Protection of human rights in the context of the development of the rule of law principle: The international aspect

Author(s):  
Oleh M. Omelchuk ◽  
Svitlana D. Hrynko ◽  
Alla M. Ivanovska ◽  
Anna L. Misinkevych ◽  
Viktoriia V. Antoniuk

The consolidation of the principle of supremacy in international documents is described. It is established that the rule of law in the work of the UN has become a subject of constant discussion. It has gained significant momentum since 2007, establishing itself as one of the most important areas of the organisation. UN documents define the rule of law as a principle or as a sphere of activity of the Organisation and member countries. In their report, the UN Secretary-General divides the rule of law into three sectors: the rule of law at the international level, the rule of law in the context of conflict and post-conflict situations, and the rule of law in the context of long-term development. The UN Secretary-General’s annual reports continue to work to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels. UN activities and documents demonstrate that strengthening the rule of law at the international level is impossible without the promotion, observance, and implementation of international treaties, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, and the protection of human rights that are inextricably linked to the rule of law principle. Areas of activity that strengthen the rule of law are identified. The content of the resolutions “ Rule of Law at the national and international levels” was analysed, based on the results of generalisation of the content and direction of the sessions of the General Assembly during the last fifteen years, the directions of activity within this framework were determined. The rule of law is recognised as one of the fundamental principles of the European Community and enshrined in its regional acts. The elements of the principle of the rule of law are identified based on the results of generalisation of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It is established that in the European region a great role in the development and interpretation of the concept of the rule of law is played by its judicial interpretation, which is engaged in by two international judicial institutions: the ECtHR and the European Court of Justice. The rule of law is represented in the work of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and plays a significant role in the promotion and protection of human rights. A significant contribution to the development of regulations for the implementation of the rule of law at the international level was made by the International Non-Governmental Organisation “World Justice Project”, which developed in 2010 the Rule of Law Index. The indicators of measuring the rule of law index in the country are characterised and their analysis in the dynamics at the international level and the distribution of the rule of law index by factors in Ukraine

2014 ◽  
Vol 96 (895-896) ◽  
pp. 881-900
Author(s):  
Annyssa Bellal

AbstractHow does the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) discharge its mandate of “promoting and protecting the effective enjoyment by all of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights”, especially in armed conflicts and other situations of violence? What are its concrete responsibilities, and how does it work to generate respect for the rule of law on the ground? This article aims to provide an overview of OHCHR's activities, and point to some of the challenges associated with its work to generate respect for the rule of law, in particular in violent contexts. It begins with an overview of the unique mandate of OHCHR and situates it within the broader United Nations human rights machinery. It then gives an account of OHCHR's experience and approach in building respect for the rule of law, including in armed conflicts and post-conflict situations, outlining how this informs OHCHR's field setup. Finally, the article summarizes the main challenges that OHCHR faces in the discharge of its mandate. It highlights the need for more concerted action on the part of human rights/humanitarian protection organizations on the ground, despite differences in mandates and constituencies.


Author(s):  
Olga T. Tur ◽  
Marta B. Kravchyk ◽  
Iryna Yu. Nastasiak ◽  
Myroslava M. Sirant ◽  
Nataliya V. Stetsyuk

National and international courts are increasingly turning to generally recognised international legal principles to regulate private law relations. This is necessitated, in particular, by the fact that the issues and disputes that modern participants in private law relations address to the courts are becoming more widespread. Thus, the practice of international justice and justice in Ukraine demonstrates that such international principles as the principle of justice, equality, non-discrimination, evolutionary interpretation, proportionality, legal certainty, and the rule of law are increasingly used in dispute resolution. This study investigated the application of international principles in private law relations. Based on the general legal research methods, the nature of international legal principles was analysed, the study considered their application in the above-mentioned Ukrainian court cases to the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the Constitutional and Anti-Corruption Courts of Ukraine. The study investigated the judicial practice of the European Court of Human Rights, whose decisions raise the issue of violation of rights and fundamental freedoms stipulated in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and non-compliance with basic international legal principles, as well as highlighted the main trends of these disputes. Based on the results of the analysis, the study identified an insufficient level of the content specification regarding the principle of the rule of law and its features in the current legislation of Ukraine, which must be properly observed by both state authorities and citizens of Ukraine. Based on the conducted research, the authors formulated their scientific positions and conclusions aimed at improving the system of principles of private law relations


Author(s):  
E.S. Kalyuzhna

Ukraine has recognized the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights by acceding to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The implementation of Western concepts of the rule of law, human dignity and human rights stipulates study of the European Court of Human Rights practice, which, in accordance with national law, is the source of Ukrainian law. It is emphasized that the enshrinement of the rule of law principle in a number of laws was accompanied by a normative provision on the necessity to understand the content of this principle through the European Court of Human Rights practice. The purpose of the study is to elucidate the general provisions characterizing the impact of the European Court of Human Rightsice practice on the national system of Ukraine. It is substantiated that the European Court of Human Rights ensures the relevance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provisions, compliance of its rules with modernity, ensuring the general spirit of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which is designed to uphold and ensure the values of a democratic society. It is noted that in interpreting the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Court of Human Rights is a kind of subject of legal doctrines making in the field of human rights affecting the legal systems of the states parties to this Convention. Some decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against Ukraine, which played a significant role in changing the national legal system, are analyzed, in particular,the decisions in the cases Koretsky and Others v. Ukraine, Natalia Mykhaylenko v. Ukraine, and Volokhy v. Ukraine. The following legal provisions as the separation of law and the law are mentioned, giving priority to law over the law  in case of contradiction between them; understanding the content of the rule of law, the importance of legal certainty and reasoning of the decision to restrict human rights, legal equality of people, and giving real access to a fair trial to a person, etc. It is concluded that when considering the applicants' complaints about Ukraine's non-fulfillment of its obligations in the field of human rights, the European Court of Human Rights forms legal provisions that become an integral part of the domestic legal system, in some cases they (the decisions) are the factor in changing legislation, and influence the legal doctrine transformation.


Author(s):  
Andrew Yu. KLYUCHNIKOV

The article is devoted to the principle of the rule of law, implemented through the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950. (Convention) by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The relevance of studying this principle is due to the new approach formed by the Court that the rule of law is “inherent in all articles of the Convention.” We can see its application in the current case-law of the Court as one of the fundamental elements of the independence of national courts. Thus, the author aims to identify the theoretical and practical aspects of the ECHR’s approach to the problem of judicial independence and legal application of the rule of law principle, to study the relevant Court practice. The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary as the basic elements of the convention system are an integral part of the institution of the “European public order” developed by the ECHR, therefore it is necessary to trace their interconnection. The case-law of the ECHR served as the material for the study, which allowed us to identify all stages of the formation of the rule of law principle and its actual “content”. Analyzing judicial practice, along with using doctrinal approaches, we managed to identify the limits of permissible application of national laws, the powers of bodies and officials of various branches of government, bodies of the judicial community to the given problem, new aspects of the status of judges seen as one of the democratic values of society. To achieve this, the author used methods specific to studies of law and general scientific (traditional) research methods, with an emphasis on comparative and general legal methods, and the method of induction during the analysis of judicial practice. The paper examines the normative sources of law and judicial practice of the ECHR, allowing to reveal the principle of the rule of law, its correlation with the principle of judicial independence, the specifics of its impact on the domestic national judicial system and the functioning of the state apparatus, to determine the role of the principle in the convention mechanism of the protection of human rights.


Author(s):  
Ханлар Гаджиев ◽  
Khanlar Gadzhiev

The article discusses the problem of interpretation of the provisions of the European Convention on human rights by European Court of Human Rights, as well as the development of dialogue between judges of different levels, aimed at the formation of the European “common” law. Placing at the forefront the principle of the rule of law as the basis for all the guarantees of human rights, the author substantiates the necessity of the interaction of various levels courts, based on mutual respect, dialogue of the courts, what will undoubtedly lead to the enrichment of the legal system, searching for the most complete and effective regulation of social relations. According to the author, the effectiveness of interaction between courts is based primarily on a shared understanding of the importance of the activities of ECtHR judges in the development of common approaches to the protection of human rights and consolidation of the efforts in search of forming a common legal space. Using the example of some cases considered by the ECtHR, the article illustrated the options of interaction of the Court with national courts. The article reveals some problematic issues in the activity of the ECtHR, in particular the lack of involvement the principle of harmonious interpretation.


ICL Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69
Author(s):  
Eszter Polgári

AbstractThe present article maps the explicit references to the rule of law in the jurisprudence of the ECtHR by examining the judgments of the Grand Chamber and the Plenary Court. On the basis of the structured analysis it seeks to identify the constitutive elements of the Court’s rule of law concept and contrast it with the author’s working definition and the position of other Council of Europe organs. The review of the case-law indicates that the Court primarily associates the rule of law with access to court, judicial safeguards, legality and democracy, and it follows a moderately thick definition of the concept including formal, procedural and some substantive elements. The rule of law references are predominantly ancillary arguments giving weight to other Convention-based considerations and it is not applied as a self-standing standard.


Author(s):  
Egidijus Küris

Western legal tradition gave the birth to the concept of the rule of law. Legal theory and constitutional justice significantly contributed to the crystallisation of its standards and to moving into the direction of the common concept of the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights uses this concept as an interpretative tool, the extension of which is the quality of the law doctrine, which encompasses concrete requirements for the law under examination in this Court, such as prospectivity of law, its foreseeability, clarity etc. The author of the article, former judge of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court and currently the judge of the European Court of Human Rights, examines how the latter court has gradually intensified (not always consistently) its reliance on the rule of law as a general principle, inherent in all the Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, to the extent that in some of its judgments it concentrates not anymore on the factual situation of an individual applicant, but, first and foremost, on the examination of the quality of the law. The trend is that, having found the quality of the applicable law to be insufficient, the Court considers that the mere existence of contested legislation amounts to an unjustifiable interference into a respective right and finds a violation of respective provisions of the Convention. This is an indication of the Court’s progressing self-approximation to constitutional courts, which are called to exercise abstract norm-control.La tradición occidental alumbró la noción del Estado de Derecho. La teoría del Derecho y la Justicia Constitucional han contribuido decisivamente a la cristalización de sus estándares, ayudando a conformar un acervo común en torno al mismo. El Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos emplea la noción de Estado de Derecho como una herramienta interpretativa, fundamentalmente centrada en la doctrina de la calidad de la ley, que implica requisitos concretos que exige el Tribunal tales como la claridad, la previsibilidad, y la certeza en la redacción y aplicación de la norma. El autor, en la actualidad Juez del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos y anterior Magistrado del Tribunal Constitucional de Lituania, examina cómo el primero ha intensificado gradualmente (no siempre de forma igual de consistente) su confianza en el Estado de Derecho como principio general, inherente a todos los preceptos que forman el Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos, hasta el punto de que en algunas de sus resoluciones se concentra no tanto en la situación de hecho del demandante individual sino, sobre todo y ante todo, en el examen de esa calidad de la ley. La tendencia del Tribunal es a considerar que, si observa que la ley no goza de calidad suficiente, la mera existencia de la legislación discutida supone una interferencia injustificable dentro del derecho en cuestión y declara la violación del precepto correspondiente del Convenio. Esto implica el acercamiento progresivo del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos a los Tribunales Constitucionales, quienes tienen encargado el control en abstracto de la norma legal.


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