6 Successes, Problems, and Potential

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nussberger Angelika
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Court ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
The World ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Political Success

This concluding chapter explores how far the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Commission have influenced politics in the forty-seven Member States, created common standards in Europe, and set a model for other parts of the world. The assessment of political success or failure of the Convention model will depend on the expectancies. Undoubtedly, the Court’s jurisprudence reflects the new political tensions and provides answers. Three factors, however, cannot but reduce the direct impact of the Court’s advocacy for ‘bona fide democracy’. First, the Court can only decide on cases brought before it. Second, the Court can only play a subsidiary role. Third, the whole Convention system is dependent on the good will of the Member States. If they do not execute politically important judgments that do not ‘please’ them, the Court's means in forcing them are rather restricted. Despite all these difficulties, whenever it could and within the framework provided by the Convention, the Court has identified the relevant violations and assessed them within the political context. Ultimately, the Court is a ‘European’ court and can speak only for its European Member States. Nevertheless, its voice is not only heard in Europe, but also beyond its borders. This is especially true when the challenges it has to deal with are universal, such as terrorism, migration, and military conflicts.

Dealing with Disasters in an Age of Globalized Sentiment: Testing the Boundaries of the Cosmopolitan Ideal?

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 283-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren O’Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Global Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Per Se

AbstractNatural disasters, such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, have not only tested the fragility of the world capitalist system, but have asked questions of the ‘cosmopolitan ideal’ that underpins the discourse on global civil society prevalent in much literature on globalization. In this article I consider why the global response to such tragedies is markedly different to the more muted response to more overtly political tragedies, such as atrocities committed by states, and suggests that what it demonstrates is not a full cosmopolitanismper se, but a ‘selective cosmopolitanism’ grounded in a ‘de-politicization of feeling’. As a result, the political context of these natural disasters is often ignored and this calls for a repositioning of such disasters within a human rights framework and for an analysis of them informed by a critical globalization studies.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Dapo Akande ◽  
Jaakko Kuosmanen ◽  
Helen McDermott ◽  
Dominic Roser
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Political Context ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
The World ◽  
High Regard ◽  
Twenty First Century

The interlocking threats of armed conflict, environmental degradation, and poverty constitute a central part of the political and moral challenges facing the world in the twenty-first century. However, anyone who considers that these challenges should be confronted with approaches that incorporate and are built upon human rights faces a difficult task. High regard for human rights seems to have developed in a particular and bygone political context. The rise of populism and nationalism in recent years may be seen as having created myriad novel and complex realities. These developments suggest that work now needs to be done to apply human rights to new realities but may also indicate that we need to adapt our understanding of human rights in light of them....

Atypical Presentation of Neurobrucellosis as Infection of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul-Ciprian Covrig ◽  
Jasmina Petridou ◽  
Ulrich J. Knappe
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Abdominal Surgery ◽  
Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt ◽  
Political Context ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Atypical Presentation ◽  
The World ◽  
Surgery First ◽  
Endemic Areas

AbstractBrucellosis is a frequent zoonosis in some regions of the world and may cause various symptoms. Neurobrucellosis is a rare but serious complication of the infection. Our case report describes the course of neurobrucellosis in a patient who had received a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in his native country 13 years prior to diagnosis of brucellosis. He initially presented to us with symptoms of peritonitis, which misled us to perform abdominal surgery first. After the diagnosis of neurobrucellosis was confirmed and appropriate antibiotics were initiated, the symptoms soon disappeared. Although the ventriculoperitoneal shunt was subsequently removed, the patient did not develop a symptomatic hydrocephalus further on. This case displays the challenges in diagnosing an infection that occurred sporadically in Europe and may be missed by currently applied routine microbiological workup. Considering the political context, with increasing relocation from endemic areas to European countries, it is to be expected that the cases of brucellosis and neurobrucellosis will rise. Brucellosis should be considered and adequate investigations should be performed.

A rationale for the legitimacy of the world legal order: Kant’s idea of a cosmopolitan will

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-530
Author(s):  
CLAUDIO CORRADETTI
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
European Court ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Constitutionalism

AbstractIn this contribution I provide an interpretation of Stone Sweet’s and Ryan’s cosmopolitan legal order in conjunction with a certain reconstruction of the Kantian cosmopolitan rationale. Accordingly, I draw attention to the connection between the notion of a general (cosmopolitan) will in Kant’s reinterpretation of Rousseau and the role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as an ‘interpreter’ of such will. I conclude by suggesting that the opportunity of extending the CLO also accounts for a variety of other poliarchical regimes that, taken as a whole, illustrate the landscapes of contemporary global constitutionalism.

scholarly journals Castaño avoids a clash between the ECtHR and the CJEU, but erodes Soering. Thinking human rights transnationally

2020 ◽  
pp. 203228442097974
Author(s):  
Sibel Top ◽  
Paul De Hert
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Union Member ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
European Union Member States

This article examines the changing balance established by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) between human rights filters to extradition and the obligation to cooperate and how this shift of rationale brought the Court closer to the position of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in that respect. The article argues that the ECtHR initially adopted a position whereby it prioritised human rights concerns over extraditions, but that it later nuanced that approach by establishing, in some cases, an obligation to cooperate to ensure proper respect of human rights. This refinement of its position brought the ECtHR closer to the approach adopted by the CJEU that traditionally put the obligation to cooperate above human rights concerns. In recent years, however, the CJEU also backtracked to some extent from its uncompromising attitude on the obligation to cooperate, which enabled a convergence of the rationales of the two Courts. Although this alignment of the Courts was necessary to mitigate the conflicting obligations of European Union Member States towards both Courts, this article warns against the danger of making too many human rights concessions to cooperation in criminal matters.

The Role of Religious Force in the Wukan Incident

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hou Yuxin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Social Management ◽  
The Village

Abstract The Wukan Incident attracted extensive attention both in China and around the world, and has been interpreted from many different perspectives. In both the media and academia, the focus has very much been on the temporal level of the Incident. The political and legal dimensions, as well as the implications of the Incident in terms of human rights have all been pored over. However, what all of these discussions have overlooked is the role played by religious force during the Incident. The village of Wukan has a history of over four hundred years, and is deeply influenced by the religious beliefs of its people. Within both the system of religious beliefs and in everyday life in the village, the divine immortal Zhenxiu Xianweng and the religious rite of casting shengbei have a powerful influence. In times of peace, Xianweng and casting shengbei work to bestow good fortune, wealth and longevity on both the village itself, and the individuals who live there. During the Wukan Incident, they had a harmonizing influence, and helped to unify and protect the people. Looking at the specific roles played by religion throughout the Wukan Incident will not only enable us to develop a more meaningful understanding of the cultural nature and the complexity of the Incident itself, it will also enrich our understanding, on a divine level, of innovations in social management.

Abortion for Foetal Abnormalities in Ireland; The Limited Scope of the Irish Government’s Response to the A, B and C Judgment

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Donoghue ◽  
Claire-Michelle Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Abortion ◽  
Member States ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
European Court ◽  
Margin Of Appreciation ◽  
Controversial Topic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Limited Scope

Abstract Abortion has been a controversial topic in Irish law and one which the Government has been forced to address following the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in A, B and C v. Ireland. The Working Group established to make recommendations have specifically been instructed to deal only with the issues raised in the A, B and C judgment and legislate on the basic of the ‘X case’. This restricted approach calls for legalisation of abortion only where the life of the mother is at risk, a position unique only to Ireland and Andorra within Europe. The vast majority of member states to the European Convention on Human Rights allow for legal abortion on the basis of foetal abnormality and with this emerging consensus the margin of appreciation hitherto afforded by the European Court to member states is diminishing. The advancement and availability of non-invasive genetic tests that can determine foetal abnormalities together with the ruling in R. R. v. Poland leaves Ireland in a precarious position for omitting any reference to foetal abnormalities in any proposed legislation.

“Unity in Diversity” Reloaded: The European Court of Human Rights’ Turn to Subsidiarity and its Consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-123
Author(s):  
Mikael Rask Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Court ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
The Common ◽  
Individual Justice

Abstract The European Convention of Human Rights system was originally created to sound the alarm if democracy was threatened in the member states. Yet, it eventually developed into a very different system with a focus on providing individual justice in an ever growing number of member states. This transformation has raised fundamental questions as to the level of difference and diversity allowed within the common European human rights space. Was the system to rest on minimum standards with room for domestic differences, or was it to create uniform standards? These questions have come up as increasingly contentious issues over the past years and have triggered a number of reforms seeking to introduce more subsidiarity in the system, striking a different balance between the European and national oversight of human rights. The article analyses this turn to subsidiarity by exploring whether the reform process has introduced new forms of difference and diversity within the common space of European human rights. Covering the period from 2000 to the end of 2019 and using a dataset of all judgments of the period, the article provides a structural analysis of developments in reference to the margin of appreciation which is the European Court of Human Rights’ long-standing tool for balancing the common standards, yet leaving space for individual member states to find local solutions to implementing those standards. It concludes that recent developments have contributed to a more federal-style construction of European human rights with more space for differences within the common general standards.

The Impartiality of International Judges: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights

2008 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIK VOETEN
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
National Government ◽  
Judicial Behavior ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Judicial Power ◽  
Government Behavior ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Court ◽  
Bright Side

Can international judges be relied upon to resolve disputes impartially? If not, what are the sources of their biases? Answers to these questions are critically important for the functioning of an emerging international judiciary, yet we know remarkably little about international judicial behavior. An analysis of a new dataset of dissents in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) yields a mixed set of answers. On the bright side, there is no evidence that judges systematically employ cultural or geopolitical biases in their rulings. There is some evidence that career insecurities make judges more likely to favor their national government when it is a party to a dispute. Most strongly, the evidence suggests that international judges are policy seekers. Judges vary in their inclination to defer to member states in the implementation of human rights. Moreover, judges from former socialist countries are more likely to find violations against their own government and against other former socialist governments, suggesting that they are motivated by rectifying a particular set of injustices. I conclude that the overall picture is mostly positive for the possibility of impartial review of government behavior by judges on an international court. Like judges on domestic review courts, ECtHR judges are politically motivated actors in the sense that they have policy preferences on how to best apply abstract human rights in concrete cases, not in the sense that they are using their judicial power to settle geopolitical scores.

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