Vice-President Bårdsen highlights the Convention’s impact across Europe
On 17 November 2025, the Vice-President of the Court, Arnfinn Bårdsen, delivered a keynote speech titled United around our values: Stability through Democracy, the Rule of Law and the Protection of Human Rights at an event celebrating human rights in Europe, held in Porto, Portugal.
Marking the 75th anniversary of the Convention, the Court’s Vice-President emphasized that the Convention embodies a set of values that bind together different cultures, religions, and traditions into one large pan-European legal space.
“The Convention, as interpreted and applied by the Court and as embedded in the domestic legal systems in the member States of the Council of Europe, has in a broader sense shaped Europe’s constitutional landscape. It is, some say, a constitutional European instrument. Others see the Convention as an expression of Europe’s legal identity,” said Vice-President Bårdsen.
He further highlighted that the Convention system is also intended to serve as an early warning system, allowing an alarm to be raised in the event of new totalitarian tendencies.
“In other words, an attempt was made to prevent history from repeating itself by creating something historically new, built on the states’ recognition, politically as well as legally, of the need for external correctives and for an international framework for the protection of democracies and the rule of law. A bulwark against ending up in oppression, abuse and war again,” said the Vice-President.
Noting that the Court has been setting the standards for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in Europe, Vice-President Bårdsen stressed that the Convention is not silent in times of international instability or war.
“On the contrary, the Court has repeatedly reaffirmed that even in situations of international armed conflict, the Convention continues to apply,” he said.
During his keynote speech, the Court’s Vice-President also elaborated on the systemic interplay between the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.