European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

Introduction to European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights, court established in 1950 by the signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights to police oppressive activities of governments. In the aftermath of World War II (1939-1945), and in particular the atrocities committed under Nazi Germany, most governments in Europe agreed that some international supervision of the way nations treated their citizens was needed. The trials of war criminals at Nürnberg showed that an international tribunal could work. Accordingly, the convention set up the court, and states were able to sue other states on behalf of their citizens. Today, nearly all signatories to the convention have given their citizens the right to petition the court individually, and individual citizens bring the vast majority of the cases in the court against their governments. The signatory states are more in number than the European Union states, all of which are signatories. Each signatory state supplies a judge for the court, which sits at Strasbourg, France.

The convention protects basic rights such as the freedom of speech, assembly, and religion; the sanctity of home and family; and the right to due process of criminal law. Each right is expressed in broad and general terms, and is usually subject to a series of exceptions. For example, governments are permitted to abridge the right to freedom of speech to allow for the protection of people’s reputations or the protection of morals. The Court of Human Rights has established a doctrine that each national government has a “margin of appreciation” in determining what is necessary to protect the basic right, and what are necessary exemptions to it. The government has a duty to balance the competing interests that surround any legislative issue such as the right to freedom of speech, and the right not to have one’s character assassinated by those exercising their freedom of speech. Behind this principle lies an understanding that many matters brought before the court involve difficult moral issues, and that these are often best left to democratic governments; it is only when the governments exceed their legitimate role, or fail to provide a proper protection of rights, so impinging on basic rights, that the court should intervene. Much of the court’s work lies in determining whether a government’s policy on an issue falls properly within the margin of appreciation or not.

Despite this policy of restraint, the court often becomes involved in controversial matters, especially when it finds against a government. A recent example in 1995 was when the court found-by a 10 to 9 majority-that the British government had exceeded its margin of appreciation in compromising the due process of law to deal with terrorism, when it ordered the armed arrest of three terrorists in Gibraltar, resulting in their deaths.

The European Commission of Human Rights assists the court. This body determines whether there is a case to go before the court and attempts to procure a friendly settlement. Its filtering role is vital, as there appears to be a constant stream of litigants who, whenever a case goes against them in domestic courts, claim that their basic human rights have been infringed. They are often seeking to overturn the factual determination of the domestic courts, with which the European Court cannot deal.” (1)

European Court of Human Rights

Embracing mainstream international law, this section on european court of human rights explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.

European Court of Human Rights and Europe

There is an entry on european court of human rights in the European legal encyclopedia.

European Court of Human Rights and the European Union

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See Also

  • International Organization
  • Foreign Relations
  • Intergovernmental Organization
  • Regional Organization
  • Regional Integration

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See Also

  • Court of Human Rights

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See Also

Further Reading

  • Entry “European Court of Human Rights” in the work “A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein”, by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)

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Further Reading

  • The entry “european court of human rights” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press

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Notes and References

Guide to European Court of Human Rights

Hierarchical Display of European Court of Human Rights

International Organisations > European organisations > European organisation > Council of Europe
International Relations > International affairs > International instrument > Human rights

European Court of Human Rights

Concept of European Court of Human Rights

See the dictionary definition of European Court of Human Rights.

Characteristics of European Court of Human Rights

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Translation of European Court of Human Rights

Thesaurus of European Court of Human Rights

International Organisations > European organisations > European organisation > Council of Europe > European Court of Human Rights
International Relations > International affairs > International instrument > Human rights > European Court of Human Rights

See also

  • Court of Human Rights
  • ECHR
  • European Commission on Human Rights

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