Friday, 21 November 2025
New Book on Intersectionality and the ECHR
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Call to Sign an Open Letter Regarding the Future of the European Convention on Human Rights
In recent months,
several Council of Europe member states have portrayed the ECHR and the ECtHR
as obstacles to addressing migration issues in Europe. Some states have openly criticised
the Court, while others have even suggested withdrawing from the
Convention. It is in response to these worrying initiatives, that a number of academics
working in the ECHR law have established
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). The Agora Group now counts nearly 800 colleagues
from all parts of Europe.It has come to our
attention that the Council of Europe will soon establish an intergovernmental
forum to discuss the concerns of member States as regards the ECtHR and the
interpretation of Convention rights, particularly Articles 3 and 8 ECHR. Discussions
held within the Council of Europe are welcome. However, the Agora Group has prepared an open
letter to call on all those involved to ensure that such discussions are
conducted in good faith and in a manner that respects the independence of
the Court and the object and purpose of the Convention and the Statute of the
Council of Europe. Failure to do so could significantly undermine the
Convention system as a whole.
In the spirit of constructive engagement, and considering the importance of
these initiatives from a large number of states, we invite all experts and
academics working in the field of human rights to consider signing this open
letter from the AGORA Group to the Council of Europe leadership. The letter
will be formally issued to the Council of Europe next week.
Click here to read and sign the open letter.
Call for Abstracts: Revisiting the ECHR
This is the call for abstracts:
'What started as an open letter in May 2025 has culminated in an increasingly articulate call by a large group of European leaders to revisit and reform the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). These leaders have pointed to the interpretation of the Convention as an impediment to policymaking and states’ interests, particularly in (but not limited to) migration matters. But what does it mean to point at Strasbourg and its judges as a roadblock to democratic governance? And how can and may governments address this issue?
While the political plans are still taking shape, the changing playing field calls for in-depth academic engagement. With this conference, the Human Rights Research Group at KU Leuven will create a space for open and balanced debate on the possibilities for reform and their implications.
Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to develop these into full papers for publication in either an edited volume or a special issue.
We particularly invite abstracts that touch upon the following topics:
• Dialogue between the ECtHR and national authorities
• The asserted need to reform the ECHR and its judicial machinery
• The different possibilities and mechanisms to revisit the interpretation of the ECHR
• The role of different actors in driving change at the Court
• (Supranational) separation of powers
• The promise and limits of evolutive interpretation
• ECHR and migration
• The role of the ECHR within international migration law
• Tensions between the ECHR and particular states
Submission guidelines: Abstracts (max. 500 words) should be submitted to both koen.lemmens at kuleuven.be and eva.sevrin at kuleuven.be by 17 January 2026. Selected participants will be notified by 29 January 2026. For any inquiries, please contact the two organisers.'

