Do vulnerable individuals have real human rights? At the supranational level of the European Convention of Human Rights the question of the rights of individuals is inextricably linked to the corollary question of the state's obligations. General principles determining positive obligations of the state to actively assist vulnerable individuals to enjoy human rights are revisited in order to demonstrate an enhanced emphasis on sophisticated evidential proof. Within this objective framework, grounds of legitimacy are sought whose evaluation is directly connected to the financial cost involved and the actionable thresholds of the Convention rights. Accordingly, any European standard emerging is drawn from a methodological base that secures consistency and predictability for realistic control and management of the human rights of the vulnerable within the system of the Convention.