The Conscience of Europe

50 years of the European Court of Human Rights

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Publication January 2011

Extracts from the book can be viewed here

Press release: Court’s Anniversary Book to be launched at the Opening of the Judicial Year here

Court's anniversary book

Work has been completed on the book The Conscience of Europe: 50 Years of the European Court of Human Rights which the Court launched in English and French at the opening of its judicial year on 28 January 2011.

The book, designed to mark the Court's fiftieth anniversary in 2009 and the sixtieth anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights on 4 November 2010, groups a variety of individual contributions around a skeleton retracing the main events over the last half-century. Beyond the institutional and legal dimensions, the Court's history is also told through the personal recollections of those who were part of it for a time. Through these, the reader will learn some of the lore that has built up in an international tribunal that has reached the half-century mark.

The book also looks ahead to what the future may hold for the Court. Some of the proposals made at various points in the past ten years are set out, up to and including the milestone conference at Interlaken in February 2010.

Publication has been made possible by a generous contribution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The book is published in large-format in co-operation with the London publishers Third Millennium Information Ltd. It appears in hardback with over 200 pages and 200 illustrations, as well as footage and further bonus material on disk.