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The Human Rights Act 1998 adopted the European Convention on Human Rights as a benchmark by which people's fundamental rights are to be respected and enforced. Before the passing of this Act recourse to the Convention was possible, but remedies were not always effective and influence on legislation was variable. With the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998, legislation itself and all public bodies' activities are potential areas for scrutiny by the courts. The implications for professional practice in certain key areas are profound, these being compulsory intervention, detention and treatment, protection of the vulnerable, privacy, and rights to family life. This article explores how the Convention may influence professional practice in the area of mental health. It does so by exploring key points of intervention at which professionals need to be mindful of the context for decision making set by the Convention and identifies a number of core principles for mental health practice already established by the European Court. The article is intended as an introduction to the role of the European Convention on Human Rights as it applies to practice and assumes no previous knowledge of case law or the Convention itself. It is not intended as an exhaustive account of the full implications of the Convention for all areas of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]