The Evolution of the European Convention on Human Rights
From Its Inception to the Creation of a Permanent Court of Human Rights
1st Edition
Published on 23. December 2010
Book
Hardback
610 pages
978-0-19-920799-2 (ISBN)
Description
The European Convention on Human Rights underwent a spectacular evolution over the first fifty years of its life. In recent times the European Court of Human Rights has been compared to a quasi-constitutional court for Europe in the field of human rights, and for some time the Convention has been viewed as a European Bill of Rights. The 'coming of age' of the ECHR system in the late 1990s was marked by the entry into force of Protocol 11, creating a new, full time Court.
By contrast those who first proposed a European human rights guarantee were driven by an ambition to put in place a collective pact to prevent the re-emergence of totalitarianism in 'free' Europe. They were motivated by grisly memories of human rights abuse associated with World War Two, and the protection of 'human rights' was seen in that light. When the Convention was opened for signature in 1950 it was viewed by many with scepticism and disappointment. The Convention system took many years to get established. In the mid-1960s doubts were expressed as to whether the Court had a future and in the 1970s the Convention system of control faced a number of serious challenges.
This book examines the story of the evolution of the Convention over its first 50 years (1948-1998). It reflects on the Convention's origins and charts the slow progress that it made over the 1950s and 1960s, before, in the late 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a series of landmark judgments which proved to be the foundation stones for the European Bill of Rights that we know today.
By contrast those who first proposed a European human rights guarantee were driven by an ambition to put in place a collective pact to prevent the re-emergence of totalitarianism in 'free' Europe. They were motivated by grisly memories of human rights abuse associated with World War Two, and the protection of 'human rights' was seen in that light. When the Convention was opened for signature in 1950 it was viewed by many with scepticism and disappointment. The Convention system took many years to get established. In the mid-1960s doubts were expressed as to whether the Court had a future and in the 1970s the Convention system of control faced a number of serious challenges.
This book examines the story of the evolution of the Convention over its first 50 years (1948-1998). It reflects on the Convention's origins and charts the slow progress that it made over the 1950s and 1960s, before, in the late 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a series of landmark judgments which proved to be the foundation stones for the European Bill of Rights that we know today.
Reviews / Votes
Bates has written a lucid, readable book on the development of the European Court of Human Rights, from the kernel of the Convention, written in 1948 as an safeguard against totalitarianism, to its development as a European Bill of Rights, with the court as a constitutional court for Europe delivering landmark jurisprudence at significant points in its development. * David J Dickson, The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland * Bates picks up the mantle of these earlier important works and his magisterial study is a worthy successor to them. * Urfan Khaliq (Cardiff University), Journal of Law and Society * This monograph will assist generations of legal practitioners and academics in their quest for arguments supporting particular interpretations of the Convention given that open-ended norms of the Convention provide opportunities for legal creativity and judicial activism. * Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, Human Rights Law Review 13:1 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Scholars, students, and legal historians with an interest in international and European human rights.
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
1068 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-920799-2 (9780199207992)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ed Bates is a lecturer in law at the University of Southampton. He is a co-author of the second edition of Harris, O'Boyle and Warbrick's Law of the European Convention on Human Rights (forthcoming, 2009) and has written a number of articles in the field of human rights law, including recent publications in International Comparative Law Quarterly and the British Year Book of International Law.
Content
TABLE OF CASES ; TABLES OF LEGISLATION, TREATIES, AND CONVENTIONS ; ABBREVIATIONS ; 1. The Evolution of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ; I. THE CONVENTION'S BIRTH ; 2. The Beginning of Modern International Human Rights Law (Background to the Birth of the European Convention) ; 3. Proposals for a Convention to Safeguard Europe from Tyranny and Oppression? ; 4. The Drafting of the Convention by the Governments of the Council of Europe (February - November 1950) ; 5. The Convention of 1950 and Key Features of its Subsequent Evolution ; II. FROM A SAFEGUARD AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM TO A FLEDGLING EUROPEAN BILL OF RIGHTS ; 6. An Overview of the Conventions Evolution from the 1950s to the Early 1970s ; 7. The Conventions Evolution 1973 - 1976: The Awakening of the 'Sleeping Beauty' ; 8. The Strasbourg Court 'Comes of Age'(The Judgements of the Late 1970s) ; 9. Reflecting on the Conventions Evolution (From a Safeguard against Totalitarianism to Europes Bill of Rights) ; III. COMPLETING THE EUROPEAN BILL OF RIGHTS ; 10. The Evolution of the Convention System through to 1990 ; 11. The Conventions 'Coming of Age'(The 1990s and Protocol 11) ; IV.'AFTER 1998' ; 12. After 1998: The Challenges Facing the 'New' European Court of Human Rights ; APPENDICES ; BIBLIOGRAPHY ; INDEX