Conference on Derogations from the ECHR and Situations of Emergency

On 4 May, the Institute of International Law and International Relations of the University of Graz is organising a confernece entitled "Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights under Contemporary Situations of Emergency". The conference will be held at the Faculty of Law. Beyond a general European perspective, cases studies of four countries are included: the United Kingdom, Ukraine, France and Turkey.

The full conference programme can be found here. To register, please send a message to: bettina.friedl (at) uni-graz.at 

My Article on Influence of ECHR Anti-Torture Jurisprudence on the UN Human Rights Committee

I have just posted on SSRN my new paper on jurisprudential influences of Strasbourg case-law on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. It is entitled 'Echoes of Strasbourg in Geneva. The Influence of ECHR Anti-Torture Jurisprudence on the United Nations Human Rights Committee'. This is the abstract: 

"In this article the influence of the European Court of Human Rights’ case-law on the United Nations Human Rights Committee will be analysed. This particular choice of supervisory bodies enables us to trace such potential influence adequately since both the Court and the Committee supervise treaties which mainly concern civil and political rights: the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Both are legally binding elaborations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the rights in the two treaties are, as a consequence, formulated in a similar way. This facilitates a systematic comparison between the case-law of the two supervisory institutions. To map the possible influence of the Court’s jurisprudence on the Committee’s work as precisely and concretely as possible, I will focus on the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment."

Book on Equality of Arms under Article 6 ECHR

Omkar Sidhu has published the book 'The Concept of Equality of Arms in Criminal Proceedings under Article 6 of The European Convention on Human Rights' with Intersentia Publishers. This is the abstract:

"Inherent to and at the very core of the right to a fair criminal trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is the concept of equality of arms (procedural equality) between the parties, the construct given detailed and innovative treatment in this book. 

As a contextual prelude to more specific analysis of this concept under Article 6, certain influential historical developments in trial safeguards which mark a centuries-long evolution in standards of, and the value attributed to, procedural fairness are identified to establish a background to Article 6 before its inception. Thereafter, the book offers a thorough theoretical insight into equality of arms, investigating its multi-faceted value, identifying its contemporary legal basis in Article 6 and in international law, and defining its fundamental constituent elements to elucidate its nature, including its underpinning relationship with Article 6(3). The book argues that the most important of these constituent elements––the requirement of ‘disadvantage’––is not equated by the European Court of Human Rights with inequality in itself, which would be a dignitarian interpretation, but with inequality that gives rise to actual or, in some circumstances, inevitable prejudice. This proposition is the golden thread running through the analytical heart of the book’s survey of case-law in which the Court’s approach to procedural equality in practice is demonstrated and assessed within the context of the Article 6(3) rights to challenge and call witness evidence, to adequate time and facilities, and to legal assistance. 

The end result is a book for both scholars and practitioners that will not only forge an enhanced general understanding of procedural fairness safeguards and standards, including from a historical perspective, but also provoke, more specifically, new reflection on the concept of equality of arms."

Enroll for May Edition of MOOC on ECHR

After two successful editions and over 8000 participants in total, we have now opened up enrollment for the third edition of the MOOC 'Human Rights for Open Societies - An Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights'. The starting date is 8 May, but you can already enroll now.

More information: This course was developed by Antoine Buyse, Janneke Gerards and Paulien de Morree, connected to the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at Utrecht Law School.

Human rights are under pressure in many places across the globe. Peaceful protests are violently quashed. Voting is tampered with. And often, minorities are 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 often is an uphill battle to work towards that ideal. 

The course will help participants equip themselves and learn more about what human rights are and how they work. They will learn when and how people can turn to the European Court of Human Rights to complain about human rights violations. And they will learn when and how the Court tries to solve many of the difficult human rights dilemmas of today. The course looks at, amongst others, the freedom of expression and demonstration, the right to vote, and the prohibition of discrimination. The rights of migrants,  refugees, and other vulnerable groups will also be addressed in this MOOC. Finally, the course will look into the question of whether it is possible to restrict rights and under what conditions. 

Is this a course for you?

This course is open to everyone interested in the protection of human rights and the linkages with open and democratic societies. 

Interested in participating? 

The MOOC ‘Human Rights for Open Societies – An Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights’ will start on May 8, 2017. 

Enroll here on Coursera. Enrollment is for free – participants only pay a fee if they want to obtain a certificate at the end of the course.