Almost four decades have passed since the European Court of Human Rights introduced the concept of positive obligations. Positive obligations mean that the member states must take affirmative action in order to secure the rights and freedoms provided for by the European Convention on Human Rights. Since then, the scope of positive obligations has extended tremendously, and today all substantive rights generally contain positive obligations. The reason behind the development is to maintain the full effectiveness of human rights enforcement within the European context, and it has been enabled, inter alia, through dynamic interpretation and because the European Convention on Human Rights is considered a living instrument.  The fact that European companies operating transnationally, i.e. in a non-European context, sometimes through its commercial activities violates human rights has given rise to discussion in legal doctrine on whether the scope of positive obligations should be further extended so that the member states to the European Convention on Human Rights will incur state responsibility for national corporates’ extraterritorial human rights violations. Thus, the purpose of the thesis is to examine whether the European Court of Human Rights can and should proceed with such expansion. An expansion creates methodological and technical problems as it challenges the traditional notion of jurisdiction, however, it is not impossible. Whatever the European Court of Human Rights will decide to do, the thesis will provide arguments both for why home state responsibility for national corporates’ extraterritorial activities that violates human rights can and should be imposed, as well for why it is beyond its (the European Court of Human Rights) competence.

The thesis seeks to answer the question whether the European Union (EU) constitutional treaty offers improved protection for human rights in the EU jurisdiction. Within this context, it first seeks to find out what the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the constitutional treaty promises for the human rights&rsquo / field. Furthermore, it examines how the possible accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights will affect this field. Then, it focuses on what the constitutional treaty offers for third countries concerning human rights. Finally, in the light of the recent developments on the treaty, the discussion enlightens the role of the constitutional treaty on protecting and developing human rights in the EU.

The government of Sweden encourage the development of electricity produced from renewable sources by maintaining an electricity certificates system in which producers that use renewable sources in their production are given certificates. The system is regulated in the Swedish Electricity Certificates Act (lag (2003:113) om elcertifikat). To prevent fraudulent behaviour a penalty fee is charged upon producers that have recieved certificates due to incorrect or misleading information. The penalty fee can be appealed to a court but under the Electricity Certificates Act it is not allowed to reduce or adjust. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse if the penalty fee in the Electricity Certificates Act meets the requirements of legal certainty in article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) including right to a fair trial and to be seen as innocence until proven guilty. The method used is analysing applicable sources in accordance with the Swedish legal hierarchy in which laws have the highest value. The Convention is incorporated into Swedish law and has the same legal value as such. Judgments from the European Court of Human Rights on the Swedish tax surcharge are used for guidance on how to interpret article 6 in the Convention. Two cases from Swedish courts concerning the penalty fee are used to find what problems the penalty fee encounters in a legal process. The rules on the penalty fee does not allow adjustments of it and circumstances in each case cannot be taken into consideration, therefore the penalty fee can be charged even when it would be unreasonable and there is a conflict with legal certainty in article 6 of the Convention. For that matter rules on evidentiary issues also has to be implemented. Courts can refuse to use rules which are in conflict with the Convention, but it is concluded that a change in regulation is needed.

The thesis contain analysis of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in cases related to conflicts caused by information disseminated in media. Analysis is presented by the main criteria used by the European Court of Human Rights while giving judgments in cases related to the restraints of the freedom od media.The contents of the freedom of media, as one of the parts of the freedom of expression protected by the European Convention of Human Rights, is specified on the basis of numerous examples of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

This thesis examines how American and German constitutionalism, as shaped by the U.S. Supreme Court and the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), have mediated the tension between threats to stability and the imperative of renewal through occasional or constant interventions in their democratic processes. To do this, it primarily assesses the 1960s U.S. reapportionment cases and the European Parliament electoral threshold cases of 2011 and 2014. It also considers the ideas of four thinkers, theorists and jurists who have wrestled with the dilemma of how to maintain the bond between citizen and state: Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, Hannah Arendt, Thomas Jefferson and Alexis de Tocqueville. Stability and renewal represent the twin orientation points for constitutionalism and the courts against which they must adjust to possible democratic threats, or new political and social forces in need of recognition. Threats to the state can emerge either from a surfeit of illiberal views in politics and society aimed at destroying an existing constitutional order, or when democratic channels become starved of new opinions through the constitutional or unconstitutional exclusion of voters and parties. A distinctive feature of the approach taken is the conceptual division between the ‘legal/institutional' space in which the Supreme Court and Bundesverfassungsgericht interpret constitutional meaning, and the ‘civic space' in which citizens accept or reject constitutional meaning. One central question is how American and German constitutionalism, and the U.S. Supreme Court and Bundesverfassungsgericht shape and influence the vital civic space that is integral to the democratic relationship between citizen and state, and the survival of the state itself. Ultimately it is concluded that without acceptance of the importance of law and constitutionalism by citizens in the civic space, the influence of the Supreme Court and the Bundesverfassungsgericht becomes purely institutional and effectively consigned to the courtroom.

The interpretation of religious feeedom in European and international decision - making practice This diploma thesis focuses on the system of protection of religious freedoms in European and international legislation and explores its interpretation in the decision-making practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In recent years, the protection of religious minorities has become a topical issue, giving rise to numerous international judicial decisions. The core of the thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of some of these decisions. The aim of the thesis is to examine the importance international judicial bodies attribute to the protection of religious freedoms in relation to the system of the protection of fundamental human rights. It also discusses conditions and situations in which the exercise of these fundamental rights can be limited without encroaching upon fundamental freedoms of an individual. The introduction provides a definition of the term religion and describes its interpretation in specialized literature. The second chapter looks at the historical development of the protection of religious freedoms, its individual components and the modern concept of religious freedom laid down by international treaties/conventions on human rights...

This thesis bearing the name "The European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8" has the objective to define the right to respect for private and family life through the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. The work is concentrating on the topic of registered partnership, especially upon the question of whether a homosexual pair can be recognized as a family in the sense of Article 8 of European Convention on Human Rights. Further issues discussed are the question of children and their biological parents, whether a child has a right to know his biological parents, and the problem of implementation of Article 8 in the Czech Republic focusing on the question of problems in implementation of the right to respect for private life and for family life. The first two chapters are aimed at defining the pertinent terms and outlining the historical development of this area of law. Main part of the work are the last two chapters, which are concentrating on the above mentioned issues through the interpretation of selected relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. This interpretation of the jurisprudence has resulted in answers on the set questions, with respect to the fact that it is a current interpretation of the Convention by the Court. The main finding is the necessity to realize that the Convention as a living instrument will keep developing according to the development of society, which leads to the results and answers being pertinent only at the time of writing of this work, with the future development being possibly different from current results.

Should same sex couples have a right to marriage? This question has been debated frequently during the last two decades. The legislation across Europe shows a divide between countries that have legalised same-sex marriage and countries that have introduced constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Using a theory that emphasises the moral dimension of human rights, I examine the right to marriage in the European Convention of Human Rights from an ethical perspective. The purpose of this thesis is threefold. The first aim is to investigate how the right to marriage is regulated in The European Convention on Human Rights and how its interpreted by The European Court of Human Rights. The second aim is to identify and assess central arguments in the debate about same sex marriage from a human rights perspective. The third and final aim is to perform a critical examination of the right to marriage in the European Convention of Human rights from an ethical perspective.   This study shows that The European Court of Human Rights is cautious in its interpretation of the right to marriage and has chosen to await a European consensus before including same-sex couples in the right to marriage. By looking closer at the evolutionary interpretation of the convention, as discussed by George Letsas & Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, I conclude that this interpretation should be based on certain moral principles. Through the examination of central arguments in the same-sex marriage debate I draw the conclusion that same sex couples have a moral right to marriage. Thus, this thesis suggests that there is a contradiction between the moral dimension of human rights and The European Court of Human Rights interpretation of the right to marriage for same-sex couples. I therefore argue that there should be an ethical demand to include same sex-couples in the right to marriage.

The bachelor thesis examines the protection of religious freedom in Sweden and France, with a main point on the right to wear religious symbols and clothing. The subject is processed in relation to the Member States obligations in accordance with the freedom of religion, provided for in Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The right to wear religious symbols and attire has a broad meaning, and in this thesis special focus is placed on the right to wear a religious veil, as the Swedish legal situation is in stark contrast to the French law's restrictive view on the subject. In order to answer the thesis main question, a legal-judicial and comparative law approach is applied. Legislation that has been dealt with in its entirety, is the second chapter in the Swedish regeringsformen (1974:152), the European Convention, the French principle of laïcité, the French Education Act (Article L141-5-1 du Code de l’éducation), the French law on the prohibition of veils in public environments (Loi n° 2010-1192  du 11 octobre 2010 interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public) and the French Constitution (Constitution of October 4, 1958). Finally, the authors orientation in the research questions of the essay has been emphasized, and a remark about the French legislation has been made.

<p style="text-align: justify;">Објективна је чињеница да је Европски суд за људска права најстарији међународни форум за заштиту људских права. Вредносна оцена, да је овај Суд уз то и најзначајнији и најуспешнији суд такве врсте, последњих деценија постала је практично опште место у правној теорији. Као разлози успеха, уобичајено се наводе две чињенице: висок степен поверења које Суд ужива од стране држава чланица и лица која му се обраћају те велики утицај који је пракса тог Суда имала на укупан развој људских права на европском континенту али и шире.<br />Највећи утицај Европски суд за људска права, остварио је у домену успостављања стандарда заштите слобода и права гарантованих Конвенцијом, а који стандарди су доцније имплементирани на националном нивоу држава чланица. У том смислу, значај праксе Суда превазилази збир појединачно пружене заштите сваком од лица чија је представка у досадашњој историји Суда усвојена. Корпус судске праксе из које произилазе бројни стандарди заштите данас је у многоме полазна тачка у аргументацији и националних законодаваца и националних судова.<br />Из наведеног произилази и осетљива позиција коју Суд заузима у контролном механизму Конвенције. Са једне стране, да би био ефикасан, од њега се очекује да кроз своју праксу и даље утиче на заштиту људских права и слобода и да том праксом (некада непосредно, а некада посредно) интервенише на пољу остварења и заштите права и слобода на националном нивоу. Са друге стране, Суд мора оправдати висок степен поверења држава чланица, чијом је вољом постао и чијем вољом опстаје на међународној сцени. Државе чланице, осетљиве су у погледу очувања сопственог суверенитета, па тако, када Суд прекорачи границе интервенције на које су државе &bdquo;навикле― оне Суду упућују позиве да свој &bdquo;интервенционизам― ограничи.<br />На описани начин ствара се једна врста вертикалне тензије између Суда и држава чланица, услед чега је Суд приморан да у свом одлучивању балансира између захтева да пружи ефикасну и ефективну заштиту људских права, и захтева да своју интервенцију у националне правне поретке сведе на прихватљиву границу.<br />Алат који Суд корити у поступку таквог балансирања управо јесте начело супсидијарности. Ово начело, у својој досадашњој пракси, Суд је означио као једно од основних и најважнијих начела свог функционисања, наводећи да је оно инхерентно механизму заштите који Конвенција успоставља. Услед специфичне позиције коју заузима, Суд начело супсидијарности користи и као штит, да би ограничио поље и начин свог деловања и тиме се заштитио од критика држава чланица; али и као мач, као средство које му даје основа да нападне неправду коју је уочио и интервенише у циљу пружања ефективне заштите права.<br />Циљ овог рада управо јесте да испита сва релевантна питања која се постављају у вези са овим важним начелом функционисања Суда.<br />У раду ће бити испитано најпре шта је то супсидијарност али и како се она развијала ван контролног механизма Конвенције да би се могла упоредити са супсидијарношћу у оквиру контролног механизма Конвенције. Биће испитано када се супсидијарност први пут јавља у пракси Суда, колико често се јавља у пракси и са којим последицама. Испитаће се посебно које правне инструменте из Конвенције и сопствене праксе Суд користи као израз начела супсидијарности, те како и из којих разлога ти инструменти делују као штит или као мач.</p> / <p style="text-align: justify;">Objektivna je činjenica da je Evropski sud za ljudska prava najstariji međunarodni forum za zaštitu ljudskih prava. Vrednosna ocena, da je ovaj Sud uz to i najznačajniji i najuspešniji sud takve vrste, poslednjih decenija postala je praktično opšte mesto u pravnoj teoriji. Kao razlozi uspeha, uobičajeno se navode dve činjenice: visok stepen poverenja koje Sud uživa od strane država članica i lica koja mu se obraćaju te veliki uticaj koji je praksa tog Suda imala na ukupan razvoj ljudskih prava na evropskom kontinentu ali i šire.<br />Najveći uticaj Evropski sud za ljudska prava, ostvario je u domenu uspostavljanja standarda zaštite sloboda i prava garantovanih Konvencijom, a koji standardi su docnije implementirani na nacionalnom nivou država članica. U tom smislu, značaj prakse Suda prevazilazi zbir pojedinačno pružene zaštite svakom od lica čija je predstavka u dosadašnjoj istoriji Suda usvojena. Korpus sudske prakse iz koje proizilaze brojni standardi zaštite danas je u mnogome polazna tačka u argumentaciji i nacionalnih zakonodavaca i nacionalnih sudova.<br />Iz navedenog proizilazi i osetljiva pozicija koju Sud zauzima u kontrolnom mehanizmu Konvencije. Sa jedne strane, da bi bio efikasan, od njega se očekuje da kroz svoju praksu i dalje utiče na zaštitu ljudskih prava i sloboda i da tom praksom (nekada neposredno, a nekada posredno) interveniše na polju ostvarenja i zaštite prava i sloboda na nacionalnom nivou. Sa druge strane, Sud mora opravdati visok stepen poverenja država članica, čijom je voljom postao i čijem voljom opstaje na međunarodnoj sceni. Države članice, osetljive su u pogledu očuvanja sopstvenog suvereniteta, pa tako, kada Sud prekorači granice intervencije na koje su države &bdquo;navikle― one Sudu upućuju pozive da svoj &bdquo;intervencionizam― ograniči.<br />Na opisani način stvara se jedna vrsta vertikalne tenzije između Suda i država članica, usled čega je Sud primoran da u svom odlučivanju balansira između zahteva da pruži efikasnu i efektivnu zaštitu ljudskih prava, i zahteva da svoju intervenciju u nacionalne pravne poretke svede na prihvatljivu granicu.<br />Alat koji Sud koriti u postupku takvog balansiranja upravo jeste načelo supsidijarnosti. Ovo načelo, u svojoj dosadašnjoj praksi, Sud je označio kao jedno od osnovnih i najvažnijih načela svog funkcionisanja, navodeći da je ono inherentno mehanizmu zaštite koji Konvencija uspostavlja. Usled specifične pozicije koju zauzima, Sud načelo supsidijarnosti koristi i kao štit, da bi ograničio polje i način svog delovanja i time se zaštitio od kritika država članica; ali i kao mač, kao sredstvo koje mu daje osnova da napadne nepravdu koju je uočio i interveniše u cilju pružanja efektivne zaštite prava.<br />Cilj ovog rada upravo jeste da ispita sva relevantna pitanja koja se postavljaju u vezi sa ovim važnim načelom funkcionisanja Suda.<br />U radu će biti ispitano najpre šta je to supsidijarnost ali i kako se ona razvijala van kontrolnog mehanizma Konvencije da bi se mogla uporediti sa supsidijarnošću u okviru kontrolnog mehanizma Konvencije. Biće ispitano kada se supsidijarnost prvi put javlja u praksi Suda, koliko često se javlja u praksi i sa kojim posledicama. Ispitaće se posebno koje pravne instrumente iz Konvencije i sopstvene prakse Sud koristi kao izraz načela supsidijarnosti, te kako i iz kojih razloga ti instrumenti deluju kao štit ili kao mač.</p> / <p style="text-align: justify;">European Court of Human Rights (EctHR) is the oldest international forum for the protection of human rights. The opinion that the European Court of Human Rights is the most important and most successful court of its kind has become, in recent decades, a matter of uncontested consensus in legal theory. There are two main commonly cited reasons for such success: the high level of confidence that the Court enjoys from the Member States and the persons who turn to it, and the great influence that the jurisprudence of that Court has on the overall development of human rights on the European continent, and beyond.</p><p>The greatest impact of the EctHR can be found in the domain of the establishment of standards for the protection of freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Convention, which were subsequently implemented at the national level of the Member States. In this respect, the importance of the Court&#39;s practice goes beyond the sum of individual protection provided to each of the persons whose application in the previous history of the Court has been upheld. The current case law, which gave rise to development of human rights standards, necessarily plays a vital role in human rights argumentation of both national legislators and national courts.</p><p>Bearing in mind the reasons for the Court&lsquo;s success mentioned above, it seems that there is a delicate position that the Court holds within the control mechanism of the Convention. On the one hand, the Court needs to intervene into national legal orders of the Member States (directly or indirectly) when those States fail to secure guaranties provided in the Convention. On the other hand, the Court must justify a high degree of confidence among the Member States, who constituted the Court and whose consent made the Court a prominent actor on international stage. Member States are sensitive in terms of preserving their own sovereignty. When the Court exceeds the limits of intervention to which States are &quot;accustomed&quot; they call upon the Court to limit its &quot;interventionism&quot;.</p><p>In this way, a sort of a vertical tension is created between the Court and the Member States, which is why the Court is compelled to balance its decisions between the requirement to provide efficient and effective protection of human rights, on one hand, and demands that its intervention into national legal orders should be reduced to an acceptable margin, on the other.</p><p>The mechanism used by the Court in the process of such balancing is, in fact, the principle of subsidiarity. This principle has been designated by the Court as one of the fundamental and supreme principles of its functioning, and as a principle that is inherent to the protection mechanism established by the Convention. Due to its specific position the Court has used the principle of subsidiarity both as a shield and as a sword. As a shield when required to limit the scope and method of its functioning thereby protecting itself from the criticism of the Member States. As a sword, when grappling with the manifest injustice on national level in order to intervene and provide effective protection of human rights.</p><p>The aim of this dissertation is to examine all the relevant issues raised in relation to this important principle of the functioning of the Court.This dissertation will firstly examine subsidiarity and how it evolved outside the control mechanism of the Convention, in order to be able to compare it with subsidiarity within the Convention&#39;s control mechanism. Furthermore, the research covers issues of frequency and consequences of the principle of subsidiarity in the Court&lsquo;s jurisprudence. The goal of the research is also to detect legal arguments and legal concepts used by the Court to express the principle of subsidiarity. The task is to examine whether and when these concepts and arguments are used as a shield or as a sword.</p>