

View of the Human Rights Building on the banks of the River Ill, Strasbourg. The building, designed by the British architect, Richard Rogers, was inaugurated in 1995 to house the European Court of Human Rights.

The front of the Human Rights Building, seat of the European Court of Human Rights, was designed to resemble the scales of justice.

First judgment given by the European Court of Human Rights concerning an inter-state case. The Court rules that there has been violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment).

First judgment given by the European Court of Human Rights. The Court rules that there has been no violation of Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights (no punishment without law).