The eagerly awaited second edition builds on the great strengths of the first, and is an indispensible text for all undergraduates, postgraduates and practitioners. Its publication coincides with the 50th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights, a major milestone in European legal history. An up-to-date and comprehensive account of Strasbourg case law and its underlying principles, this book facilitates an in-depth understanding of this fascinating area of law. It fully explores the extent of the Convention's influence upon the legal development of the contracting states, and reveals exactly how such a powerful authority has been achieved and maintained. It sets out and critically analyses each Convention article that constitutes the substantive guarantee, and examines the system of supervision. The Convention currently binds 47 European states, and its reach is set to expand even further. It has effectively become the constitutional bill of rights for Europe, providing common human rights standards for the whole continent. National parliaments and courts must constantly look to the Convention when legislating and deciding cases, or run the risk of adverse Strasbourg judgments with which they must then comply. For nearly all states, the Convention has been made directly enforceable in their national courts. For the remaining few, it offers a model for a national bill of rights. All of these considerations underline the immense value of the comprehensive account of the law of the Convention that this book provides.