The Reception of the ECHR in National Legal Orders

Abstract

This chapter begins by discussing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Established in 1953, the ECHR created a basic catalogue of rights binding on the signatories, and new institutions charged with monitoring and enforcing compliance. The ECHR has since evolved into an intricate legal system. The High Contracting Parties have steadily upgraded the regime's scope and capacities, in successive treaty revisions. They have added new rights, enhanced the powers of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and strengthened the links between individual applicants and the regime. Today, the Court is an important, autonomous source of authority on the nature and content of fundamental rights in Europe. In addition to providing justice in individual cases, it works to identify and to consolidate universal standards of rights protection, in the face of wide national diversity and a steady stream of seemingly intractable problems. The methodology used to analyze the case studies presented in the subsequent chapters is described.