New Book on Property under the ECHR

Henrik Jorem has published the new book The Development of the Right to Property in the European Convention on Human Rights with Brill. It deals not only with the evolving case-law on Article 1 of Protocol 1, but also places this in wider discussions about subsidiarity and procedural review. The volume is the first in a new series entitled Interdisciplinary Studies into the Council of Europe and its Conventions, edited by Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou and Michele Nicoletti. This is the abstract of Henrik Jorem's book: 

'The right to the peaceful enjoyment of property is one of the most frequently invoked rights in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It is also one of the most complex and least understood. Through the Convention's history, the protection of the right to property has undergone significant development in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. This book shows how the Court’s reliance on the Convention’s object and purpose – in particular the rule of law – has served as the main impetus for development. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the jurisprudence, the book analyses the arguments and clarifies the principles governing human rights protection of property rights.'

New Book on the Regional Human Rights Courts, Including the ECtHR

Ahmed Almutawa (Durham University) and Konstantinos D. Magliveras (University of the Aegean) have just pubslished a new edited book entitled 'A Comparison of the European, Inter-American, African and Arab Human Rights Courts: Institutional Aspects'. The book offers a comparative analysis of the institutional and procedural aspects of the regional human rights courts. It, of course, includes the European Court of Human Rights as one of the courts analyzed. Various scholars from Europe, Africa and the Middle East have contributed to this new book. 

This is the abstract:

'This book focuses on the institutional aspects of the European, Inter-American, African and Arab Human Rights Courts. It emphasizes a comparative analysis of the legal and procedural aspects of the three currently active courts, the European, Inter-American, and African Human Rights Courts, while also considering the Arab Court of Human Rights, which has not yet become operational. By examining the procedural elements of all regional human rights courts from a comparative point of view, this edited collection fills a gap in the existing literature. 

This book contains eleven chapters by different authors, each addressing a particular procedural or institutional issue related to regional human rights courts. The diverse authorship, drawn from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, ensures a range of different perspectives that combine an interesting and sustained comparative analysis of the operation of the regional human rights courts. The chapters examine the institutional and procedural aspects concerning the judges, the courts' jurisdiction, the sources of applicable law, the access to the court and admissibility, the processes of hearing a case, interim measures, advisory opinions, judgments and reparation, and the supervision and enforcement of judgments. These substantive chapters are supported by an introduction that provides a historical context for each human rights court within its respective system, and a concluding chapter that critically examines the past, present and future of regional human rights protection and justice.

The aim of this book is to provide a valuable resource for both academic researchers and human rights practitioners. It should also be useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying human rights.'

Launch of ECHR AGORA

We reported on the online event on the ECHR and the Age of Backlash earlier this week here. That event will also serve as the launch of the new European platform AGORA, initiated by Andrew Forde and supported by this blog's editors among many others. Please find his guest post below on the ideas behind this initiative and join him and the speakers on 30 October online.

Building a New AGORA: A Pan-European Platform for Evidence-Based Human Rights Debate

Andrew Forde, Dublin City University

In ancient Greece, an agora was a place where democracy was practiced, laws were debated, and citizens could speak freely about issues affecting them. In the haze of social media, the noise of political sound bites and the speed of modern news cycles, it sometimes feels like we are losing the space for rational, honest and evidence-based discussion on important issues affecting our lives, such as our human rights. Or perhaps we’re losing perspective as to why rights even matter in our advanced economies and mature democracies? 

Despite the horrors of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, most Europeans (thankfully) don’t have lived-experience of repression, war or authoritarian systems, so it’s objectively hard to imagine a world where our rights would be restricted, our judicial systems unfair, or our freedom of speech curtailed. In truth, for the overwhelming majority of people, human rights don’t really matter to them precisely because they are so essential, embedded and effective. 

But liberty fuels complacency. If we then allow human rights, democracy and rule of law protections to be eroded, all of society suffers and there’s no quick way to reverse damage done by policy choices which are based on false narratives, misinformation or motivated by short-term political interests. 

Political posturing versus ideological rupture

Recently there has been sharper push-back against the European human rights system than usual, in particular in discussions relating to migration. In several countries, the European Court of Human Rights is being accused of mission creep, whilst others claim it limits sovereignty. 

Backlash is not unusual, in fact it is a quite normal feature of the business of human rights and the work of the Council of Europe (CoE). The European human rights system is collegiate but principled, and this gives rise to tension at times even if it goes to lengths to stress the subsidiarity principle and doctrine of margin of appreciation. Much like riding a bike, there can no real progress without some friction. 

Despite this, recent months have been qualitatively different with some states suggesting a pick-and-choose approach to standards, whilst others have made withdrawal from the ECHR a mainstream idea. Both ideas seem politically seductive, but lack a persuasive legal, normative or public-opinion basis. States are entitled to discuss the systems they are custodians of, just like the Courts are entitled to be judicially independent of governments, a fundamental principle of the separation of powers. However, things seem to be getting murky. States are openly pressurising the Court to adopt ever-more conservative approaches, whilst avoiding a robust, evidence-based discussion about their core concerns and the actual facts. Is this political posturing, or is it indicative of a broader ideological rupture with the basic values underpinning the CoE? 

Whatever the diagnosis, what’s clear is that a new and open-minded conversation about the ECHR is urgently required, and we should actively encourage it. Only through discussion, can we remind ourselves of the fundamental importance of these standards to us all and foster renewal. 

AGORA Group Launch

This is part of the reason why the new AGORA Group was established as an independent, pan-European platform committed to open dialogue and balanced, evidence-based debate on key issues concerning the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Hundreds of academics and practitioners have signed up so far, representing all 46 member states, and this number is growing by the day.

Join us on 30 October for our first AGORA Group online symposium on 'The Age of Backlash – The European Convention on Human Rights and the new Political Reality'. The event will also mark the official launch of the new AGORA Group. Everyone interested in a fit-for-purpose European human rights system is most welcome to join.

New Book on Child Protection and the ECHR

Hege Stein Helland, Marit Skivenes and Siri Gloppen of the University of Bergen have just published a new edited book entitled 'Child Protection and the European Court of Human Rights: Lessons from Norway in the Development and Contestation of Children's Rights'. The book analyses judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in child protection cases in order to examine how the Court shapes child protection litigation and mobilisation, with a specific focus on Norway. Here is the abstract:

'Article 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights gives children the same protection of their fundamental rights and freedoms as adults. However, there is a notable absence of specific provisions for their rights. What does this imply in practice?

This interdisciplinary volume brings together leading scholars in political science, law, social work and more to examine how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) shapes – and is shaped by – child protection litigation and mobilisation.

Norway has had more child protection cases decided by the ECtHR than any other country, and so this book, a first of its kind, uses Norway as a specific focus and explores the evolving role of the Court in balancing parental rights, state authority and children’s best interests, offering a fresh perspective on the intersection of international human rights law, children’s rights and child protection policy.'

The book is available open access here. 

Online Event 'The Age of Backlash: the ECHR and the New Political Reality'

On 30 October from 13:00-14:30 CET, the Dublin European Law Institute (DELI) of the Dublin City University (DCI) is organizing an online event entitled 'The Age of Backlash: the European Convention on Human Rights and the New Political Reality'. This event will explore the political pressure and challenges the system of the European Convention on Human Rights is facing. Speakers will include Senator Adam Bodnar (former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Poland), Andrew Forde (Dublin City University), Mikael Madsen (University of Copenhagen), Alice Donald (Middlesex University), Colin Harvey (Queen's University Belfast) and Veronika Fikfak (University College London/University of Copenhagen). This event will also mark the launch of the AGORA Group, a new pan-European platform dedicated to an open, evidence-based dialogue on issues concerning the ECHR.

Here is a description of the event:

'Despite the unity around values expressed by Council of Europe member states at the 2023 Reykjavík Summit - following Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe a year earlier for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine - the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has come under sustained political pressure. It has been accused of judicial overreach, normative arrogance, and even blamed for domestic policy failings.

Backlash against the Convention system is not new, but recent developments appear to be qualitatively different. A group of nine states recently issued a wide-ranging open letter calling for the Court to afford greater latitude to national authorities in the field of migration, particularly in cases concerning the expulsion of “criminal foreign nationals.” Concrete proposals to reform the ECHR are now in motion. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, leaving the ECHR has become a mainstream policy position of two major parties—with apparently little concern for its implications, especially in Northern Ireland, where the Good Friday Agreement hinges on the Convention.

Are these positions and criticisms reasonable and legitimate, or is there a growing political tendency to scapegoat the ECHR? What trends can be observed, and how should the system engage or respond? These questions will be explored by a panel of leading experts.

This event will also mark the official launch of the AGORA Group, an independent, pan-European platform committed to open dialogue and balanced, evidence-based debate on key issues concerning the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which now brings together more than 500 members.'

You can register here for the online event.

Webinar on the Role of the CoE in Armed Conflicts

On 24 October 2025 from 12:00-13:30 CET, the Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe (CURE) is organizing a webinar entitled 'Work on Conflicts: Is There a Space for the Council of Europe?'. The webinar will explore the question of what role the political organs of the Council of Europe can play in the prevention and resolution of armed conflicts between the CoE member states, such as the conflicts in Georgia, Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh. The webinar will draw on a recently published article on this question written by Anca Ailincai (University of Grenoble-Alpes). Various experts will provide their reflections on the topic, including Andrew Forde (Dublin City University), Christos Giakoumopoulos (former Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the CoE from 2017 to 2024) and Ucha Nanuashvili (Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights). The event will be moderated by Ioulietta Bisiouli (Director of the European Implementation Network). 

Here is a description of the webinar:

'The Council of Europe, though not a security organisation, has a role to play in armed conflicts between its member states. Cases arising from conflicts in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine may reach the European Court of Human Rights, but long delays and obstacles to the enforcement of judgements cast doubt on the Court’s capacity to act as the sole provider of timely and effective remedies.

In a recent article in the Revue générale de droit international public (see: https://lnkd.in/dreiWgb9), Professor Anca Ailincai examines the legal basis for the Council’s political organs to play a more active role in conflict prevention and peaceful settlement.

• Should the Council of Europe continue to rely on its judicial body, the European Court, or can it develop a more holistic response to conflict prevention and resolution?

• How can the Council overcome the ambiguities in its mandate to include the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers in work on conflicts?

• Is creating a new intergovernmental forum for geopolitical and strategic discussions, such as the European Political Community, more effective than improving what already exists?

Join the webinar to discuss these and other related questions with the author of the article and other leading experts on the issues related to the work of the CoE and conflicts.'

Registrations are open until 20 October. You can register here for the webinar. 

Conference on ECHR and Venice Commission: Guarding Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and Facilitating Constitutional Resilience

On 6 and 7 November 2025, Katja Ziegler, Ed Bates, Amal Sethi (CELI - Centre for European Law and Internationalisation) and Julinda Beqiraj (Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law) are organising an event on the ‘ECHR and Venice Commission: Guarding Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and Facilitating Constitutional Resilience’. The event will take place at the BIICL (British Institute of International and Comparative Law) in London.

 

The event, organised by CELI in cooperation with the Bingham Centre, will coincide with two anniversaries: the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the 35th anniversary of the Venice Commission.

 

Day One (6 November) will feature invited speakers, including current and former judges of the European Court of Human Rights, reflecting on the impact of the ECHR and the Venice Commission in the UK and Europe, including on the UK's constitutional framework and the UK's role in European human rights protection, and how a multi-layered protection of human rights may contribute to overall constitutional resilience. (Registration here – draft programme, here).

Day Two (7 November) will adopt an academic format featuring thematic panels and research presentations, expanding the discussion through comparative perspectives on constitutional resilience and multi-layered rights protection. Abstract submissions  that engage with the theme of constitutional resilience in the context of multi-layered human rights protection were collected for this day of the conference through a call for papers. (Registration here – draft programme, here).

 

Registration is now open to attend either or both days.

Workshop: Writing and Publishing in the Law of the ECHR and other International Human Rights Systems

On 15 and 16 December 2025, the Academy for European Human Rights Protection of the University of Cologne is organising a workshop for early-career researchers. The workshop is entitled 'Writing and Publishing in the Law of the ECHR and other International Human Rights Systems'. The workshop will be hybrid (in person at the Academy for European Human Rights Protection in Cologne, as well as online). The deadline for submissions is 12 October 2025. Here is more information on the call for submissions and the workshop itself:

Background and Scope of the Workshop

In recent years, the pressures on human rights law and its associated institutions have intensified. Challenges posed by democratic and rule of law backsliding, digitalisation, migration and planetary environmental crises have forced international human rights courts and tribunals to develop strategic responses. Meanwhile, states have pushed for the reform of human rights treaties and, in certain instances, have withdrawn from these treaties altogether. Recognising the significance of this discourse, Early Career Human Rights Researchers have found themselves at the forefront of research on these phenomena, centring their research projects on human rights courts and tribunals, either in isolation or comparatively, and their respective responses. The Academy for European Human Rights Protection (University of Cologne) is excited to announce an upcoming workshop focussed on the process of writing and publishing in the context of the ECHR and other international human rights treaties, in particular the institutional responses to these challenges, with the overarching aim of enabling these Researchers to increase the visibility and impact of their work in their respective fields. 

The workshop has multiple objectives. It aims to address a range of questions central to effective publishing strategies in the law of the ECHR and other international human rights systems. The theoretical component of the workshop will particularly focus on the following challenges: How can researchers engage with comparative research and perspectives from other international human rights systems? How to write articles in the field of the ECHR from a critical perspective? Which types of articles on the ECHR and other human rights systems attract the interest of journal and book series editors? What do judges or members of international human rights bodies read?

The workshop has multiple objectives. It aims to address a range of questions central to effective publishing strategies in the law of the ECHR and other international human rights systems. It also aims to give Early Career Researchers an opportunity to discuss works in progress in small groups: while such work should be related to the broader theme of human rights, we very much welcome contributions from various disciplines and/or incorporating comparative or critical perspectives. Lastly, and following the inaugural workshop in February 2024, this year's workshop seeks to expand the network of scholars working in that field, thereby establishing a regular forum for exchange of ideas and best publishing practices.

Call for Submissions

We invite submissions from Early Career Researchers (broadly understood), working on human rights law and fundamental rights as well as other disciplines, including philosophy, history, political science, sociology and anthropology, addressing the various challenges international human rights systems are facing. Submissions may have a focus on a particular human rights system and/or adopt a comparative approach in their research. Alongside academic merit, the Selection Committee will also consider factors such as diversity and geographical representation in the selection process. 

Submissions should be in a single Word or PDF document and include the following: 

1. CV (including a list of publications, if applicable; max. 2 pages);
2. Letter of motivation (max. 300 words) explaining how the workshop could help improve their approach to writing and publishing and advance their scholarly career;
3. Indication of whether the applicant is planning to attend in person or online;
4. Optionally, an abstract of the work to be discussed in small groups (e. g., book project proposal, article, funding application, policy brief) on which the applicants wish to receive feedback (max. 500 words). This is not a compulsory element of the application process, and its omission will not in any way impact the selection. We very much welcome applications also from participants who do not wish to take part in the group sessions.

Applications should be submitted via email to publishing-humanrights@uni-koeln.de. The deadline is 12 October 2025 (Attention - deadline extended!).

Successful applicants will receive a written confirmation of acceptance by the end of October 2025. There is no fee to participate in the workshop, but participants will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements (should they participate in person in Cologne). To facilitate such costs, a late afternoon start (2 pm) on Monday, 15 December 2025, and a late afternoon finish (2 pm) on Tuesday, 16 December 2025, is envisaged.

Any further questions about the workshop should be directed to publishing-humanrights@uni-koeln.de.  

Organisers: Angelika Nußberger; Nikos Vogiatzis; Reza Khabook; Joseph Finnerty; Vandita Khanna; Matthias Hermes.

Workshop on Positive Obligations and Discrimination in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights

The University of Lund and Utrecht University are organising a workshop entitled Positive Obligations and Discrimination in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights. It will take place in Lund on 4 and 5 June 2026.

 

Aim and scientific relevance of the workshop

This workshop aims to explore the potential and limitations of the European Court of Human Rights’ case law on positive obligations and the prohibition of discrimination.

Questions/topics to be addressed include, but are not limited to:

1. Which (types of) positive obligations have been recognised by the ECtHR in relation to the prohibition of discrimination (Articles 14 and 1 Twelfth Protocol ECHR)? (How) does the scope and/or nature of these obligations differ depending on the type of discrimination at stake (eg hate speech/hate crime, direct/indirect discrimination, by public or private actors), the context in which discrimination occurs (employment, education, policing, immigration, etc..) and/or across discrimination grounds and can these differences be justified?

2. How do the elements of knowledge, causation and reasonableness play a role in ECtHR case law on discrimination? How does the formulation of a discrimination argument, as opposed to arguments about breach of substantive provisions, affect the role of these three elements (knowledge, causation and reasonableness)? More specifically when it comes to causation, how does the Court perceive and argue in favour of any links between state omissions and harm?

3. Which remedies are prescribed (or should be/could be prescribed) by the ECtHR in order to address breaches of positive obligations in the field of discrimination law? Which forms of State action are required (or should be/could be required) to execute the Court’s judgments? What role does causation (understood as a link between remedial actions and prevention of harm) have in the context of remedies? Is this role the same as in the determination of breach?

4. How does the conceptualisation of positive obligations to prevent or remedy discrimination, as established by the ECtHR, relate to and serve different theories of justice (distributive v. corrective or individual v. constitutional)?  How does the conceptualisation of positive obligations to prevent or remedy discrimination, as established by the ECtHR, relate to notions of structural (or systemic or institutional) discrimination?

5. What are the potential and limitations of ECtHR case law on positive obligations to address specific forms of (structural) discrimination, such as segregation in education, domestic and gender-based violence, hate speech/hate crime, racial profiling or discrimination resulting from the use of technology or automated decision-making?

6. How do positive obligations to prevent or remedy discrimination, as established by the ECtHR,  relate to concepts from equality/discrimination law including positive action, equality duties or reasonable accommodation?

7. Can the conceptualisation of positive obligations to prevent or remedy discrimination, as developed by the ECtHR, be compared with concepts and reasoning emerging from other jurisdictions? Can comparative parallels be drawn from the case law of other regional human rights courts (the IACtHR or AfCHPR) or from national doctrines and developments, to inform and evaluate the case law of the ECtHR? Can such comparative frameworks offer explanatory force for better understanding the ECtHR’s discrimination reasoning?  

Instructions

Interested scholars should submit the following:

(1) proposal of at least 1 500 words outlining the planned article for the workshop;

(2) one page bio containing information how the scholar’s background is relevant to the workshop.

Submission Guidelines

Proposals should be submitted to both Conveners by email (vladislava.stoyanova@jur.lu.se ; k.m.devries@uu.nl) by 8 November 2025.  

Selected participants will be notified by 18 November 2025.

Draft papers will be due by 12 April 2026. Published articles and those in the process of publication are not eligible.  

Funding will be available for travel and accommodation.

Organisers

Hosted by Lund University as part of the project The Borders Within: the Multifaceted Legal Landscape of Migrant Integration in Europe - Lund University & Utrecht University | Research platform Equality Legal Studies (EQUALS)

Convened by Dr. Vladislava Stoyanova (Associate Professor in Public International Law) & Prof. dr. Karin de Vries (Professor of fundamental rights law). For inquiries, please contact Vladislava Stoyanova (vladislava.stoyanova@jur.lu.se ) and Karin de Vries ( k.m.devries@uu.nl).

Output

The organisers envisage publication of the papers presented during the workshop in a special issue with the German Law Journal. 

 

New Session of the MOOC on ECHR Starts Again on 9 September 2025

On 9 September 2025 Utrecht University's free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the ECHR will start again! To enroll, please go to the Coursera platform. 

The MOOC entitled 'Human Rights for Open Societies - An introduction into the ECHR' is taught by my Utrecht University colleagues professor Antoine Buyse and professor Janneke Gerards. This is the description of our six-week course:

'Human rights are under pressure in many places across the globe. Peaceful protests are violently quashed. Voting is tampered with. And minorities are often excluded from decision-making. All of this threatens the ideal of an open society in which each of us can be free and participate equally. A solid protection of human rights is needed for an open society to exist and to flourish. But it is often an uphill battle to work towards that ideal. Equip yourself and learn more about what human rights are and how they work. 

In this course, we will introduce you to one of the world’s most intricate human rights systems: the European Convention on Human Rights. You will see when and how people can turn to the European Court of Human Rights to complain about human rights violations. You will learn how the Court tries to solve many of the difficult human rights dilemmas of today. We will look, amongst other things, at the freedom of expression and demonstration, the right to vote, and the prohibition of discrimination. And we will address the rights of migrants, refugees, and other vulnerable groups. And, of course, we will see whether it is possible to restrict rights and if so under what conditions. You will even encounter watchdogs and ice cream in this course. We invite you to follow us on a journey of discovery into the European Convention!'

Please watch this short introduction video to get an impression: