EU commitment to human rights policies has grown following the Lisbon Treaty. Taking stock of those developments, this book describes the framework, actors, policies, and strategies of human rights across the EU and how their impact is felt. Contributed to by scholars from across the EU, this provides an in-depth and holistic view of the issues.
This title provides analysis of the EU's human rights commitments through legislation, case law, and policy documents. Key developments to the EU's engagement with human rights, both internally and externally, are examined and it covers the topics of non-discrimination and competition law, migration, trade policy, and development cooperation.
Confusion about the differences between the Council of Europe (the parent body of the European Court of Human Rights) and the European Union is commonplace amongst the general public. It even affects some lawyers, jurists, social scientists and students. This book will enable the reader to distinguish clearly between those human rights norms which originate in the Council of Europe and those which derive from the EU, vital for anyone interested in human rights in Europe and in the UK as it prepares to leave the EU. The main achievements of relevant institutions include securing minimum standards across the continent as they deal with increasing expansion, complexity, multidimensionality, and interpenetration of their human rights activities. The authors also identify the central challenges, particularly for the UK in the post-Brexit era, where the components of each system need to be carefully distinguished and disentangled.
Human rights are much talked about and much written about, in academic legal literature as well as in political and other social sciences and the general political debate. This book argues that the universality of basic human rights is one of the values of the concept of rights. It points out the risk of a certain “inflation” caused by the current habit of talking so much and so often about human rights and of using them as a basis for claims of various kinds. These rights, their understanding and interpretation may need to become more “purist” to ensure that universal human rights as a concept survive. Another chapter concentrates on the analysis of the frames of “EU protected human rights” from the perspective of effective implementation. Further, the book not only deals with the complicated relations between the EU and international law, but also seeks to show the horizontal effect. To that end, the fears and hopes of the member states and interest groups are categorized and commented on. Lastly, the gaps in theory and practice are addressed, current trends related to implementation are pointed out, and suggestions are made concerning how to make the best out of the Charter.
The European Union�s jurisprudence is responsible for a complex body of human rights law which pursues a busy, multi-tiered agenda and is essential for the lawful and the effective operation and development of the EU polity and its legal order. This in
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 European Human Rights Culture – A Paradox of Human Rights Protection in Europe? analyses the political term “European Human Rights Culture”, a term first introduced by EU Commission President Barroso. Located in the fields of comparative law and European law, this book analyses, through first-hand interviews with the European judiciary, the judicial perspective on the European human rights culture and sets this in context to the political dimension of the term. In addition, it looks at the structures and procedures of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and explains the embedding of the Courts’ legal cultures. It offers an in-depth analysis of the margin of appreciation doctrine at both the CJEU and ECtHR, and shows its value for addressing human rights grievances. This book is novel in that it combines interviews and case-law analysis to show how a mix of differences on the bench are legally amalgamated to resolve probing legal questions and human rights issues. It shows, through a combined analysis of case-law and recent political developments for European human rights, the tensions between judicial and political approaches and the paradox of human rights protection in Europe. It also offers in-depth knowledge of the European human rights discourse. In addition to a rich study of legal materials, the book looks inside the box by adding the judiciary’s perspective. Human rights are widely acknowledged in European societies and cases claiming human rights violations are increasing at both the CJEU and ECtHR. In these times of increased human rights awareness, this book uncovers a paradox in European human rights protection which is created by the push-and-pull between judicial and political interests.
Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Judicial remedies: The issue of jurisdiction -- 1.1 Overview -- 1.2 Impact of international human rights law on jurisdiction in private international law -- 1.2.1 Introduction -- 1.2.2 Human rights in private litigation -- 1.2.3 International human rights law and jurisdiction in private international law -- 1.3 Jurisdiction in private international law in Europe and the US -- 1.3.1 Introduction -- 1.3.2 The European approach: the Brussels I Regulation -- 1.3.2.1 Scope of application -- 1.3.2.2 Rules on jurisdiction -- 1.3.2.3 Policy debate regarding the reform of the Brussels I Regulation -- 1.3.3 The US approach to jurisdiction -- 1.3.3.1 Doctrines that may limit access to US courts in transnational cases -- 1.3.3.2 The Alien Tort Statute: presumption against extraterritoriality and personal jurisdiction -- 1.3.3.3 Further doctrines that may limit access to US courts in transnational cases -- 1.3.3.4 Litigating torts in state courts and/or under state law -- 1.3.4 Comparing the EU and US approach to jurisdiction in private international law -- 1.4 Residual jurisdiction in Europe -- 1.4.1 Introduction -- 1.4.2 Forum necessitatis -- 1.4.3 Joining of defendants -- 1.4.4 Pursuing civil remedies through criminal jurisdiction -- 1.5 Conclusions and recommendations -- 2 Judicial remedies: The issue of applicable law -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Legal context -- 2.2.1 Foreign direct liability and beyond -- 2.2.2 Private international law and extraterritoriality -- 2.2.3 Discussion -- 2.3 Applicable law -- 2.3.1 Rome II Regulation: general rule -- 2.3.2 Rome II Regulation: special rule on environmental damage -- 2.3.3 Rome II Regulation: relevant exceptions -- 2.3.3.1 Overriding mandatory provisions -- 2.3.3.2 Rules of safety and conduct.
Over 800 million Europeans can individually obtain a ruling from a European court against their State if it has violated their human rights. There is an assembly in Strasbourg where members of the Icelandic, Russian, Portuguese, German, Georgian and other European parliaments all sit together. A Congress exists whose sessions are attended by representatives of 200 000 local and regional authorities of Europe. All these statements relate to the Council of Europe, the first of the European institutions to be founded. Now 47 member states strong, the Council - which is to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year - has become one of the main institutions of intergovernmental co-operation. This book looks at the political role of the Council of Europe, which is now not only a forum for democracy and a gage of stability, the home of human rights and the forum of cultural diversity, but also the crucible of Europe and the future for politics. The author examines all that is specific to the Council of Europe within the European architecture, particularly vis-á-vis the European Union. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to study the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, understand how it operates and find out about the contribution that it makes.
