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The ECHR was drawn up by the Council of Europe, a body set up after the end of the Second World War. The Council (which is entirely distinct from the EU) was established to prevent any repetition of the atrocities that had occurred during the war and the period leading up to it. The ECHR was signed in Rome in 1950, ratified by the UK in 1951 and came into force in 1953. From 1966 onwards, citizens of the UK had the right to petition the ECtHR (which sits in Strasbourg) where there was an alleged breach of human rights.

The ECHR was transposed (ie incorporated) into national law by the Human Rights Act 1998, which came into effect on 2 October 2000. Prior to the incorporation of the ECHR in domestic law, there was no opportunity for citizens to enforce their Convention rights in the domestic courts, meaning that individual petition directly to the ECtHR was the only way to seek a remedy for alleged breaches.