On 21 November, the President of the Court, accompanied by Anja Seibert-Fohr, judge elected in respect of Germany, paid an official visit to Berlin, where he held separate meetings with Stefanie Hubig, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection; Gunther Krichbaum, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office; and Bernd Krösser, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior. He also met with Frank Schwabe, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.

During his visit, President Guyomar delivered a keynote address at a conference titled “Human Rights for Uncertain Times: Lessons from 75 Years of European Human Rights Protection”, organised by Germany’s Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. Addressing participants, the Court President emphasised that the Convention, which marks its 75th anniversary this year, “protects us and our shared values” and that “we have a shared responsibility to protect it”.

He recalled that the Court has described the Convention as a “constitutional instrument of European public order,” at the heart of which lie the fundamental values of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

The Court President also stressed the principle of subsidiarity and the primary responsibility of the member States of the Council of Europe to secure the rights and freedoms defined in the Convention, enabling national courts across Europe to give concrete meaning to often abstract legal terms.

“What is particularly exceptional about the Convention is how, by safeguarding individual rights, it helps nurture the well-being of our democracies in the face of contemporary challenges,” noted the President of the Court.