The significance of the margin of appreciation doctrine has been underscored recently with the adoption of Protocol No 15 which calls for the inclusion of the terms 'margin of appreciation' and 'subsidiarity' in the Preamble of the European Convention on Human Rights. This development reflects the disquiet amongst member States to the Convention that the doctrine is not being given enough weight by the European Court of Human Rights in the determination of cases before it. One of the interpretive tools that is perceived to be having a negative effect on the margin of appreciation is the living instrument doctrine which has been blamed for narrowing the margin of appreciation afforded to States. This thesis brings an original contribution to the literature in this area by considering the interaction between the margin of appreciation and living instrument doctrines in the case law of the Court. The contribution is achieved in two ways: (a) methodologically: through the methodology adopted which is a combination of the quantitative method of descriptive statistics and the qualitative method of doctrinal textual analysis; (b) substantively: through the systematic examination of the case law of the Court from January 1979 to December 2016 in which both the margin of appreciation and living instrument doctrines are present. The lens of the relationship between rights and duties is applied to the case analysis. The case analysis is used to draw conclusions on the nature of the relationship and whether living instrument arguments are superseding the margin of appreciation doctrine where there is conflict. The results of the case analysis also shows distinctions in the interpretive approaches of the Court at the admissibility and compliance stages. The overall results of the study show that there are a variety of ways in which interaction takes place between both doctrines and the nature of both doctrines will continue to require a close interaction between the Court and the State parties in their compliance with obligations under the Convention.

The dissertation explores the principle of proportionality as an instrument deriving from the notion of "democratic society" and applied by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in order to establish whether national institutions succeeded in striking a fair balance between the conflicting Convention rights or between competing individual and public interests. In the first chapter, after presenting the origins of the principle, the development of a three-tiered proportionality test and its dissemination, the main parameters relevant for the analysis of this principle are identified and the main issues of academic discussion concerning the application of proportionality by the ECtHR are revealed. The second chapter explores the evolution of the application of the proportionality principle in the case law of ECtHR and reveals the main features of proportionality test as applied in the early practice of Convention institutions. The third chapter deals with the interaction of the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity, in particular examining the impact of margin of appreciation doctrine upon the proportionality assessment conducted by the ECtHR and analysing the contents and interplay of the factors determining the width of the margin of appreciation. The forth chapter explores both commonalities and peculiarities of the application of proportionality principle in the context of different Convention rights and exposes the main criteria relevant to the balancing... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjama proporcingumo principo, kaip iš demokratinės visuomenės idėjos kylančio instrumento, Europos Žmogaus Teisių Teismo (EŽTT) pasitelkiamo siekiant nustatyti, ar nacionalinės institucijos išlaikė teisingą pusiausvyrą tarp konkuruojančių Žmogaus teisių ir pagrindinių laisvių apsaugos konvencijos (Konvencijos) ginamų teisių ar tarp Konvencijos teisių ir viešų interesų, sampratos ir taikymo praktikos problematika. Pirmoje disertacijos dalyje, aptarus proporcingumo principo kilmę, trinario proporcingumo tyrimo modelio susiformavimą ir sklaidą, apsibrėžiami svarbiausi proporcingumo tyrimui reikšmingi parametrai ir atskleidžiama EŽTT taikomo proporcingumo principo sampratos problematika mokslinėje literatūroje. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjama proporcingumo principo taikymo EŽTT praktikoje raida ir plėtra, identifikuojami pagrindiniai ankstyvojoje Komisijos ir Teismo praktikoje taikyto proporcingumo testo bruožai. Trečioje dalyje tiriama proporcingumo principo sąveika su subsidiarumo principu, atskleidžiamas vertinimo laisvės doktrinos poveikis EŽTT atliekamam proporcingumo vertinimui, tiriami vertinimo laisvės apimtį lemiantys kriterijai ir jų sąveika. Ketvirtoje dalyje analizuojama proporcingumo principo taikymo praktika skirtingų Konvencijos ginamų teisių kontekste, atskleidžiant tiek bendruosius principo taikymo bruožus, tiek ir Teismo taikomos priežiūros intensyvumo nulemtus proporcingumo testo ypatumus. Paskutinėje dalyje EŽTT taikomas balansavimu grindžiamas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

L'une des critiques fondamentales adressées au mécanisme de contrôle et de surveillance de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en matière électorale tient au risque qu'il portera atteinte à la souveraineté de l'État. En effet, certains auteurs estiment que l'autonomie constitutionnelle de l'État dans le domaine électoral, jusqu'à tout récemment strictement protégée, s'affaiblit sous l'influence de la protection des droits de l'homme dans le système européen. Le présent mémoire a pour but de déterminer les conditions imposées aux autorités étatiques par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en vue d'assurer l'exercice efficace du droit à des élections libres. Ensuite, il analysera les effets de ces conditions sur la souveraineté des États parties à la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme. Notre étude s'intéresse, dans un premier temps, à l'examen du principe de la souveraineté de l'État et de son évolution progressive sous l'influence des droits de l'homme. Dans un deuxième temps, elle présentera le droit à des élections libres et ses manifestations théoriques et jurisprudentielles. L'étude des affaires tranchées par la Cour européenne permettra de remarquer que la déférence qui est accordée à la souveraineté des États s'accompagne d'une certaine limitation de la marge d'appréciation des autorités étatiques en cas de privation de l'exercice efficace du droit à des élections libres. Ensuite, les acquis théoriques et conceptuels seront appliqués à l'étude des restrictions électorales relevant des mesures législatives, administratives et judiciaires des États ainsi que des conditions imposées par la Cour européenne. À cet égard, l'analyse de ces conditions nous permettra de saisir l'étendue de la limitation de la liberté d'action des États en matière électorale. Cette recension analytique nous permettra de conclure que le mécanisme de contrôle de la Cour européenne entraîne de multiples effets limitatifs sur la souveraineté des États. / One of the fundamental criticisms levelled at the ECtHR review mechanism relates to the fact that it is jeopardizing State's sovereignty. According to some commentators the State's constitutional autonomy, untill recently strictly preserved under international law, is now questioned as a result of the international protection of human rights. This study aims to identify the link between the principle of State sovereignty, the guarantee of the electoral rights, and the role of the ECtHR. Our study will be divided into three chapters. Chapter l, "Progressive evolution of the principle of State sovereignty and the European mechanism for the protection of fundamental human rights", discusses the principle of State sovereignty and its interpretations in contemporary international law. The chapter traces the evolution of the principle and links it with the progressive development of fundamental human rights. Chapter II, "The interaction between the State's margin of appreciation and the European supervisory mechanism", considers what role the positive obligations of States may have played in the crystallization of States' attitudes towards the application of international human rights instruments. After a brief discussion of the doctrine of the margin of appreciation and States' obligations under the European Convention, the chapter focuses on the ECtHR's control and supervision of the States' electoral restrictions. Chapter III, "Electoral restrictions and the scope of limits imposed on the State sovereignty", is central to our study. This chapter examines the ECtHR case-Iaw on electoral rights (1987-2008) and draws attention to some electoral restrictions in legislative, administrative and judicial matters. This study looks at the challenges which surround the application of the right to free elections, focusing on electoral rights in national political discourse, and the development of the ECtHR's enhanced role in protecting electoral rights in Europe. It draws conclusions as to the relationships between the development of an effective protection of electoral rights and the resultant limitations to the State sovereignty.

L'une des critiques fondamentales adressées au mécanisme de contrôle et de surveillance de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en matière électorale tient au risque qu'il portera atteinte à la souveraineté de l'État. En effet, certains auteurs estiment que l'autonomie constitutionnelle de l'État dans le domaine électoral, jusqu'à tout récemment strictement protégée, s'affaiblit sous l'influence de la protection des droits de l'homme dans le système européen. Le présent mémoire a pour but de déterminer les conditions imposées aux autorités étatiques par la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme en vue d'assurer l'exercice efficace du droit à des élections libres. Ensuite, il analysera les effets de ces conditions sur la souveraineté des États parties à la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme. Notre étude s'intéresse, dans un premier temps, à l'examen du principe de la souveraineté de l'État et de son évolution progressive sous l'influence des droits de l'homme. Dans un deuxième temps, elle présentera le droit à des élections libres et ses manifestations théoriques et jurisprudentielles. L'étude des affaires tranchées par la Cour européenne permettra de remarquer que la déférence qui est accordée à la souveraineté des États s'accompagne d'une certaine limitation de la marge d'appréciation des autorités étatiques en cas de privation de l'exercice efficace du droit à des élections libres. Ensuite, les acquis théoriques et conceptuels seront appliqués à l'étude des restrictions électorales relevant des mesures législatives, administratives et judiciaires des États ainsi que des conditions imposées par la Cour européenne. À cet égard, l'analyse de ces conditions nous permettra de saisir l'étendue de la limitation de la liberté d'action des États en matière électorale. Cette recension analytique nous permettra de conclure que le mécanisme de contrôle de la Cour européenne entraîne de multiples effets limitatifs sur la souveraineté des États. / One of the fundamental criticisms levelled at the ECtHR review mechanism relates to the fact that it is jeopardizing State's sovereignty. According to some commentators the State's constitutional autonomy, untill recently strictly preserved under international law, is now questioned as a result of the international protection of human rights. This study aims to identify the link between the principle of State sovereignty, the guarantee of the electoral rights, and the role of the ECtHR. Our study will be divided into three chapters. Chapter l, "Progressive evolution of the principle of State sovereignty and the European mechanism for the protection of fundamental human rights", discusses the principle of State sovereignty and its interpretations in contemporary international law. The chapter traces the evolution of the principle and links it with the progressive development of fundamental human rights. Chapter II, "The interaction between the State's margin of appreciation and the European supervisory mechanism", considers what role the positive obligations of States may have played in the crystallization of States' attitudes towards the application of international human rights instruments. After a brief discussion of the doctrine of the margin of appreciation and States' obligations under the European Convention, the chapter focuses on the ECtHR's control and supervision of the States' electoral restrictions. Chapter III, "Electoral restrictions and the scope of limits imposed on the State sovereignty", is central to our study. This chapter examines the ECtHR case-Iaw on electoral rights (1987-2008) and draws attention to some electoral restrictions in legislative, administrative and judicial matters. This study looks at the challenges which surround the application of the right to free elections, focusing on electoral rights in national political discourse, and the development of the ECtHR's enhanced role in protecting electoral rights in Europe. It draws conclusions as to the relationships between the development of an effective protection of electoral rights and the resultant limitations to the State sovereignty.

In this article I develop a normative theory of the subsidiarity principle in international adjudication, which seeks to offer a balanced answer to the question of to what extent is it legitimate for a body such as the European Court of Human Rights to interfere with the national criteria in the face of a complaint on conventional rights violation. In contrast with demands for greater deference to states in both Europe and Latin America, based on a statist idea of subsidiarity, I articulate a «cooperative» understanding of the ideas of human rights and the principle of subsidiarity, linking them to Buchanan’s notion of ecological legitimacy. The proposal I defend leads to a division of institutional labor within regional human rights systems that increases the legitimacy of all the institutions involved. At the same time, I devote the last part of the paper to implement such cooperative view, on the one hand, showing the importance of an incremental logic in the effective protection of human rights and, on the other hand, offering a rationalized version of the national margin of appreciation doctrine. / En este trabajo desarrollo una teoría normativa del principio de subsidiariedad en la adjudicación internacional que pretende ofrecer una respuesta equilibrada a la pregunta de hasta qué punto es legítimo para un órgano como el Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos interferir en el criterio estatal cuando valora una denuncia por violación de derechos convencionales. Frente a las demandas de una mayor deferencia hacia los Estados que encontramos tanto en Europa como en Latinoamérica, basadas en una idea estatista de la subsidiariedad, articulo una concepción «cooperativa» de los derechos humanos y del principio de subsidiariedad, uniéndolas a la idea de legitimidad ecológica sugerida por Buchanan. La propuesta que defiendo conduce a una división del trabajo institucional dentro de los sistemas regionales de derechos humanos que aumenta la legitimidad de todas las instituciones involucradas. Al mismo tiempo, desarrollo una forma de implementar esta concepción cooperativa, por una parte, mostrando la importancia de una lógica incremental en la protección efectiva de derechos humanos y, por otra parte, ofreciendo una versión racionalizada de la doctrina del margen de apreciación estatal.

Thesis: Abortion in the light of case law of European Court of Human Rights This thesis focuses on the legal regulation of abortion in selected European countries in order to find single European standard. It concentrates primarily on issues of assessing violations of particular articles of the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by the European Court of Human Rights or former European Commission of Human Rights in relation to specific cases associated with abortion. Abortion means the deliberate termination of pregnancy by means of surgery or administration of drugs to induce abortion. Abortion is a major ethical issue that raises number of discussions and disputes. The complexity of the problem is due to the fact that on the one hand there is the mother's right to freely decide to terminate or continue the pregnancy and on the other hand, there is considerable right of the embryo/foetus to life. The whole text of the thesis is interwoven with finding a balance between these competing interests of women and the unborn child based on my own opinion or the opinion of the international judicial body. It analyzes two main approaches, which are pro-choice approach in favour of women's freedom of choice, and pro- life approach arguing that the foetus has right to life. Both approaches...

In this thesis, the legal theory of Robert Cover is employed to analyse the procedural turn of the ECtHR. The text studies how Animal Defenders International v. the United Kingdom (ADI) and subsequent case law relate to the margin of appreciation doctrine and how this can be understood from a Coverian point of view. The margin of appreciation is thus seen as a product of an interplay between paideic and imperial forces where the imperial, or world-maintaining, influences on the doctrine are the strongest. ADI and later cases are read as further accentuating the focus on the nomos of the state relative to competing nomoi already at work in the case law of the procedural turn. The thesis is closed with an amalgamation of Cover’s ideas with the democratic theory of Jacques Derrida which results in a discussion on what a Coverian re-evaluation of the approach outlined in ADI could look like.

Aufgrund des wachsenden Bedarfs an kohärenter Interaktion zwischen dem Europäischen Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte, dem Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union und den Gerichten der EMRK-Mitgliedstaaten, untersucht diese Arbeit die Problematik von Kompetenzkonflikten, die die Glaubwürdigkeit der europäischen und nationalen Gerichtshöfe untergraben und die Effektivität des gerichtlichen Rechtsschutzes in Europa schwächen, und schlägt die Lösungen vor, um Rechtsprechungskonflikte zwischen den Gerichtshöfen zu verringern. Es erfolgt eine Betrachtung der Fragen, wie Inkonsistenzen der gerichtlichen Rechtsprechung der europäischen und nationalen Gerichte vermieden werden können, wie der Beitritt der EU zur EMRK angegangen werden kann und wie das Piloturteilsverfahren des EGMR und nationalen gerichtlichen Überprüfungsverfahren wirksam funktionieren kann. Die Arbeit kommt zu dem Schluss, dass es für die Koordination der Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Gerichten wichtig ist, ihre Interaktionen zu verstärken, indem bewährte Verfahren auf allen Ebenen ausgetauscht werden. Um eine tiefere Integration der Staaten in die europäische und internationale Gemeinschaft zu erreichen und das Risiko von sich widersprechenden gerichtlichen Entscheidungen zu reduzieren, wird von den Mitgliedstaaten erwartet, dass sie ihre Verpflichtungen aus dem EU-Recht und der EMRK verlässlich erfüllen, und die europäischen Gerichtshöfe werden ihrerseits die Möglichkeit eines Eingriffs in die Souveränität der Staaten ausschlieβen lassen. Nur wenn einvernehmlich beschlossene Lösungen angenommen werden, wird eine größere Kohärenz in Rechtsprechung der europäischen und nationalen Gerichtshöfe erreicht und ein einheitliches System zum Schutz der Menschenrechte gewährleistet. / In light of the growing need to establish a coherent relationship between the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the courts of the ECHR member states, this study explores the challenges of jurisdictional competition that undermine the credibility of the courts and weaken the effectiveness of judicial protection of fundamental rights in Europe, and suggests ways to reduce emerging judicial tensions between these courts. It examines how to avoid inconsistencies in judicial practices of the European and national courts, how to approach accession of the EU to the ECHR, and how to ensure effective functioning of the pilot judgment mechanism and national judicial review procedures. It concludes that in order to coordinate cooperation between the courts it is important to strengthen their interactions through adhering to best practices at all levels. To pursue deeper integration of states into the European and international community and minimise the chance of rendering contradicting judgments by the courts, member states are expected to comply faithfully with their obligations under EU law and the ECHR, and the European courts shall exclude the possibility of encroachment on state sovereignty. Only if mutually agreed solutions are adopted will a greater consistency in their case law be achieved and a uniform system of protection of human rights ensured.

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