Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights

The text of the Protocol is presented as amended by the provisions of Protocol No. 11 as from its entry into force on 1 November 1998.
Only the English and French versions of the Protocol are authentic.

Signature, Ratification, Entry into force, Reservations, Declarations, Denunciations, Derogations, Territorial application: notificatons, Communications

Albania 02/10/1996 02/10/1996 02/10/1996 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Andorra 31/05/2007 06/05/2008 06/05/2008 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Armenia 25/01/2001 26/04/2002 26/04/2002 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Austria 16/09/1963 18/09/1969 18/09/1969 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Azerbaijan 25/01/2001 15/04/2002 15/04/2002 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Belgium 16/09/1963 21/09/1970 21/09/1970 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Bosnia and Herzegovina 24/04/2002 12/07/2002 12/07/2002 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Bulgaria 03/11/1993 04/11/2000 04/11/2000 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Croatia 06/11/1996 05/11/1997 05/11/1997 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Cyprus 06/10/1988 03/10/1989 03/10/1989 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Czechia 21/02/19911 18/03/19921 01/01/1993 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Denmark 16/09/1963 30/09/1964 02/05/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Estonia 14/05/1993 16/04/1996 16/04/1996 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Finland 05/05/1989 10/05/1990 10/05/1990 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
France 22/10/1973 03/05/1974 03/05/1974 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Georgia 17/06/1999 13/04/2000 13/04/2000 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Germany 16/09/1963 01/06/1968 01/06/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Greece no no no
Hungary 06/11/1990 05/11/1992 05/11/1992 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Iceland 16/11/1967 16/11/1967 02/05/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Ireland 16/09/1963 29/10/1968 29/10/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Italy 16/09/1963 27/05/1982 27/05/1982 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Latvia 21/03/1997 27/06/1997 27/06/1997 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Liechtenstein 07/12/2004 08/02/2005 08/02/2005 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Lithuania 14/05/1993 20/06/1995 20/06/1995 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Luxembourg 16/09/1963 02/05/1968 02/05/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Malta 05/06/2002 05/06/2002 05/06/2002 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Monaco 05/10/2004 30/11/2005 30/11/2005 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Montenegro 03/04/20032 03/03/20042 06/06/2006 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Netherlands 15/11/1963 23/06/1982 23/06/1982 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
North Macedonia 14/06/1996 10/04/1997 10/04/1997 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Norway 16/09/1963 12/06/1964 02/05/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Poland 14/09/1992 10/10/1994 10/10/1994 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Portugal 27/04/1978 09/11/1978 09/11/1978 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Moldova 02/05/1996 12/09/1997 12/09/1997 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Romania 04/11/1993 20/06/1994 20/06/1994 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Russia 28/02/1996 05/05/1998 05/05/19983 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
San Marino 01/03/1989 22/03/1989 22/03/1989 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Serbia 03/04/20032 03/03/20042 03/03/2004 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Slovakia 21/02/19911 18/03/19921 01/01/1993 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Slovenia 14/05/1993 28/06/1994 28/06/1994 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Spain 23/02/1978 16/09/2009 16/09/2009 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Sweden 16/09/1963 13/06/1964 02/05/1968 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
Switzerland no no no
Turkey 19/10/1992 no no
Ukraine 19/12/1996 11/09/1997 11/09/1997 [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre] [eng] [fre]
United Kingdom 16/09/1963 no no

1 Dates of signature and ratification by the former Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

2 Dates of signature and ratification by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.

3 In accordance with Resolution CM/Res(2022)3 adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 23/03/2022, the Russian Federation ceases to be a Party to Treaty ETS No. 5 on 16/09/2022. Accordingly, the Russian Federation ceases to be a Party to the Protocol also on 16/09/2022.

ETS (STE) No. 46

Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms securing certain rights and freedoms other than those already included in the Convention and in the First Protocol thereto

Strasbourg, 16.IX.1963

Preamble

The Governments signatory hereto, being members of the Council of Europe,

Being resolved to take steps to ensure the collective enforcement of certain rights and freedoms other than those already included in Section I of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms signed at Rome on 4th November 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”) and in Articles 1 to 3 of the First Protocol to the Convention, signed at Paris on 20th March 1952,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1
Prohibition of imprisonment for debt

No one shall be deprived of his liberty merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation.

Article 2
Freedom of movement

1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.

2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.

3. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are in accordance with law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the maintenance of ordre public, for the prevention of crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

4. The rights set forth in paragraph 1 may also be subject, in particular areas, to restrictions imposed in accordance with law and justified by the public interest in a democratic society.

Article 3
Prohibition of expulsion of nationals

1. No one shall be expelled, by means either of an individual or of a collective measure, from the territory of the State of which he is a national.

2. No one shall be deprived of the right to enter the territory of the State of which he is a national.

Article 4
Prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens

Collective expulsion of aliens is prohibited.

Article 5
Territorial application

1. Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature or ratification of this Protocol, or at any time thereafter, communicate to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe a declaration stating the extent to which it undertakes that the provisions of this Protocol shall apply to such of the territories for the international relations of which it is responsible as are named therein.

2. Any High Contracting Party which has communicated a declaration in virtue of the preceding paragraph may, from time to time, communicate a further declaration modifying the terms of any former declaration or terminating the application of the provisions of this Protocol in respect of any territory.

3. A declaration made in accordance with this Article shall be deemed to have been made in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 56 of the Convention.

4. The territory of any State to which this Protocol applies by virtue of ratification or acceptance by that State, and each territory to which this Protocol is applied by virtue of a declaration by that State under this Article, shall be treated as separate territories for the purpose of the references in Articles 2 and 3 to the territory of a State.

5. Any State which has made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article may at any time thereafter declare on behalf of one or more of the territories to which the declaration relates that it accepts the competence of the Court to receive applications from individuals, non-governmental organisations or groups of individuals as provided in Article 34 of the Convention in respect of all or any of Articles 1 to 4 of this Protocol.

Article 6
Relationship to the Convention

As between the High Contracting Parties the provisions of Articles 1 to 5 of this Protocol shall be regarded as additional Articles to the Convention, and all the provisions of the Convention shall apply accordingly.

Article 7
Signature and ratification

1. This Protocol shall be open for signature by the members of the Council of Europe who are the signatories of the Convention; it shall be ratified at the same time as or after the ratification of the Convention. It shall enter into force after the deposit of five instruments of ratification. As regards any signatory ratifying subsequently, the Protocol shall enter into force at the date of the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

2. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who will notify all members of the names of those who have ratified.

In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Protocol.

Done at Strasbourg, this 16th day of September 1963, in English and in French, both texts being equally authoritative, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General shall transmit certified copies to each of the signatory States.