Protection of privacy in the EU, individual rights and legal instruments

Human rights as part of EU law Human Rights have only been part of the European Union Treaties since 2009, when the Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter) was ratified. However, the Court of the European Union has been developing human rights, based on general principles of EU primary law, since 1974. These general principles derive from the domestic law of the member states and from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR is part of the legal system governed by the European Council, an international organisation with forty-seven member states including the Russian Federation and Turkey, in distinction to the twenty-seven members of the EU. Although the EU is not yet legally bound by the ECHR, the Court of the European Union has declared that its provisions form part of the general principles of EU law. This was because all member states of the EU have ratified the ECHR; it has therefore become part of the domestic law of each member state and, consequently, of the general principles of EU law.