70 Years of Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Europe

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
70Th Anniversary ◽  
Present Condition ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Venice Commission

The years of 2019 and 2020 offered the opportunity to commemorate four anniversaries: On 4 November 2020, it was 70 years ago that the ECHR, was signed. Ten years later, the ECtHR began its work. The Council of Europe had its 70th anniversary on 5 May 2019. Finally, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) established in 1990, could celebrate its 30th birthday. These jubilees offer a good reason to take a look at how these institutions have contributed to making human rights and the rule of law a matter of common interest in Europe, and what their present condition is. This volume contains the contributions on this topic held at the Walter-Hallstein Symposium on 5 and 6 March 2020. With contributions by Veronika Bílková, Thomas Giegerich, Rainer Hofmann, Stefan Kadelbach, Wilfried Loth, Angelika Nußberger, Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque and Stefanie Schmahl.

scholarly journals The Council of Europe’s Responses to the Decay of the Rule of Law and Human Rights Protections: A Comparative Appraisal

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Başak Çalı ◽  
Esra Demir-Gürsel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
Institutional Features ◽  
Venice Commission

Abstract This article introduces the Special Issue on ‘The Responses of the Council of Europe to the Decay of the Rule of Law and Human Rights Protections’. The Council of Europe (CoE), a unique international organisation with its commitment to protect and promote human rights, the rule of law, and democracy, has been severely tested by the spread and consolidation of trends posing systemic threats to its foundational goals. The authors of this Special Issue assess how the European Court of Human Rights, the Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers, and the office of the Secretary General have addressed systemic threats to the foundational principles of the organisation in the last decade. The Special Issue finds that the respective legal-institutional features and capacities of the CoE organs as well as the constraining influence of the broader political context in Europe on them vary significantly, hampering the CoE’s ability to produce timely, consistent, and co-ordinated responses against systemic threats.

scholarly journals Correlation of Formal Clarity and Rule of Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Е. Є. Сілантьєва
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Complex Characteristic ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Venice Commission

Comprehensive analysis of approaches to understanding the essence of the categories of “rule of law” and “formal clarity” has been carried out within the framework of the conducted research. The author in order to properly understand the category of “rule of law”, has provided the views of both international and domestic researchers, who determine its essence. The author of the work has determined the content of the concept of the rule of law on the basis of the characteristics of the rule of law. A comprehensive analysis of the reports of the European Commission and the Venice Commission on the elements of the rule of law has been conducted. Particular attention has been also paid to the essence of the rule of law principles, which are reflected in those documents. The main requirements relating to the rule of law principle, as well as the main purpose of this principle have been provided. The author has conducted the analysis of approaches to understanding and clarifying the essence of formal clarity provided to this category by both domestic and international researchers. The main requirements for formal clarity have been provided. The procedural requirements inherent in formal clarity have been also separately mentioned in the research. On the basis of the conducted complex characteristic and defining the essence of the categories of “rule of law” and “formal clarity” the author has carried out the analysis of their parity. The approaches of domestic and international researchers in this regard have been provided. It has been emphasized that one of the fundamental aspects of the protection of human rights and freedoms is the formal clarity of law. It has been noted in the conclusion that the formal clarity of law implies a set of precise, unambiguous and transparent legal requirements for both lawmaking and law-enforcement processes designed to ensure the realization of human rights, interests and freedoms, as well as protection against possible manifestations of state arbitrariness that makes it possible to avoid a number of mistakes, offenses and misunderstandings of life situations.

Opinia prawna w sprawie rekomendacji Komisji Weneckiej dotyczących wyborów w stanach nadzwyczajnych i ich znaczenia dla wyborów prezydenckich w Polsce w 2020 r.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2(163) ◽  
pp. 243-265
Author(s):  
Dariusz Dudek
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
States Of Emergency ◽  
Venice Commission ◽  
Electoral Law

The author presents a constitutional regulation of the Polish model of presidential election and states of emergency and relates them to the specific situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Then, he analyses in detail the content of the recommendations of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of 26 May 2020 (Respect for Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law during States of Emergency – Reflections), regarding the elections in states of emergency and its significance for the presidential election in Poland in 2020. The opinion positively evaluates all the Commission’s recommendations and considers that the existing and new exceptional Polish electoral law regulations respecting the principles of democracy and rule of law are fully complaint with them.

In Search of a Standard: References to the Rule of Law in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights

ICL Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69
Author(s):  
Eszter Polgári
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
European Court ◽  
Structured Analysis ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Grand Chamber

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.

The Rule of Law under Pressure: Russia and the European Human Rights System

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-295
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kahn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Keynote Address ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Russian Law

This article is based on a keynote address given at the 10th Annual Conference on the Development of Russian Law held at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, on 20–21 November 2017, by Professor Marianna Muravyeva. The article, which reflects political developments at the time of its delivery, explores the origins and consequences of the decision to accept Russia’s application for membership in the Council of Europe.

In Search of a Standard: References to the Rule of Law in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights

ICL Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eszter Polgári
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
European Court ◽  
Structured Analysis ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Grand Chamber

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.

Membership Eligibility in a Europe of Liberal Democracies, 1970–2005

2021 ◽  
pp. 159-193
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter uses extensive archival evidence to demonstrate how the membership norm adopted by the community around 1970—that only liberal democracies respecting human rights and the rule of law are eligible for membership—shaped its decisions on Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine over subsequent decades. The democratic governments that took power in Greece and Spain after the collapse of authoritarian rule in the mid-1970s used the community’s membership norm to pressure member states to fast track them to accession despite the hesitation of the European Commission and powerful domestic lobbies. Notwithstanding the growing controversy over Turkey’s membership prospects in this period, the community’s membership norm played an important role in keeping the relationship on track. Finally, the EU’s membership norm impeded Ukraine’s pursuit of closer ties after interdependence in 1991 because of widespread concern within the Union regarding the country’s actual commitment to liberal democracy and the rule of law.

The Council of Europe and Pan-European General Principles of Good Administration

2020 ◽  
pp. 242-255
Author(s):  
Inger-Johanne Sand
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Procedural Rights ◽  
The Impact

This chapter discusses the impact of the pan-European principles of good administration on Norwegian administrative law. The chapter claims that the European Convention on Human Rights and other sources of the Council of Europe (CoE) have generally contributed to strengthening the ‘rule-of-law tradition’ in Norwegian law. This contribution is especially palpable in specialized fields like migration, family law and local self-government. However, in other fields, such as administrative procedural rights and access to information, the impact of the CoE seems to have been limited because the corresponding national regulations preceded many of the relevant conventions and recommendations of the CoE. The chapter concludes that Norway shows a willingness to be influenced by new administrative law standards developed by the CoE.

Europe to the Rescue

2019 ◽  
pp. 192-241
Author(s):  
Wojciech Sadurski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
Venice Commission ◽  
Naming And Shaming ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Eu

The Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU) possess significant legal instruments to affect and reverse anti-democratic changes in Poland, and some of these instruments have already been used, with varying degrees of success. The chapter opens with the CoE’s, and in particular the Venice Commission and the European Court of Human Rights’ contributions to policing Polish assaults on the rule of law. It then turns to the EU, and reflects upon the question as to whether the EU—with its assortment of different measures of ‘naming and shaming’ (Art. 7.1 Treaty on European Union (TEU)), sanctions (Arts 7.2 and 7.3 TEU), and legal infringement actions, as well as its newly crafted ‘rule of law framework’ (also known as the pre-Article 7 procedure)—has been so far, and can be in the near future, effective in cabining and reversing anti-democratic trends in one of its largest member states. The conclusion is affirmative: the EU has an important, even if limited, role to play in assisting Polish defenders of the rule of law and democracy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document