Abstract: The rights guaranteed by the European Convention are objective in nature, due to the fact that they cannot be called into question by subsequent agreements between states, just as the obligations of states are objective, established not in relation to other states, but in relation to individuals. This objectivity of the legal order based on the European Convention is reflected both in the absence of the principle of reciprocity, otherwise common in interstate relations, and in the recognition of its direct effect and supremacy, as well as the right to individual petition. Accordingly, the European Court itself sees the European Convention as a “constitutional instrument of European public order”.