The Council of Europe, Rights and Political Authority

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kundai Sithole
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Regional Organisations ◽  
Post War

This paper examines the importance of human rights protection – in particular the European Convention on Human Rights – to the Council of Europe's survival as a political authority. Its underlying premise is that the proliferation of regional organisations in Europe in post-war Europe, and the creation of the Communities in 1958, contributed to a loss of a sense of purpose as to the Council of Europe's role in post-war Europe. Initial attempts to widen the scope of its political authority in relation to the Member States and other regional organisations were unsuccessful. It was, therefore, necessary for the Council of Europe to consolidate its existing mandate in ensuring the region's democratic security through human rights protection. Thus, led by its Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe institutions have, since 1949, provided the Member States with the necessary regional fora for examining and promulgating regional human rights legislation, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and its two additional protocols abolishing the death penalty.

1 The Court Over Sixty Years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nussberger Angelika
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Violent Conflicts

This introductory chapter provides a background of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a multilateral treaty based on humanism and rule of law. Similar to the—albeit non-binding—Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the ECHR is a document that marks a change in philosophy and gives a new definition of the responsibility of the State towards the individual. It fixes basic values in times of change and paves the way towards reconciliation in Europe. Unlike in a peace treaty, not all wartime enemies participate in its elaboration, but, one by one, all the European States accede to it, signalling their consent to the values fixed by a small community of States in the early 1950s. Seven decades later, forty-seven European States have ratified the Convention. Admittedly, the new start based on common values could not prevent the outbreak of violent conflicts between Member States. At the same time, the resurgence of anti-democratic tendencies could not be successfully banned in all Member States, but such tendencies could be stigmatized as grave human rights violations in binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Thus, it is not surprising that the European model of human rights protection has been attractive and inspirational for other parts of the world. Nevertheless, there was and is a debate in some Member States to withdraw from the Convention as the Court’s jurisprudence is seen to be too intrusive on national sovereignty.

scholarly journals Application of the Principle of Good Governance in the Activities of the European Court of Human Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-69
Author(s):  
Serhiy MELENKO ◽  
◽  
Dan PARANYUK ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court

Based on the methodology of performing axiological and logical-gnoseological analysis of juridically significant factors, the article under discussion presents a partial investigation of the practical application of one of the most fundamental principles of state functioning in the field of human rights protection. The object of investigation in the paper is the way the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) perceives, understands and interprets the principle of Good Governance in the course of implementing it in Court’s activities. The precedents, formulated and adopted by the ECHR frequently acquire the status of legal sources for the member states of the Council of Europe. Therefore, the judiciary bodies of these countries have to rely in their practice on the conclusions, the ECHR came to in the course of considering certain cases. Qualitively equal understanding and application of the above decisions is a cornerstone in forming a common European legal space, as well as plays a leading role in the field of human rights protection, guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 (hereinafter - the Convention) (Council of Europe, 1950). The principle of Good Governance is a complex notion. It directly or indirectly regards the rights and interests of both individuals (ensuring them certain rights and freedoms in a vast number of articles of the Convention) and social groups. This requires a complex analysis of the principle in both theoretical and practical aspects of its definition and application. Relying on the methodology of profound analysis of the axiological component of a certain legal phenomenon, like the content of some decisions of the Strasbourg Court, the authors of the article attempt to practically trace the implementation of the principle of Good Governance in the course of administering justice in Ukraine, as a member state of the Council of Europe. Therefore, the article under studies deals with the specifics of practical application of the principle of Good Governance in the ECHR activities, as well as with using precedent experience in the system of administrative judiciary of Ukraine.

scholarly journals SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION OF MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE: DIFFICULT DECISIONS IN TROUBLED TIMES

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 443-476
Author(s):  
Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou ◽  
Donal K Coffey
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Member States ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Current State ◽  
State Of Affairs

AbstractThe effectiveness and legitimacy of the Council of Europe can be undermined by the actions of Member States which fail to comply with their international law obligations of genuine cooperation with the organization. This article first briefly examines the practice of international organizations in applying sanctions such as expulsion and suspension to their members. It then explains why it is necessary to discuss potential sanctions that the Council can apply in the context of current controversies involving the Council and Member States. It will be argued that the scale and intensity of challenges distinguish the current state of affairs from other ‘problematic’ periods in the Council's history. It proceeds to outline the considerations that should be taken into account in deciding whether a Member State should be suspended or expelled. These considerations include the implications of sanctions on the legitimacy of the Council of Europe, the level of human rights protection and the financial stability of the organization.

scholarly journals Jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in the Baltic States’ Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-109
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kużelewska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Domestic Law

Abstract The Baltic States – Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – are democratic states of law that respect human rights. As members of the Council of Europe, they implemented into domestic law the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (known as the European Convention on Human Rights) – an international document for the universal protection of human rights adopted by the Council of Europe. The aim of the paper is to analyze whether and to what extent did Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian citizens file individual complaints to the European Court of Human Rights over the past thirteen years (2006–2018). The paper is to answer the question if the Baltic Sates’ systems of human rights protection are effective. One of the indicators of effectiveness is the number of complaints brought from the Baltic States to the ECtHR in relation to the number of inhabitants and also in comparison with the total number of complaints from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe as whole. The analysis will cover statistics on the number of judgments in Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian cases before the Court in Strasbourg issued between 2006 and 2018. This will be helpful in determining the degree and the type of violations by the Baltic States of the human rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European System of Human Rights Protection: No Rolls-Royce, but a Solid Engine Fit for the Future? In Conversation with Council of Europe Insiders

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-156
Author(s):  
Anne-Katrin Speck
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Director General ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Research Associate

Abstract The European Convention system has a unique structure among regional human rights regimes. Not only does it have a full-time Court and a Parliamentary Assembly, it is also the only system to have a political body, the Committee of Ministers, tasked with monitoring the implementation of judgments issued by the Court. While the day-to-day work is carried out by the Department for the Execution of Judgments (‘Execution Department’), the ministers’ deputies meet quarterly to examine the implementation (or ‘execution’) of (selected) judgments. How effective has this distinctive institutional arrangement been, and what challenges does it face in an era of increasing hostility to supranational human rights bodies? Anne-Katrin Speck, Research Associate with the Human Rights Law Implementation Project, discussed these questions with Andrew Drzemczewski, former Head of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Department of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe; and Michael O’Boyle, former Deputy Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights.

Human Rights Protection Under the Council of Europe - The System and its Documentation

1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Ellen G. Schaffer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Second World War ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Second World

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Western Europe moved to create an organization that would unite the countries of Europe. One of the Council of Europe's (COE) principal goals was to establish and safeguard the fundamental human and political rights of its peoples. Following in the spirit of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the members drafted the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Framing the Boundaries of European Human Rights Law

Global Jurist ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Öztaş
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Court System ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection

AbstractEuropean human rights protection, ensured by the European Convention and Court of Human Rights, is declared to be universal and inclusive, protecting not only citizens of Europe but also anybody residing within the jurisdiction of the signatory countries. This article challenges this declaration and argues, with the help of some examples from the case law, that European human rights protection is based on the defined concepts of European-ness that exclude the perceived non-European within the Convention and the Court system.

scholarly journals The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in the Polish Social Safeguard System

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Tabernacka
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Protective Function ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Common

The ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in Poland was preceded by a heated debate. From the very beginning it was be object of political battles between the conservative and liberal circles. Culturally and socially conditioned position of women has influenced its operation and the scope of its implementation. The Convention is a universally binding tool which guarantees the protection of human rights in events of violence against the woman and children. The case of this Convention in Poland proofs the existence of a universal European understanding of human rights protection standards. The Convention thus has a protective function not only for individuals but also, in a broader context, for the common European cultural identity.

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