European Human Rights Law Principles and Case Law - (Third Edition)

Author: A. Ovi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The edition was published in 1975, when there was almost no systematic exposition of the European Convention on Human Rights and related case law. The second edition was published in 1996, when there was growing interest in the contributions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the work of the Strasbourg institutions in protecting human rights within an increasingly broad European forum. Before 1996, this case law had developed into a substantial system of principles. The third edition presented to the reader was published against the background of the successful amendment of the Convention mechanism, the increasing membership of Central and Eastern European countries, and the introduction of a pan-European system that comprehensively handles complaints between individuals and states. In the United Kingdom, the introduction of the Convention through the Human Rights Act 1998 (effective from October 2, 2000) led to unprecedented attention to the Convention rights and their implementation within the domestic legal order. However, this book concerns the European Convention itself, rather than its implementation in any particular country or its reference points regarding Strasbourg institutions' case law. This edition was written by Claire Ovi and Robin White, although Francis Jacobs read much of the revised text and made comments on it. We have retained the clause-by-clause analysis of the European Convention, as it is very helpful for those new to the Convention, whether students or legal practitioners. We have also strived to maintain the exposition of principles in the face of a dramatic increase in case law, a feature of the edition and the second edition. This includes our effort to organize the court's extensive case law in a way that allows readers to see the historical development of these principles by the Strasbourg institutions while also understanding the current state of the case law. However, now that new courts have been established and many interesting judgments have been issued, we have taken this opportunity to delete some lengthy discussions of early Committee case law from the previous two editions, as it has become evident that these principles have been replaced by case law from the "old" court and, more importantly, surpassed by the principles established by the "new" court. There are also considerations regarding the procedures for submitting complaints to the court. We have been astonished by the significant progress made in the field of case law since the publication of the second edition of this book. This makes it necessary to completely restructure every chapter of the book. Therefore, what we have done goes far beyond updating the 1996 edition. This book is committed to reflecting the substantial progress made in the field of case law over the past five years and revealing the attitudes and directions taken by the new court in key areas. Some materials have been reorganized. The material on Article 6 is now divided into two chapters, with the latter focusing on special issues related to the fairness of criminal trials, except for some issues under Article 7. A chapter on the restrictions applicable to Articles 8 to 11 appears before the discussion of each article, rather than after. The procedural material has been entirely rewritten to reflect both the role of the new court in handling admissibility issues and the merits of complaints alleging violations of the Convention, as well as the changes in the role of the Committee of Ministers. Both of us have benefited from discussions with colleagues, either at the court or at the University of Leicester. Additionally, in preparing this new edition, we extend our sincere gratitude to these colleagues for the fruits of these discussions. However, we must emphasize that the views expressed in this book are personal. Claire Ovi is a legal officer at the court, and the views expressed in this book are solely hers and do not represent the views of the court. Robin White holds the position of Deputy Commissioner for Social Security. Although some issues relate to his judicial functions, the views expressed on these issues are also purely personal and do not represent the views of the Social Security Commissioner's Office.