The Action of Legal Persons in the European System of Human Rights Protection – Collective or Individual Interest?

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-341
Author(s):  
Marjorie Beulay
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Collective Interest ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Globalization Of Law ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Human Rights are accustomed to being linked to individual interests, i.e. to defend the rights of individuals. But the development of their international protection has led to emphasizing new realities. With the globalization of law, the globalization of the subjects of international law has also appeared. If States gradually act collectively thanks to international organizations, individuals seem to follow the same path in forming collective entities named legal persons, which are entitled to rights. The main problem of this situation is defending these rights in front of international courts and, in particular, in front of the European Court of Human Rights. Representing a community leads to defending a collective interest, however, it is not easy to distinguish between the rights of the legal person itself and the rights of the collectivity the legal person is representing. Despite the fiction of the legal person, these entities seem to be collective claimants and consequently to defend a collective interest. Can we conclude that the actions of legal persons before European bodies of Human Rights protection are actions with a collective aim? Indeed this situation implies needing to define which entity retains cited rights and which interest is being defended, that of the individual or that of a collectivity of individuals? This article looks for some answers in the case law of the European Court, which can be considered unequivocal in the light of the case law of other jurisdictions.

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 General and Particular Approaches to Implementation of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 248-292
Author(s):  
VLADIMÍRA PEJCHALOVÁ GRÜNWALDOVÁ
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
National Level ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
National Courts ◽  
European Court

AbstractThis article deals with the implementation, at the national level, of European human rights protection standards as enshrined in theEuropean Convention on Human Rights(ECHR) and interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). It discusses the principles of interpretation of theECHRby the ECtHR, the interaction and mutual dialogue between the ECtHR and national courts, and the approach of the latter to interpretation and application of the case law of the ECtHR. Using the concrete examples of France and the Czech Republic as case studies, it is shown to what extent and how European constitutional courts take into account and apply the letter of the Convention and its interpretation by the ECtHR.

Ricorsi individuali alla Corte europea dei diritti umani riguardanti questioni giŕ esaminate o in corso di esame da parte di altri organismi internazionali di controllo

2012 ◽  
pp. 608-642
Author(s):  
Lorenza Mola
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
International Investment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coordination Mechanism ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
European Court ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

The paper deals with the case law of the European Commission of Human Rights and of the European Court of Human Rights on the admissibility of individual applications on matters already submitted to other international bodies, under Art. 35, para. 2, letter b) ECHR. It examines the relevant procedural aspects and reviews how the Strasbourg bodies have interpreted the criteria set in this clause, which coordinates parallel international proceedings on the same matters, i.e. (i) the identity of parties, grounds and facts; (ii) the concluded or concurrent exam of the claim within other international mechanisms of protection of human rights open to individuals; and (iii) the equivalent character of these other proceedings in relation to the procedure before the European Court of Human Rights. It does so, particularly with respect to two recent decisions concerning cases where parallel proceedings on the same matter were brought, in the one case, by the same person before the Court as well as to the attention of the EU Commission, and, in the other case, by a legal person before the Court and by its shareholders before international investment arbitral tribunals. It highlights that the ‘reformed' Court has normally followed the prior Commission's case law but has also developed a more systematic and qualified approach to each admissibility criterion as well as to the overall objective of such coordination mechanism, in order both to avoid a plurality of international procedures on the same matter, on the one hand, and to afford the individual an international means of enforcement of her/his rights, on the other hand.

scholarly journals From Italian Pushbacks to Libyan Pullbacks: Is Hirsi 2.0 in the Making in Strasbourg?

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-426
Author(s):  
Annick Pijnenburg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
The Political ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Migration Control ◽  
First Time

Abstract This article discusses the application that was recently lodged with the European Court of Human Rights alleging that Italy is responsible for its involvement in pullbacks by the Libyan coast guard. It places the case in the wider context of migration control policies and the Hirsi case in particular. The article examines different pullback scenarios which feature in the application lodged with the Court, and discusses different ways in which the Court can address the issues raised. The analysis focuses particularly on the question whether the Court is likely to find that Italy exercises jurisdiction and whether Italy could incur derived responsibility for its involvement in the pullbacks. The article concludes by suggesting that holding Italy responsible would require the Court to move beyond established precedent in its case-law. Although this is a move which can be difficult to make given the political tide in Europe, it would not be the first time that the Court takes its case-law, and thereby human rights protection, a step further.

scholarly journals Too attentive to our duty: the fundamental conflict underlying human rights protection in the UK

Legal Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 360-378
Author(s):  
Benedict Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Fundamental Conception ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

AbstractAre we defined by the choices we make or the duties we owe? This paper argues that there is a conflict between the fundamental conception of the individual as possessing the capacity to choose how to live, which has been held to be the foundation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the understanding of the individual as a bearer of duties which has long underpinned the UK Constitution. Through case law analysis, it is shown that the tension between these two understandings of the individual underlies the troubled acceptance of the Human Rights Act 1998, and influences the UK judiciary's substantive interpretations of the Convention rights. It is ultimately argued that for the Convention rights to be fully accepted in the UK, the evolution from a duty to a choice-based understanding of the individual, which was artificially accelerated by the Human Rights Act, must be more widely accepted by society and the courts.

scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL LAW AND CHRISTIAN VALUES IN HUMAN RIGHTS

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (127) ◽  
pp. 73-81
Author(s):  
M. Medvedieva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Human Embryos ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Christian Morality ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Individual

The article considers the role of International Law in asserting Christian values in human rights protection. The author gives examples of harmonious interaction of International Law and Christian morality. According to the author, as a result of certain factors, International Law started to deviate from the principles of Christian ethics. As a result at the level of creating and implementing International Law there is a positive attitude or indifference to such destructive practices that destroy the individual, family, society, state as abortion, surrogacy, change of sex, same-sex unions, euthanasia, cloning, genetic modification, research on human embryos, etc. The article deals with these trends mainly on the example of the European model of human rights. The author analyzes the practice of interpretation and application of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) by the European Court of Human Rights regarding the aforementioned issues and concludes that in many cases the Court goes away from the historical context of the adoption of the Convention, creates new rights, and in its judgments does not take into account the arguments of a state concerning the protection of public order and public morality that looks like a dangerous trend for the International Law functioning.

scholarly journals Sports in the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Czepek
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Point Of Interest ◽  
European Court ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
The Right

Sport has been an object of interest of international law on several occasions. It has also been a point of interest of regional human rights protection, for example within the legal system of Council of Europe. Recently, the European Court of Human Rights has developed its case-law concerning sport-related issues, such as football supporters related violence and prevention of events of hooliganism, anti-doping related issues or fairness of proceedings before The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne or the protection of professional athletes’ rights in the context of anti-doping requirements. The article focuses on the ECtHR case-law relating to sport within the meaning of the  right to life (art. 2 of the ECHR), prohibition of torture of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 3 of the ECHR), right to liberty and security (art.5 of the ECHR), right to a fair trial (art.6 of the ECHR) or right to protection of private and family life (art.8 of the ECHR).

scholarly journals Do football hooligans have human rights?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-71
Author(s):  
Deyana Marcheva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
World War ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
World War 2 ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Projects ◽  
Protection Mechanisms

Human rights are the “last utopia” of our time that achieved contemporary prominence on the ruins of the last political utopias of twentieth century. All the international projects after World War 2 aspire to achieve a just balance between the basic individual rights and public interest. The human rights protection mechanisms introduce exceptions and qualifications to most of the human rights to allow for their restrictions proportional to the legitimate aims of the states. This article explores the human rights of the football hooligans starting with an analysis clarifying the historical, cultural and sociological aspects of the term “football hooligan”. Afterwards a detailed review of the case law of the European court of human rights is offered to reveal the status of the so called football hooligans as people whose basic rights could be restricted by the states upon wide discretion of the national authorities.

The Internationalization Of Human Rights And The Importance Of Normative Dialogues Between International And National Courts

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Mariane Morato Stival ◽  
Marcos André Ribeiro ◽  
Daniel Gonçalves Mendes da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
National Courts ◽  
European Court ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Human Rights Discourse

This article intends to analyze in the context of the complexity of the process of internationalization of human rights, the definitions and tensions between cultural universalism and relativism, the essence of human rights discourse, its basic norms and an analysis of the normative dialogues in case decisions involving violations of human rights in international tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and national courts. The well-established dialogue between courts can bring convergences closer together and remove differences of opinion on human rights protection. A new dynamic can occur through a complementarity of one court with respect to the other, even with the different characteristics between the legal orders.

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