"Human rights, rhetoric or reality ?"

The question of effectiveness is the main theme of this article, notably as this refers to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and to the main issues at stake today. The second part of the article, explains the role played by the European Convention on Human Rights among all the universal and regional instruments for the protection of human rights. Finally there is a critical look at what might be termed a degree of ‘inflation’ of the fundamental rights.