For all those interested in the historical roots of the ECHR, but with no direct access to an academic library, I can recommend the site of the Court’s own library. The site contains a full page with links to the Travaux Préparatoires of the Convention, in both French and English. A great resource, although the site adds a caveat of its own:
The Travaux Préparatoires documents are internal working documents of the Registry which were produced at a certain time and for a certain purpose. There is no guarantee of their completeness and they should not be cited. The information they contain should be cross-checked against the published work in 8 volumes which is the official version of the Travaux Préparatoires. Citations should be made to this work.
