The Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights

The Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights
Author: Paul Gragl
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2014-10-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782251642

After more than 30 years of discussion, negotiations between the Council of Europe and the European Union on the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights have resulted in a Draft Accession Agreement. This will allow the EU to accede to the Convention within the next couple of years. As a consequence, the Union will become subject to the external judicial supervision of an international treaty regime. Individuals will also be entitled to submit applications against the Union, alleging that their fundamental rights have been violated by legal acts rooted in EU law, directly to the Strasbourg Court. As the first comprehensive monograph on this topic, this book examines the concerns for the EU's legal system in relation to accession and the question of whether and how accession and the system of human rights protection under the Convention can be effectively reconciled with the autonomy of EU law. It also takes into account how this objective can be attained without jeopardising the current system of individual human rights protection under the Convention. The main chapters deal with the legal status and rank of the Convention and the Accession Agreement within Union law after accession; the external review of EU law by Strasbourg and the potential subordination of the Luxembourg Court; the future of individual applications and the so-called co-respondent mechanism; the legal arrangement of inter-party cases after accession and the presumable clash of jurisdictions between Strasbourg and Luxembourg; and the interplay between the Convention's subsidiarity principle (the exhaustion of local remedies) and the prior involvement of the Luxembourg Court in EU-related cases. The analysis presented in this book comes at a crucial point in the history of European human rights law, offering a holistic and detailed enquiry into the EU's accession to the ECHR and how this move can be reconciled with the autonomy of EU law.

The EU Accession to the ECHR

The EU Accession to the ECHR
Author: Fisnik Korenica
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2015-08-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3319217593

This book examines the EU accession to the ECHR from a systemic perspective as well as from the specific perspective of the 2013 draft accession agreement negotiated between the relevant body of the Council of Europe and the EU Commission. It mainly follows a legal positivist approach to examining the nature and scope of obligations that will regulate the new relationship between EU law and European Convention on Human Rights law, concentrating specifically on the issue of jurisdictional interface between the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts. The book offers an in-depth examination of the core mechanisms of the draft accession agreement, taking into account the remarks in Luxembourg's Opinion 2/13, focusing especially on the issue of attribution of responsibility when a violation of ECHR has been jointly committed by the EU and its Member States, the inter-party procedure and the prior involvement mechanism. The work basically argues that EU accession to the ECHR will have a constitutional impact on the EU legal order, and may also have certain implications for the jurisdictional interface between the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts. It also questions the mode of interaction between some normative aspects of ECHR law and EU law, offering certain arguments as to the interaction between the Charter of Fundamental Rights and ECHR from overlapping and accommodative perspectives post-accession. The book concludes that with the EU accession to the ECHR – as it stands right now with the draft accession agreement – the macro relationship between the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts will change significantly, while their constitutional roles will become vertically accommodated and better specialized.

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2021

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2021
Author: Jurgen de Poorter
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2022-06-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9462655359

The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL) is an annual publication devoted to the study of constitutional law. It aims to provide a forum for in-depth analysis and discussion of new developments in the field, both in Europe and beyond. This third volume of the EYCL focuses on constitutional advice, an underexplored topic of legal scholarship today, and addresses this situation by looking beyond constitutional law’s familiar focus on the classic separation of powers and the main legislative, executive and judicial bodies implied by this construct. The attention is shifted to mapping and analysing the advisory bodies and functions grouped around and in support of the legislators, administrators and judges at the frontline of the constitutional edifice, which is accomplished through national, comparative and transnational perspectives on constitutional advice from Europe and beyond. Addressing the topic of constitutional advice is necessary to broaden and deepen not only our understanding of advice as a field in its own right, but also as a way of rendering a fuller account of contemporary constitutionalism. Also, the increasing political polarisation across many societies today underscores the need to study constitutional advice on topics of significance in an attempt to bridge divides and end gridlock. This book will be of special interest to constitutional scholars and legal scholars more generally, as well as to political scientists. In addition, government officials, judges and policy-makers wishing to better understand the legal mechanisms and avenues when it comes to rendering or receiving advice in the contemporary constitutional context will find much of relevance. Jurgen de Poorter is professor at Tilburg Law School, Department of Public Law and Governance. Gerhard van der Schyff is associate professor at Tilburg Law School, Department of Public Law and Governance. Maarten Stremler is assistant professor at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, Department of Public Law. Maartje De Visser is associate professor at Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore.

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2019

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2019
Author: Ernst Hirsch Ballin
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2019-12-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9462653593

The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL) is an annual publication initiated by the Department of Public Law and Governance at Tilburg University and devoted to the study of constitutional law. It aims to provide a forum for in-depth analysis and discussion of new developments in the field, both in Europe and beyond. This inaugurate volume examines the safeguards and limits of judicial power in a variety of constitutional systems, both at the national and supranational level. The book approaches the judiciary as part of the constitutional system operating within a legal order that connects the citizens and institutions of the state to each other. Looking at the judiciary from this broader perspective, the traditional doctrine of the separation of powers would appear no longer to adequately represent the diversity and complexity of constitutional systems and their democratic legitimacy. Judicial independence does not mean isolation, but should better be understood as institutionalizing relationships that legitimize the power of the courts. The notions of ‘safeguards’ and ‘limits’ indicate the reciprocally enabling and protecting nature of these relationships. In recognition of this, the contributions to this volume analyse these safeguards and limits as relations existing within a complex constitutional architecture. State institutions, today, are involved in a fundamental transformation of their selfunderstanding as a result of changes in political culture. Several contributions to this volume provide examples of political criticism and pressure on the judiciary, against which the usual guarantees are unable to provide adequate protection. A convincing and effective response to threats to the judiciary’s independence requires a detailed and precise analysis of the judiciary’s constitutional safeguards and limits. This book offers a step in that direction.

Human Rights Law in Europe

Human Rights Law in Europe
Author: Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2014-03-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1135971935

This book provides analysis and critique of the dual protection of human rights in Europe by assessing the developing legal relationship between the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The book offers a comprehensive consideration of the institutional framework, adjudicatory approaches, and the protection of material rights within the law of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It particularly explores the involvement and participation of stakeholders in the functioning of the EU and the ECtHR, and asks how well the new legal model of ‘the EU under the ECtHR’ compares to current EU law, the ECHR and general international law. Including contributions from leading scholars in the field, each chapter sets out specific case-studies that illustrate the tensions and synergies emergent from the EU-ECHR relationship. In so doing, the book highlights the overlap and dialectic between Europe’s two primary international courts. The book will be of great interest to students and researchers of European Law and Human Rights.

The EU's Human Rights Dialogue with China

The EU's Human Rights Dialogue with China
Author: Katrin Kinzelbach
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-10-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317610482

The European Union uses a confidential, institutionalized Dialogue to raise human rights concerns with China, but little is publicly known about its set-up, its substance, its development over time and its impact. This book provides the first detailed reconstruction and assessment of the EU’s responses to human rights violations in China from 1995 to the present day. Using classified documents in the EU’s historical archives and interviews with diplomats, officials and human rights experts in Europe, China and the United States, Kinzelbach lifts the veil of secrecy on the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue and provides a rare insight into how the European Union and China conduct quiet diplomacy on human rights. The book reconstructs the evolution of the Dialogue and the EU’s internal debate on the merits of quiet diplomacy, and draws comparisons with the approach of other actors, notably that of the United States. In doing so, the EU’s relative impact is concluded to be tenuous if not counter-productive. The book also chronicles and analyzes numerous human rights concerns that were raised in the period, ranging from structural issues to individual cases. This ground-breaking, in-depth case study will be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, human rights, international law, EU politics, especially the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Chinese politics.

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2020

European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2020
Author: Ernst Hirsch Ballin
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2021-03-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 946265431X

The European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL) is an annual publication devoted to the study of constitutional law. It aims to provide a forum for in-depth analysis and discussion of new developments in the field, both in Europe and beyond. This second volume examines the constitutional positioning of cities across space and time. Unrelenting urbanisation means that most people are, or soon will be, living in cities and that city administrations become, in many respects, their quintessential governing units. Cities are places where State power is operationalised and concretised; where laws and government policies transform from parchment objectives to practical realities. In a similar vein, cities are also places for the realisation of the constitutional rights and liberties enjoyed by individuals. The book is organised around three sets of relations that await further unpacking in theory as well as practice: that between cities and other institutions in the national constitutional architecture; that between cities and their inhabitants; and that between cities and international organisations. The contributions to this book show the marked diversity in the role and powers available to cities in Europe and beyond, and identify principles and approaches to help stipulate new ways of thinking about the legal role and relevance of cities going forward. Ernst Hirsch Ballin is distinguished university professor at Tilburg University and vice-dean for research of Tilburg Law School. Gerhard van der Schyff is associate professor at Tilburg Law School, Department of Public Law and Governance. Maarten Stremler is lecturer at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, Department of Public Law. Maartje De Visser is associate professor at SMU School of Law, Singapore.

Journalism at risk

Journalism at risk
Author: Onur Andreotti
Publisher: Council of Europe
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2015-10-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9287181691

Is journalism under threat? Censorship, political pressure, intimidation, job insecurity and attacks on the protection of journalists’ sources - how can these threats be tackled?Journalism at Risk is a new book from the Council of Europe, in which ten experts from different backgrounds examine the role of journalism in democratic societies. Is journalism under threat? The image of journalists, as helmeted war correspondents protected by bullet-proof vests and armed only with cameras and microphones, springs to mind. Physical threats are only the most visible dangers, however. Journalists and journalism itself are facing other threats such as censorship, political and economic pressure, intimidation, job insecurity and attacks on the protection of journalists’ sources. Social media and digital photography mean that anyone can now publish information, which is also upsetting the ethics of journalism. How can these threats be tackled? What is the role of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and national governments in protecting journalists and freedom of expression? In this book, 10 experts from different backgrounds analyse the situation from various angles. At a time when high-quality, independent journalism is more necessary than ever – and yet when the profession is facing many different challenges – they explore the issues surrounding the role of journalism in democratic societies.

The European Convention on Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights
Author: William A. Schabas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1433
Release: 2015-09-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 019106677X

The European Convention on Human Rights: A Commentary is the first complete article-by-article commentary on the ECHR and its Protocols in English. This book provides an entry point for every part of the Convention: the substance of the rights, the workings of the Court, and the enforcement of its judgments. A separate chapter is devoted to each distinct provision or article of the Convention as well as to Protocols 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 16, which have not been incorporated in the Convention itself and remain applicable to present law. Each chapter contains: a short introduction placing the provision within the context of international human rights law more generally; a review of the drafting history or preparatory work of the provision; a discussion of the interpretation of the text and the legal issues, with references to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission on Human Rights; and a selective bibliography on the provision. Through a thorough review of the ECHR this commentary is both exhaustive and concise. It is an accessible resource that is ideal for lawyers, students, journalists, and others with an interest in the world's most successful human rights regime.

Fundamental Rights in Europe

Fundamental Rights in Europe
Author: Federico Fabbrini
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2014-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198702043

This book examines the European system for the protection of fundamental rights. The aim is to identify the constitutional dynamics that occur as a result of the interaction between state and transnational human rights standards. Fabbrini compares the European system with the US federal system based on four case studies.