Backlash and Judicial Restraint: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract How does backlash from consolidated democracies affect the behavior of liberal international institutions? We argue that liberal international institutions have incentives to appease their democratic critics. Liberal institutions rely on democratic support for their continued effectiveness and can accommodate democratic critics at a lower legitimacy cost than non-democratic challengers. We examine this theory in the context of the European Court of Human Rights using a new dataset of rulings until 2019 and a coding of government positions during multiple reform conferences. Combining matching and a difference-in-differences design, we find strong evidence that the Court exercises restraint towards consolidated democracies that have criticized the Court in multilateral reform conferences by rendering fewer violation judgments against these states. We find some evidence that governments have also recently appointed more deferential judges. The findings suggest that backlash can affect liberal international institutions even without membership exit.

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Hate crimes and international institutions: A literature review

Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies ◽

10.1556/2052.2020.00343 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eszter Kirs

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Institutions ◽

Hate Crimes ◽

International Standards ◽

International Review ◽

Academic Literature ◽

European Court ◽

Wide Range ◽

Potential Impact ◽

Academic Authors

AbstractThe paper reflects on academic literature on the international normative and institutional framework related to hate crimes. Various theoretical and pragmatic issues have been discussed by academic authors, such as the challenges coming with the obligation of states to record hate crimes or to conduct efficient investigation, the limits of the potential impact of international review mechanisms, or the aims and content of resolutions adopted by international institutions and judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights. However, a wide range of practical and conceptual issues related to the existing international standards and the efficiency of international review mechanisms remain to be discussed in the academic sphere.

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Two-level politics and the backlash against international courts: Evidence from the politicisation of the European court of human rights

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations ◽

10.1177/1369148120948180 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 728-738 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mikael Rask Madsen

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Institutions ◽

International Politics ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Recent Criticism ◽

Bargaining Process ◽

Dual Nature ◽

International Courts ◽

European Court ◽

Political Interests

Are international institutions more prone to face backlash politics than domestic ones? Are international institutions easy targets for satisfying domestic political interests? Using the case of the recent criticism of the European Court of Human Rights, the article explores whether international institutions are more susceptible to face backlash politics than domestic ones due to the dual nature of international politics. The empirical study, focusing on the reform of the European Court of Human Rights through the 2018 Copenhagen Declaration, suggests that pre-existing commitments to international institutions might be given up rapidly when significant domestic interests collide with international institutions and their practices. The analysis, however, also shows that backlash politics against international institutions is transformed when seeking institutional reform. Entering a collective bargaining process, backlash objectives are changed by the logic of diplomatic negotiation, academic scrutiny and the interests of the other member states and civil society. This suggests that the two-level logic of ordinary international politics has a mediating effect on domestically fuelled backlash campaigns.

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Coercion in Europe

10.1093/med/9780198788065.003.0018 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Angelo Fioritti ◽

Thomas Marcacci

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Institutions ◽

World Health ◽

The European Union ◽

Regional Office ◽

The Enlightenment ◽

European Court ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization ◽

World Health Organization Regional

Modern psychiatry developed in Europe with Pinel in the Enlightenment: the concept of human rights was first conceived and the first laws to protect citizens’ rights in psychiatry were introduced. However, Europe is also where some of the worst violations of human rights in psychiatry have taken place. Europe has developed several international institutions such as the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Their covenants, along with those from the United Nations, have repeatedly attempted to address the issue of freedom and coercion in medicine and in psychiatry. The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe has paid extensive attention to coercion and human rights in psychiatry. Europe has a long history and tradition of mental health care and there are significant variations between countries in its delivery and legislation. This chapter outlines some key historical events and attitudes regarding coercion in European society ,with particular attention being paid to coercion in the community.

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Are New Democracies Better Human Rights Compliers?

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818314000435 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

pp. 497-518 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Sharanbir Grewal ◽

Erik Voeten

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Institutions ◽

New Democracies ◽

Data Set ◽

Checks And Balances ◽

Matching Algorithm ◽

Genetic Matching ◽

Recent Scholarship ◽

European Court ◽

Established Democracies

AbstractRecent scholarship finds that new democracies are more likely than established democracies to make binding commitments to international human rights institutions. Are new democracies also better at following through on these commitments? Stated differently, does their greater willingness to join international institutions reflect a genuine commitment to human rights reform or is it just “cheap talk?” We analyze this question using a new data set of more than 1,000 leading European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases. Since new democracies face judgments that are more difficult to implement than established democracies, we employ a genetic matching algorithm to balance the data set. After controlling for bureaucratic and judicial capacity, we find that new democracies do implement similar ECtHR judgments initially more quickly than established democracies, but this effect reverses the longer a judgment remains pending. Although new democracies have incentives to implement judgments quickly, they sometimes lack checks and balances that help ensure implementation should an executive resist.

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Psychiatric Commitment: Sixty Years Under the Scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.656791 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Gérard Niveau ◽

Camille Jantzi ◽

Tony Godet

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Institutions ◽

Case Law ◽

Psychiatric Practice ◽

European Convention ◽

Major Influence ◽

Direct Effects ◽

Council Of Europe ◽

European Court ◽

The One

Background and Aims: In the field of mental health, the fundamental right to liberty is a point of tension between the practice of psychiatric commitment on the one hand and the universal concept of human rights on the other. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is a very specific means of safeguarding human rights because it allows an individual to not only assert their rights but also compel a state to bring its legislation into conformity with the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. The aim of this study was to gather the case-law of the ECtHR on psychiatric commitment over the last 60 years and to determine how this case-law has affected national legislation and therefore psychiatric practice.Methods: Jurisprudence data were collected from the HUDOC ECtHR database, and the direct effects of the ECtHR judgements on the legislations of the countries concerned were collected from the HUDOC EXEC database of the Council of Europe. The case-law of the Court included 118 judgements and 56 decisions and concerned 31 of the 45 countries that have ratified the Convention.Results: This study therefore showed a direct effect of the Court's case-law on the legislation on psychiatric commitment in the various countries that have ratified the Convention. It was also possible to detect an indirect effect of this case-law through the directives of international institutions such as the directives of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning respect for people with mental disorders.Conclusions: The ECtHR case-law therefore has a major influence on the psychiatric practice in all Council of Europe countries.

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