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Abstract
This article examines the role of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its enforcement body, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in protecting individual rights in an age of globalization. It analyzes how the ECHR has evolved into what is often described as the most effective international human rights regime in the world. The study explores the key features of the system, particularly the right of individual petition, which allows individuals to bring cases against their own governments to the ECtHR, and the binding nature of the Court's judgments. The research examines how the Court's jurisprudence has adapted to the new challenges of the era of globalization, such as issues related to migration, terrorism, and privacy in the digital age. The paper argues that the ECHR system provides a powerful model of how a regional, treaty-based system can provide effective protection for individual rights and uphold the rule of law. The analysis concludes by reflecting on the lessons that the European experience might hold for other regions of the world.
Full Text
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a unique and powerful instrument for the protection of individual rights. This paper provides a detailed analysis of its functioning and its significance in the age of globalization. The study begins by tracing the history and outlining the institutional architecture of the ECHR system, with a particular focus on the central role of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The core of the article is an examination of the concept of the Convention as a "living instrument," which the Court has used to interpret the rights enshrined in the treaty in a dynamic and evolving way, thereby keeping it relevant to contemporary challenges. The paper provides examples of the Court's landmark jurisprudence in a range of areas, showing how it has both protected fundamental freedoms and adapted to new issues that were not foreseen by the original drafters of the Convention. A key theme is the tension between national sovereignty and the authority of a supranational court. The paper analyzes how the ECHR system navigates this tension through principles like the "margin of appreciation." The findings reveal a system that is a remarkable and successful experiment in the international protection of human rights. The paper concludes that while the ECHR system faces its own challenges, its long and rich history offers invaluable lessons and a potential model for other regions that are seeking to build their own effective mechanisms for human rights protection.