The protection of the individual by Fundamental Rights is the main subject of modern constitutional law. In Europe, various protection instruments exist, national constitutions, the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and, for the Member States of the European Union, the EU Fundamental Rights Charter. These guarantees are legally autonomous but functionally interdependent and even interactive. The strongest infl uence seems to be exercised by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the interpretation of the national constitutional texts as well as on the EU Charter. The accession of the EU to the ECHR will strengthen this process. It is a noteworthy phenomenon that the protection of the individual is progressively intensifi ed and courts interpret the scope of civil rights in a broad sense. Substantive and functional effi ciency is a requirement that fl ows from the anthropocentric approach of modern European constitutionalism. Fundamental rights constitute a comprehensive order of values to be interpreted in a way which gives effi cient protection to the individual. Even if there is no explicit right, the judges, in particular the constitutional judges, have the obligation to complement the text by interpretation. Functional effectiveness means in particular that the legislator is prevented from restricting fundamental rights without limitation. Modern constitutionalism requires the legislator to observe the principle of proportionality as well as to respect the very essence of the right.