Classification of rights guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

   The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms guarantees about 30 rights in all, including those which are defined in the Convention directly and those which are set down in Protocols to it.

   Four groups of rights are distinguished:

1. absolute rights
2. rights exercised in the sphere of justice
3. vital and qualified rights
4. rights with inherent restrictions

   The first group includes the rights guaranteed by Articles 2, 3, 4, 7 and Article 1 of Protocol № 6. The term “absolute rights” means that the state has no right to deviate from the observance of these rights and restrict them under any circumstances.

   These rights are the following:

• right to life (Article 2 and Article 1 of Protocol № 6);
• prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 3);
• prohibition of slavery (Article 4);
• no punishment without law (Article 7);

   The rights of the second group are the rights, which determine the status of a person in the course of administration of justice.

   These are the rights defined in Article 5-6 of the Convention: the right to liberty and security of person and the right to a fair trial. The European Convention lays down only minimal guarantees for any person involved in some trial (both in criminal and in civil one) in that group of the rights.

   The rights of the third group are the rights guaranteed by Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life), by Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), by Article 10 (freedom of expression) and by Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association). They are notable for the fact that the state interference regarding these rights is allowed already in the text of these Articles. But the interference may be exercised only under the conditions and for the lawful purposes that are defined in these articles of the Convention.

   The forth group of the rights includes the rest of all the rights which are not indicated in the above mentioned groups. The distinctive feature of the last group is that the European Convention provides for the rights with characteristic restrictions in very broad wordings, and the concrete substance of one or another right is determined by the state itself. The rights of this group are set out in Article 3 of Protocol № 1. This Article guarantees the right to:

• free elections;
• elections at reasonable intervals;
• elections by secret ballot.