An international human rights treaty, designed to protect basic rights and freedoms and the rule of law and to promote democracy.
The rights and freedoms contained in the ECHR include the right to life (Article 2), the prohibition of slavery and forced labour (Article 4), the right to a fair trial (Article 6) and the right to private and family life (Article 8).
Rulings on individual or state applications regarding possible violations of the rights set out in the ECHR are given by the European Court of Human Rights.
The treaty is between the member-states of the Council of Europe. There are currently 47 member states, including the UK. The Council of Europe is entirely separate to the European Union and Brexit has not impacted the application of the ECHR to the UK.