Revisiting the British Origins of the European Convention on Human Rights
May 24, 2025
This new paper from Policy Exchange challenges the view that the European Convention on Human Rights is a “British legacy” – and that to leave the Convention would be to a “betrayal” of Sir Winston Churchill.
Through an exhaustive examination of the historical record, the report – written by legal academics Dr Conor Casey and Dr Yuan Yi Zhu – refutes that claim and demonstrates that the ECHR which was accepted by the Attlee government is radically different from the ECHR which exists today, with a vast gap between what its drafters had envisaged and the Convention as it exists today.
The launch of this report was covered by:


Related Publications
Authors

Dr Conor Casey
Senior Fellow, Judicial Power Project

Yuan Yi Zhu
Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange



