General Principles of the European Convention on Human Rights

by Janneke Gerards

The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the world's most important and influential human rights documents. It owes its value mainly to the European Court of Human Rights, which applies the Convention rights in individual cases. This book offers a clear insight into the concepts and principles that are key to understanding the European Convention and the Court's case-law. It explains how the Court generally approaches the many cases brought before it and which tools help it to decide on these cases, illustrated by numerous examples taken from the Court's judgements. Core issues discussed are the types of Convention rights (such as absolute rights); the structure of the Court's Convention rights review; principles and methods of interpretation (such as common ground interpretation and the use of precedent); positive and negative obligations; vertical and horizontal effect; the margin of appreciation doctrine; and requirements for the restriction of Convention rights.

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2019

Reviews

[Venera Kabashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by one of the most respected academics in the field of ECHR/ECtHR related topics.

I would recommend this book to any person that wishes to read a structured analysis of the general principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. I would call it a "basics" book that is a must for people working in this field. The book uses abundant case-law examples and other academic publication as the main source of reflecting on the manner in which the ECtHR has developed its principles over time. Prof. Gerards writes very clearly and does not leave you much room to wander and forget the argument that she is making :). I really enjoyed reading it and making notes that I will use for my work as well as my PhD. I bought the book on Amazon for around 30 smth euro (worth the price).

In this book, you will find all the basics in respect of the following:

- Subsidiarity;
- Effectiveness principle;
- Abstract & Concrete control (I liked this part a lot);
- Principles governing the interpretation and application of Convention rights ("living instrument" doctrine; "autonomous interpretation" of concepts; "meta-teleological" interpretation etc);
- Methods of Convention interpretation (example: how the ECtHR uses the travaux preparatoires; how it uses common ground and consensus interpretation, etc);
- Basics on positive and negative obligations;
- Vertical and horizontal effect (very interesting analysis of the manner in which the case-law developed through time);
- Basics on the margin of appreciation; and lastly
- Three separate sections on justification of restrictions (lawfulness; legitimate aim and proportionality).

All in all: I would highly recommend this book for students and practitioners likewise.