The European
Convention on Human Rights seeks to guarantee and defend the rights of individuals and to secure the rule of law and political freedoms. Selective prosecutions and the misuse of criminal proceedings by governments with autocratic tendencies therefore violate certain rights guaranteed by the Convention. However, in cases of serious infringements the state’s actions may also violate a lesser known guarantee: Art. 18 ECHR. This provision prohibits the restriction of Convention rights in pursuit of any purpose not prescribed in the ECHR itself. Over the last two decades, the interpretation and application of Art. 18 ECHR has changed significantly and shifted from regarding this guarantee as purely a provision with very high requirements to viewing it as an important tool to ensure political freedoms and the rule of law. This contribution shall give an overview of the aim and content of Art. 18 ECHR and
present the development of the case law relating to this guarantee as well as address problems in
the application of the concerned provision.