The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guarantees the fundamental rights, such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, and the prohibition of discrimination. The Convention was opened for signature in Rome on 4 November 1950. Switzerland ratified it in 1974.

The Convention is supplemented by various Additional Protocols, which extend the catalogue of protected rights (Additional Protocols 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14). Switzerland has signed Protocol No. 1 and ratified the following Protocols:

• Protocol No. 6 of 28 April 1983 concerning the abolition of the death penalty, entered into force for Switzerland on 13 October 1987
• Protocol No. 7 of 22 November 1984, entered into force for Switzerland on 1 November 1988
• Protocol No. 13 of 3 May 2002 concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, entered into force for Switzerland on 1 July 2003
• Protocol No. 14 of 13 May 2004 concerning the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, amending the control system of the Convention, entered into force for Switzerland on 1 June 2010

In contrast to other instruments for the protection of human rights, the ECHR has established a control mechanism which enables any private individual, after he or she has exhausted the national succession of appeals, to submit an appeal against violation of the Convention and its Protocols to the European Court of Human Rights. Until 31 October 1998, such appeals were examined by the European Commission for Human Rights and subsequently, in certain circumstances, by the Court. At that time, a Swiss national was appointed to the chair of the European Commission for Human Rights: Stefan Trechsel. 

The Swiss government is represented before the Court by the International Affairs Division of the Federal Office of Justice. Appeal forms for the Court, as well as an information sheet, are available from the Federal Office of Justice or from the Court.