What is the European Convention on Human Rights?

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is the main human rights agreement of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is a completely different organisation to the EU and has its own separate legal system. The Council of Europe and the ECHR have 47 member states, including the UK, all EU countries and Russia. The EU itself is not yet a member, and its institutions are not directly bound by this agreement. The ECHR contains mostly civil and political rights, including the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of expression. The UK helped draft the ECHR in 1950. The treaty was an expression of many states who wanted to come together to secure peace after the Second World War.