Independence and Impartiality of Courts – Human Rights Standards: Reflections on European Union Law, the Jurisprudence of the ECtHR and the “soft law” of the Council of Europe

2016 ◽  
pp. 89-122
Author(s):  
Robert Esser
ICL Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosmarie Doblhoff-Dier ◽  
Sandra Kusmierczyk

AbstractBy acceding to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the EU’s role as supranational player in the complex human rights architecture of Europe will be finally recognized. On 5 April 2013, the negotiators of the accession procedure of the European Union to the ECHR agreed on a package of draft accession instruments. Constituting a mile­stone on the road to accession, the now revised Accession Agreement still leaves vast room for discussion. By critically scrutinizing some of its modalities, this article will evaluate its impact on the human rights jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Eu­ropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the relationship between both courts. To this end, it will address the somewhat disproportionate involvement of the European Union in the future jurisdiction of the ECtHR and in the decision making of the Council of Europe in matters linked to the ECHR. Furthermore, it will focus on the compatibility of the Draft Agree­ment with the principle of autonomous interpretation of European Union Law: a highly rel­evant discussion for the ECJ’s future Opinion under Article 218 (11) TFEU on the compatibil­ity of the finalized draft agreement with the Treaties - the next hurdle for accession.


Author(s):  
M.V. Gromovchuk

The issue is topical in the context of actively expanding the list of human rights, including within the national dimension, because human rights as a dual category are subject to transformation due to the following factors: European integration processes, creating the need for integration and harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with European Union law; globalization processes, as Ukraine is a member of the world community and modern economic, environmental, legal, etc. phenomena have a direct impact on national state processes, and on the legal reality, and on the rights and freedoms of the individual. It is determined that the recognition of new human rights, the expansion of the existing list - one of the trends in the development of the legal status of the individual. And when regulating relations in the field of somatic claims through the category of human rights, it should be borne in mind that somatic human rights should be characterized by what characterizes the category of human rights in general. It is pointed out that in human history no "new right" has really been recognized without a struggle and without overcoming the fierce opposition of some "old rights". It is proved that the legal regulation of the possibility of exercising somatic rights in the international arena (primarily within the European Union) has significantly improved. Basically, we are talking about the existing basic (basic) regulations in the field we study. Thus, among the most important of them, we should first focus on such as, the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine 1997, the EU Council Recommendation of June 29, 1998 "On the suitability of blood and plasma donors and donor blood screening. in the European Community" (98/463 / EC), Directive 2004/23 / EC of 31 March 2004 on the establishment of quality and safety standards for the donation, purchase, testing, treatment, preservation, storage and distribution of human tissues and cells". That is, we believe that the Council of Europe and the European Union, as regional international organizations, have established common normative criteria for the possibility of implementing and protecting somatic human rights in general and in the field of biomedical research in particular.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-159
Author(s):  
Gerard Conway

Formal legal cooperation in matters relating to prisoners has existed at European level for over 50 years. With the development of an European Union (EU) competence in criminal law from the Treaty of Maastricht 1992 onwards, now both the Council of Europe and the EU have adopted legal instruments in this sphere. This paper analsyses the scope and rationale of transnational European cooperation relating to prisoners. It first outlines Council of Europe instruments, including the relevance of the European Convention of Human Rights, conventions specifically on prisoners, and soft law. It then examines the more recent EU instruments, following which the relevance of constitutional principles and the prospects and potential difficulties of European cooperation are analysed. It concludes that cooperation can best succeed through a specification of minimum standards and greater coordination between Council of Europe and EU action, along with greater recognition of its specifically penal context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Mat Campbell

This is the first English language paper seriously to examine the meaning of subsidiarity from the perspective of private law, in which it might be used to understand legal rules, or the interaction of different kinds of claim. Since there are so few relevant sources in English, this article casts a wide net for consensus. It offers six propositions about what it means to designate a rule or relationship (between legal regimes, say) as one of subsidiarity. These are formulated by reference, principally, to thinking about subsidiarity outwith private law; and, secondarily, to (i) miscellaneous literature about subsidiarity, (ii) the general French private law literature about subsidiarity, and (iii) what little can be gleaned from relevant unjust enrichment discourse in English. The state of play in that discourse is summarised, before the choice of Roman Catholic social teaching, European Union law, and European human rights law as settings to examine for their conceptions of subsidiarity is explained, and subsidiarity in each of these contexts is sketched out. Succeeding sections then outline each proposition, and clarify how it may be derived from the sources. The paper concludes by reflecting guardedly on the potential of subsidiarity in private law, as a way to model the interrelation of private law claims and doctrines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Marija Daka

The paper presents some of the most relevant aspects of European nondiscrimination law established th rough European Union law and the European Convention on Human Rights, looking also at the evolution of the norms and milestones of case-law on equal treatment within the two systems. The paper gives an overview of the non-discrimination concept as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union and by the European Court of Human Rights. We examine the similar elements but also give insight into conceptual differences between the two human rights regimes when dealing with equal treatment. The differences mainly stem from the more complex approach taken by EU law although, based on analysed norms, cases, and provisions, the aspects of equal treatment in EU law are largely consistent with the practice of the ECtHR. Lastly, the paper briefl y places the European non-discrimination law within the multi-layered human rights system, giving some food for thought for the future potential this concept brings.


Author(s):  
Rhona K. M. Smith

This chapter examines the regional organizations with jurisdiction over human rights in Europe, focusing on the Council of Europe, and describes relevant work of the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It highlights the success of the Council of Europe in developing a system which ensures the protection of basic human rights through a judicial mechanism, and concludes that the European Convention on Human Rights has matured into the most sophisticated and effective human rights treaty in the world.


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