CouncilEurope

Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

(ETS No. 117)

Open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe which have signed the Convention, in Strasbourg, on 22 November 1984.

Entry into force: 1 November 1988.

Summary of the treaty

The Seventh Protocol extends the list of rights protected under the Convention (CETS No. 005) and its Protocols (ETS Nos. 009, 046 and 114) to include the following:

– The right of aliens to procedural guarantees in the event of expulsion from the territory of a State ;
– The right of a person convicted of a criminal offence to have the conviction of sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal ;
– The right to compensation in the event of a miscarriage of justice ;
– The right not to be tried or punished in criminal proceedings for an offence for which one has already been acquitted or convicted ( ne bis in idem) ;
– Equality of rights and responsibilities as between spouses.

The Protocol has been amended according to the provisions of Protocol no. 11 to the Convention (CETS no. 155) as from its entry into force, on 1st November 1998.