HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN
Summary
Emilie Beelen
,Inhoud
Class 1: Human rights a general introduction.........................................................................................3
I. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3
II. What they do......................................................................................................................................3
III. Features............................................................................................................................................4
IV. History of Rights and Generations....................................................................................................5
V. Holders of Human Rights – Bearers of Human Rights.......................................................................6
VI. Human Duties?.................................................................................................................................7
Class 2: Human rights as a matter of international concern..................................................................10
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................10
II. Antecedents......................................................................................................................................10
III. Sovereign States – “Responsible Sovereignty”...............................................................................12
IV. Universality of Human Rights.........................................................................................................13
V. Sources of International Human Rights............................................................................................14
Class 3: The United Nations.................................................................................................................16
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................16
II. Norms..............................................................................................................................................16
III. Enforcement: Two Tracks:..............................................................................................................17
Class 4: Regional Mechanisms.............................................................................................................21
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................21
II. Europe..............................................................................................................................................21
III. Council of Europe...........................................................................................................................22
Class 5 -6 : Regional Mechanisms: ECHR...........................................................................................24
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................24
II. Control Mechanism..........................................................................................................................25
III. EU and ECHR................................................................................................................................33
Class 7: Obligations imposed on states.................................................................................................35
I. Secure HR to everyone within the jurisdiction..................................................................................35
II. Nature of the state’s obligation.........................................................................................................37
Class 8: Human Rights in the domestic legal order..............................................................................45
I. Status of IHRL in domestic legal order.............................................................................................45
II. Implementation IHRL norms...........................................................................................................45
III. Right to a remedy...........................................................................................................................46
IV. Effects of a finding of violation of human rights by an international control organ.......................46
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,Class 9: Right to life (art. 2 ECHR and art. 6 CCPR)...........................................................................51
I. Supreme value in the hierarchy of human rights...............................................................................51
II. Scope of application : protection of the “ life” of individuals..........................................................51
III. Scope of protection.........................................................................................................................53
Class 10: Article 3: Torture – Degrading and Inhumane Treatment & Punishment...............................63
I. General considerations......................................................................................................................63
II. Categories........................................................................................................................................64
III. Negative obligations.......................................................................................................................66
IV. Positive obligations.........................................................................................................................68
Class 11-12: Article 10: Freedom of Expression...................................................................................71
I. General considerations......................................................................................................................71
II. Negative obligations........................................................................................................................73
III. Positive obligations.........................................................................................................................81
IV. Hate Speech....................................................................................................................................83
Class 13: the protection of privacy (art. 8 ECHR)................................................................................85
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................85
II. Right to respect for private life........................................................................................................86
Class 14: The protection of property (Art. 1 Prot. 1)............................................................................96
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................96
II. Obligations of the State....................................................................................................................98
Class 15: Right to a fair trial...............................................................................................................109
I. Scope of application of Art. 6 ECHR (and Art. 14 CCPR) .............................................................109
II. Right to a court .............................................................................................................................115
III. Structural and procedural guarantees ...........................................................................................117
Class 16: Economic, Social and Cultural rights..................................................................................126
I. Introduction: Ecosoc as HR.............................................................................................................126
II. Differences between civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights................129
III. Obligations of States with respect to economic, social and cultural rights....................................130
Class 17-18: Equality and non-Discrimination...................................................................................134
I. Introduction:....................................................................................................................................134
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,Class 1: Human rights a general introduction
I. Introduction
Problem of definition
Most definitions are general and abstract, they do not give us an idea about specific rights.
Rights that a human has because he is human
But what do they compose of?
We cannot identify human rights by its definition
Definitions are either undervaluing of overvaluing human rights: either way you will have troubles
explaining why something is or is not a human right
≠ modern problem: As long as the definition stays abstract, the international community can agree
upon the existence of human rights but their perception of the rights itself
differs.
Perception of the professor: If we wish to avoid conflict we should apply a
more modest approach: historical rights
Historical rights
The rights are the way they are because of certain facts in history: At a certain time there was a certain
need for a certain right.
II. What they do
What are human rights for? Why do they exist?
Two major characteristics of human rights
- Temper power
The basis of human rights in the modern understanding.
Grotius: “we should think of the laws as if there is no God”
law belongs to the man
if there is no divinity, it is up to us, so then why should I listen you
law as a conventional mechanism
the law and authority is challenged
American and French revolution: People go and seek their boundaries, their freedom.
- Protection of human dignity (‘waardigheid’)
Human dignity is a notion that s introduced after WOII in the German constitution. Afterwards
in international treaties as well.
Nazi’s: you cannot judge me by laws that were not in force when I did it (non-retroactivity of
criminal laws)
Human dignity was introduced
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, Some events are so unacceptable because of human dignity even it was permitted
under the law.
Wackenheim case: “Dwarf tossing” (H.R. Cttee, 15/07/2002, Wackenheim v. France)
You needed a permit for the activity and the major refused to give one to a dwarf
because he thought of it as degrading
French council of State: Human dignity is of public order.
Wackenheim claimed to be an artist whose profession was being moralised.
Is it not a matter of human dignity to let somebody decide for themselves what
profession they do?
~ human zoo’s, circuses with disabled people, naked modelling, prostitution, …
Against human dignity = against our concept of human dignity (majority opinion!) It’s a
difficult discussion.
E.g. Ban on concealing the face in public places (bourka) lead to a discussion in the parliament
France, in aftermath of the Wackenheim-case: “Don’t use human dignity as an
argument.”
Human dignity is frequently used in legal cases, also in Belgian legislation, especially after
WW II (World War II).
Used when we want to restrict or forbid something and run out of legal arguments.
There are many definitions of human dignity, cf. Paul Martens.
Conclusion: The concept of human dignity can be used, but it comes with room for
interpretation for judges.
Political choice to use an open term to be filled in by judges.
III. Features
1. Absolute
Very few rights are actually absolute: A lot of human rights can be restricted in certain
circumstances
Absolute in the sense that there are no higher norms
2. Universal (?)
Debatable:
What human rights are today, were not considered human rights 60 years ago.
not all human rights are applicable in the same way in different places.
The understanding of the rights differs in different places (explains the abstract
definitions of human rights on international level)
3. Inalienable
4. Indivisible
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,IV. History of Rights and Generations
1. Civil and Political Rights
Freedoms and procedural rights (“1st generation”) → Civil and political rights.
E.g. Fair trial, right to live (= no torture)
Duty for public authorities to refrain from intervention: “Rights of non-
interference”. Original purpose = protection of some rights (liberal rights) and
some categories of people
19th C.: Expansion to “all people”.
2. Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
Participation rights (“2nd generation”)
E.g. School system, labor law legislation
20th C.: Opinion influenced by socialism: Attention to circumstances in which rights are
exercised lead to the development of 2nd generation rights.
Positive obligations for states (altered relation to public authorities).
BUT economic dimension → To what extend can material arguments (budget) be used
in this debate?
Solution = Progressive realization (because of budgetary impact, political choices)
3. Collective Rights
“3rd generation” → Solidarity rights.
‘80’s: Origination of rights exercised by groups, not by individuals.
E.g. Peace, right to development Question which duties they entail?
Which judge will be competent to decide on the claims? Who is going to bear the
consequences of this rights?
Nuance:
Idea that human rights are interrelated and are a whole.
ECJ reads positive obligations in all rights (also in 1st generation rights).
E.g. Right to privacy (1st generation) is used in the sense of a 2nd generation right.
Nonetheless there are conceptional differences!
2nd generation rights come with a price → taxes!
E.g. to lower the cost of education.
Conflict, because people want the government to act, but they don’t want to pay taxes.
Sometimes there is a conflict between ‘non-interference’ and ‘positive obligations’, also in European
debates.
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,V. Holders of Human Rights – Bearers of Human Rights
Holders of human rights:
- Individuals
Enjoinment of human rights is given to everyone:
- No need to be ‘regular’ in a state, just being under its jurisdiction is enough.
- Everyone is a holder of fundamental rights, but political rights are often only given to citizens
(here a distinction can be made without it being discrimination).
- Private entities
In some extent associations and corporations can also have human rights
Pe.: property rights, freedom of speech ~ commercial advertisement
But not all the human rights can be invoked by non-human beings
Pe.: the right not to be tortured
The Swiss climate case: the applicants argue on their own behalf. Sometimes the rights have to
be modulated to fit non-human beings.
- Collectivities
Can we go beyond the anthropocentric philosophy of human rights?
Protection of nature
Protected areas by constitutional law
But can a polluted river or a cut tree bring a claim and against who?
Sometimes there are discussions whether State owned companies can be holders of Human
rights considering that a state cannot bring a case to the Strasburg Court.
Bearer of human rights:
More complex: Against who can human rights be invoked?
- State (and it’s branches)
Vertical relationship: Unbalanced relationship between citizen and the state
= Traditional view (not followed anymore): How can we pretend that HR can be endangered
by the state only and not by others?
- Private individuals and private entities
Horizontal application: We have the tendency to use HR in horizontal relationships
Underlying idea: Human rights are about protecting individuals rights and human
dignity. The violation matters, not the qualification of the perpetrator.
E.g. Freedom of expression (tabloid) v. right to privacy (movie star) Photos taken by
paparazzi → Which right prevails?
o Violation right to privacy → State did not prevent the publication.
o Violation right of expression → other way around
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, There is no correct answer. The answer is always colored by beliefs and open to
discussion. The human rights concept is so open and so vague that much can be laid
into it.
How we do this differs between and within legal orders
HR in horizontal relationships are often called different
Art. 6 Civil Code: You can’t deviate from the public order trough contract law
= limit to personal freedom
Direktwurking DE
Direct
Indirect: Only one European Convention HR recognizes
You cannot bring your neighbour before the Strasburg court, only the state. However
you can bring the State before the court because it lets a third party violate your rights.
Christian baker, Supreme Court: Refused to bake cake for a gay couple that said “support gay
marriage”. The baker claimed it was within his right to freedom of speech and religion to deny
such a thing.
Freedom of speech and religion v. right to not be discriminated
Court dismissed the case
Business and Human Rights
Corporate human rights responsibility
New rules are developed on corporate social responsibility and on business and human rights.
Globalisation and connected evolutions have led to international companies (e.g. Apple) that
have more economic power than states. They can lobby and have influence to change things.
Some businesses have such (economic) power that trumps the power of most states.
VI. Human Duties?
- Little referencing to responsibilities (peoples having obligations) in treaties.
- On the one hand: Obvious that rights and duties go hand in hand.
Not a conservative idea.
On the other hand: The basic idea underpinning human right is about protecting human beings
against the power of state authority. Does it than make sense to impose the burden on the
citizens?
= Giving rights + taken them back “because you are under the obligation”.
State already has the monopoly on state violence and on taxes. What else do they need
more? Obligations for people (in e.g. African system) are in a way reformulations of
trivialities (e.g. obligation to pay taxes), so there is not much added value.
Either the problem is that through the idea of responsibilities majoritarianism is
coming through the backdoor (e.g. There is freedom of expression, but individuals
have the duty to respect their culture).
Uneven relation between right holders and public authorities.
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