This chapter addresses the role that ‘consensus’ played in the development of the European Convention on Human Rights in the period up to the late 1990s. Its main focus is upon the case law; however, a running theme will also be how consensus played a broader role, in terms of there being a political will, or consensus, amongst the Convention States – those upon whose consent the progress of the Convention rested – to see the Convention develop. That political consensus was arguably grounded upon a shared vision and commitment of the States toward the idea of the European human rights supervision project. This ‘political consensus’ was in itself a vital ingredient for the success of the Convention system, projecting it forward.