{"title":"Facilitating (Further) Inhumanity: On the Prospect of Losing Article 3 echr, a Vital Guarantee for the Under-Protected","authors":"Natasa Mavronicola","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10081","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Article 3 of the echr encompasses an absolute right not to be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This right proscribes, and demands protection from, treatment which is antithetical to human dignity. Over the years, what amounts to such treatment – and the obligations flowing therefrom – has been the subject of extensive interpretation by the ECtHR and domestic courts. Applicable in many contexts beyond the conventional scenario of interrogational torture, the right’s significance – and much of the backlash it has attracted – lies chiefly in the protections it demands for persons who fall through the cracks of the political process. This comment contemplates what is at stake, in terms of Article 3’s protections, in a potential UK departure from the echr, and concludes that a loss of the protection offered under Article 3 echr would facilitate (further) inhumanity, particularly against persons who are already othered, under-protected, and victimised.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"4 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139959249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond Reasonable Doubt at its Worst – But Also at its Potential Best: Dissecting Ireland v the United Kingdom’s No-Torture Finding","authors":"Marie-Bénédicte Dembour","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10078","url":null,"abstract":"Beyond reasonable doubt (brd) is arguably the Strasbourg Court’s default standard of proof. This favours the respondent state over the applicant, though less starkly so if inferences are allowed. In the foundational Irish Case of 1978, the Court accepted inferences – in theory. In practice, it drew no inference, even omitting to mention crucial facts. brd emerged as a tool of raison-d’état-turned-raison-de-Cour, apparently used to avoid the politically sensitive finding that the United Kingdom had tortured ira suspects during ‘the Troubles’. In 2018, as the Court refused to revise the no-torture finding, ‘disingenuous brd’ remained hovering: requiring direct, unattainable certainty, the Court illogically doubted the significance of declassified British documents indicating torture. brd, however, exists also in a ‘virtuous’ form, already present in Ireland’s original pronouncements. But for the Court’s fear of upsetting states and concomitant reluctance to apply brd according to its self-enunciated principles, brd at Strasbourg could be normatively sound.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"18 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139240290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction: The Evidentiary System of the European Court of Human Rights in Critical Perspective","authors":"Marie-Bénédicte Dembour","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10076","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139270103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When is a State’s ‘Hidden Agenda’ Proven? The Role of the Merabishvili’s Three-Legged Evidentiary Test in the Article 18 Strasbourg Case Law","authors":"Joseph Finnerty","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10077","url":null,"abstract":"The increasingly litigated Article 18 echr aims at unmasking the ‘hidden agenda’ pursued by states that proclaim to be restricting human rights for legitimate reasons, but in fact do so for an ‘ulterior purpose’. These complaints generate complex evidentiary challenges. This article investigates the evidentiary regime of Article 18 since the delivery of the Grand Chamber Merabishvili v Georgia judgment in 2017. It shows that this regime is composed of a three-legged evidentiary test requiring: (1) that the Article 18 complaint is a fundamental aspect of the case, (2) the identification of an ‘ulterior purpose’, and (3) the predominance of this purpose in the state’s overall motivation. The article argues that this three-stage test is sui generis, despite borrowing elements from evidentiary regimes, both from other Convention provisions and externally, and that it lacks clarity and coherency: facilitating a higher standard of proof for the provision, which largely burdens applicants.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"C-32 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139268917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Treatment of Immigrants in the European Court of Human Rights – Moving Beyond Criminalisation, written by Amanda Spalding","authors":"Janna Wessels","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10075","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134944734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exporting the European Convention on Human Rights, written by Maria-Louiza Deftou","authors":"Carla M Zoethout","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10073","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136061658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Export of Goods Used For Torture and The Applicability of Article 3 echr","authors":"Joëlle Trampert","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10074","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights ( echr or Convention) is currently not understood to apply when Council of Europe member states export goods that could be used for torture, the death penalty, or other ill-treatment in third states. In 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommended states to take measures against trade in such goods, also recalling Article 3 echr . Following an analysis of relevant rules in the EU Anti-Torture Regulation, the UN Convention Against Torture, and the echr , the paper demonstrates how Article 3 echr may be interpreted so as to apply to export. As the person (at risk of) suffering torture, the death penalty, or other ill-treatment will be located abroad, the paper examines three alternative models for extraterritorial jurisdiction. It concludes that, at a minimum, the Convention could accommodate an obligation to investigate after an export has taken place.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135485668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Abolition and Retention of Life Without Parole in Europe: A Comparative and Historical Perspective","authors":"Mugambi Jouet","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10072","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Life without parole is increasingly recognised as another death penalty in dooming prisoners to die behind bars. On the tenth anniversary of the ECtHR’s landmark Vinter decision, abolitionism and retentionism characterise its state in Europe. In abolishing irreducible life sentences, Vinter crystallised a long-term evolution in prisoners’ rights since the Enlightenment. Meanwhile, enduring animosity towards prisoners has led to their rights repeatedly becoming the stage for wider debates concerning the legitimacy of European institutions. The United Kingdom’s threats to leave the ECtHR notably enabled it to exempt itself from Vinter . Still, the European project retains numerous supporters, which helps explain why the abolition of life without parole is making progress in continental Europe, as compared to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that prisoners’ rights are both a microcosm of broader questions regarding European integration and a benchmark of human dignity’s historical evolution.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135784539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exposing Covert Border Enforcement: Why Failing to Shift the Burden of Proof in Pushback Cases is Wrong","authors":"Grażyna Baranowska","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10070","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The paper analyses how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) assesses evidence when states conceal border practices, such as pushbacks, comparing the Court’s approach in those cases to that in enforced disappearance cases. In both types of cases, states deny that the conduct – which would have violated human rights – has taken place and provide neither the applicants nor the Court with evidence. While surface examination of the relevant case law could suggest that the ECtHR shifts the burden of proof in the same way in both sets of cases, I demonstrate that the Court expects applicants in covert border enforcement cases to provide stronger evidence, which is then labelled as prima facie evidence. I argue that the burden of proof should be shifted in the same way in both scenarios, as the position of the victims and the availability of evidence is strikingly similar.","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"104 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133445436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fundamental Rights Violations by Private Actors and the Procedure Before the European Court of Human Rights: A Study of Verticalised Cases, written by Claire Loven","authors":"Alla Tymofeyeva","doi":"10.1163/26663236-bja10071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-bja10071","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":306057,"journal":{"name":"European Convention on Human Rights Law Review","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129743347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}