8. Article 2: right to life

2021 ◽  
pp. 165-193
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
The State ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
General Duty ◽  
European Court ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter focuses on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which imposes on the state the general duty of protecting ‘everyone’s right to life’. Article 2 specifically states that the first duty of states is to protect the physical security of all those within their jurisdiction. It describes the only purposes for which the intentional use of force can be lawfully justified. In interpreting and applying Article 2, the European Court of Human Rights has identified and developed a number of general principles to which the domestic laws of signatory states must adhere—in particular the duty to investigate deaths for which the state is responsible. These principles are discussed in detail in the chapter.

21. Applications: prisoners’ rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 433-447
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Self Test ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Article 5 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter considers the application of Convention rights in the field of prisoners’ rights; the impact of Convention rights on prisoners in the UK is considered. Prisoners remain within the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights, though the application of these rights will take their position into account. Prisoners’ rights include not only rights to the non-arbitrary loss of liberty (Article 5) and rights to fair procedures (Articles 5 and 6), but also not to be disproportionately denied the rights and freedoms in Articles 8–11. Imprisonment deprives individuals of their liberty and, therefore, is a public function for which the state is responsible under the Convention. The controversy over prisoners’ right to vote is discussed in Chapter 25.

15. Article 8: right to respect for private and family life

2021 ◽  
pp. 311-342
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Family Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Life ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Self Test ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter focuses on Article 8. Article 8 is concerned with matters that are considered personal, over which individuals are sovereign, and with which the state should not interfere. In its first paragraph, it recognises ‘private life’, ‘family life’, ‘home’, and ‘correspondence’ as the general concepts in terms of which this sphere of the personal is to be protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. These terms are defined and discussed in the chapter. The second paragraph presents the general legal conditions that must be satisfied before such interference can be considered justified and compatible with the Convention. Much of the chapter is concerned with the application of Article 8 to various situations such as surveillance, the environment, deportation, abortion, and euthanasia. Article 8 is also invoked in respect of important and controversial matters such as the situation of transgendered persons and the duties of states towards homosexual families.

14. Introduction to Articles 8–11

2021 ◽  
pp. 305-310
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The State ◽  
General Idea ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The Media ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter introduces the general idea of qualified rights under the Convention. These are the subjects of the next four chapters. Articles 8–11, involve individual freedom: freedom to live a private and family life (Article 8); freedom to hold and demonstrate religious and other beliefs (Article 9); freedom of expression, including the freedom of the media (Article 10); and the freedom to ‘assemble’ and ‘associate’ (Article 11). The articles have a similar, two-paragraph structure that requires the courts to decide, first, whether some action for which the state is responsible interferes with a protected freedom and, if it does, whether the state has shown that the interference is justified in terms of the second paragraph of the Article involved.

6. Convention law: pervasive themes

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-146
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
Margin Of Appreciation ◽  
Key Points ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Self Test

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, discussion points and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter discusses the various concepts that pervade the way the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted and, therefore, how Convention rights under the HRA are applied. The chapter considers the internal and external sources used to interpret the text. It goes on to consider the concepts that the European Court of Human Rights has developed when applying the Convention. In particular the ‘living instrument’ doctrine, the idea of the rule of law, the margin of appreciation, proportionality, and democracy (in a Convention context) are considered and explored.

25. Article 3 of the First Protocol: right to free elections

2021 ◽  
pp. 488-499
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter deals with Article 3 of the First Protocol which imposes on states a duty to hold elections. At the heart of Article 3 is the view that the best way to uphold human rights is through upholding an ‘effective political democracy’. Human rights require states to respect various rights and freedoms that are necessary for any system if it is to be democratic. Though Article 3 of the First Protocol appears to provide only a collective right to fair elections, it has been interpreted to also provide for individual rights to vote, to stand, and to sit, if elected. Article 3 does not, however, provide wide rights to participate in political processes. Its scope is confined to elections for ‘the legislature’, which do not include local elections or referendums. The controversy over prisoners’ voting rights is discussed in this chapter.

10. Article 4: prohibition of slavery and forced labour

2021 ◽  
pp. 216-223
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter discusses slavery and forced labour, and the ban on these imposed by the European Convention on Human Rights. ‘Slavery’ and ‘servitude’ are defined as the ownership or total control of one person by another. A slave has no freedom or autonomy and so is denied the minimum dignity that is essential for any human being. ‘Forced labour’, on the other hand, is defined as being forced to work for another under threat of punishment or death. The application of these terms in the context of current practice and, in particular, to ‘modern slavery’ is discussed.

9. Article 3: prohibition of torture

2021 ◽  
pp. 194-215
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
European Convention ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
Self Test ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter the absolute ban on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment that Article 3 requires. The basic terms (torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment) are defined. The absolute nature of the ban is discussed. The chapter also discusses the broad nature of state responsibility to prevent suffering that is severe enough to violate Article 3. Article 3 creates limits to what is acceptable as punishment and, more importantly, applies in a wide range of situations for which the state has responsibility in respect to otherwise lawful activity not involving an intention to harm.

scholarly journals Khlaifia and Others v. Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-280
Author(s):  
Jill I. Goldenziel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
European Court ◽  
Grand Chamber ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Domestic Law

In Khlaifia and Others v. Italy, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (Grand Chamber or Court) released a landmark opinion with broad implications for how states must respect the individual rights of migrants. In the judgment, issued on December 15, 2016, the Court held that Italy's treatment of migrants after the Arab Spring violated the requirement of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) that migrants receive procedural guarantees that enable them to challenge their detention and expulsion. The Court also held that Italy's treatment of migrants in detention centers did not violate the ECHR's prohibition on cruel and inhuman treatment, in part due to the emergency circumstances involved. The Court further held that Italy's return of migrants to Tunisia did not violate the prohibition on collective expulsion in Article 4 of Protocol 4 of the ECHR. Enforcement of the judgment would require many European states to provide a clear basis in domestic law for the detention of migrants and asylum-seekers. Given the global diffusion of state practices involving migrants, and other states’ desires to restrict migration, this case has broad implications for delineating the obligations of states to migrants and the rights of migrants within receiving countries.

Freedom of Religion in the Workplace

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Nedim Begović
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
European Court

Abstract The article analyses the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on accommodation of Islamic observances in the workplace. The author argues that the Court has not hitherto provided adequate incentives to the states party to the European Convention on Human Rights to accommodate the religious needs of Muslim employees in the workplace. Given this finding, the author proposes that the accommodation of Islam in the workplace should, as a matter of priority, be provided within a national legal framework. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, this could be achieved through an instrument of contracting agreement between the state and the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

11. Article 5: right to liberty and security

2021 ◽  
pp. 224-251
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Social Subordination ◽  
Immigration And Asylum ◽  
The Right ◽  
Article 5 ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter discusses Article 5 the right to liberty. This is liberty in its classic sense, addressing the physical liberty of a person (as opposed to broader concepts of liberty, such as the sense of personal autonomy and the lack of individual or social subordination). Article 5 deals with restrictions of liberty like arrest and detention by the police, imprisonment after conviction, detention of the mentally ill in hospitals, and the detention of foreigners in the context of immigration and asylum. It defines and restricts the purposes for which a person can be deprived of his or her liberty and, importantly, requires that people have access to judicial supervision so that the lawfulness of any deprivation of liberty can be examined and, if necessary, remedied. The overriding guarantee of Article 5 is the right not to be detained in an arbitrary manner.

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