The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on discrimination under the Convention is typically considered to be unclear and conflicting. Against that background, new possibilities for more effective protection against discrimination are opening up through recent developments in the case-law on Article 14 and with the advent of the new Protocol 12 to the Convention. This study demonstrates that the 'objective and reasonable justification' test and convenional treatment of non-discrimination are not apt for dealing with these emerging new possibilities or for explaining the variations in existing case-law. It therefore suggests a new approach to dealing with protection against discrimination under the Convention, developed by focusing on variations in the strictness of objective justification review. This study proposes a more viable framework for understanding discrimination analysis under the Convention which includes an alternative interpretation of the burden of proof under Article 14 and a three-tiered model of factors that influences the strictness of review.

The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees equality among human beings by means of two provisions that prohibit discrimination: On the one hand, Article 14 of the Convention, ratified by all member states of the Council of Europe; and, On the other hand, The first article of Protocol No. 12, ratified by only some of the members. The content of the prohibition laid down by these two provisions is the same, The only difference is in the extent of their scope: whereas Article 14 prohibits discrimination in the "enjoyment of rights and freedoms set forth by the present Convention", The first article of Protocol No. 12 prohibits discrimination in a broader sense in the "enjoyment of all rights set forth by law". This study proposes an insight into the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on discrimination with respect both To The main principles which guide its implementation and To The specific solutions which the Court has adopted in relation to discrimination. Other questions examined include the scope of the prohibition of discrimination (to what does it apply?), The question of the content of such a prohibition (what precise obligations does it imply?), and last, The question of a judicial review (how does the Court assess compliance with it?).The "Human rights files" series is aimed at specialists in European law: lawyers, practitioners and research students. it also constitutes a useful resource For The implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the signatory states.

The European Convention on Human Rights: A Commentary is the first complete article-by-article commentary on the ECHR and its Protocols in English. This book provides an entry point for every part of the Convention: the substance of the rights, the workings of the Court, and the enforcement of its judgments. A separate chapter is devoted to each distinct provision or article of the Convention as well as to Protocols 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 16, which have not been incorporated in the Convention itself and remain applicable to present law. Each chapter contains: a short introduction placing the provision within the context of international human rights law more generally; a review of the drafting history or preparatory work of the provision; a discussion of the interpretation of the text and the legal issues, with references to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission on Human Rights; and a selective bibliography on the provision. Through a thorough review of the ECHR this commentary is both exhaustive and concise. It is an accessible resource that is ideal for lawyers, students, journalists, and others with an interest in the world's most successful human rights regime.

A right to equality and non-discrimination is widely seen as fundamental in democratic legal systems. But failure to identify the human interest that equality aims to uphold reinforces the argument of those who attack it as morally empty or unsubstantiated and weakens its status as a fundamental human right. This book argues that an understanding of the human interest which equality aims to uphold is feasible within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In comparing the evolution of the prohibition of discrimination in the case-law of both Courts, Charilaos Nikolaidis demonstrates that conceptual convergence within the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU on the issue of equality is not as far as it might appear initially. While the two bodies of equality law are extremely divergent as to the requirements they impose, their interpretation by the international judiciary might be properly analysed under a common light to emphasise the substantive dimension of equality in European Human Rights law. The book will be of great use and interest to scholars and students of human rights, discrimination law, and European politics.

Professor Evelyn Ellis provides an analytical and critical examination of the EU law forbidding discrimination, and explores the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the law.

The crime of rape has been prevalent in all contexts, whether committed during armed conflict or in peacetime, and has largely been characterised by a culture of impunity. International law, through its branches of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, has increasingly condemned such violence and is progressively obliging states to prevent rape, whether committed by a state agent or a private actor. Whereas the prohibition of rape has been consistently recognised in these areas of law, the definition of the offence has been a later concern to international law. Attempts to define the crime have, however, been made by the ad hoc tribunals (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia), regional human rights courts and UN treaty bodies. Increasing duties are thus placed on states, not only to prevent rape through the enactment of criminal laws, but to adopt specific elements of the crime in domestic legislation. This study systematises and analyses such emerging obligations in international law. This leads to overarching questions on the fragmentation and harmonisation of norms between various regimes in international law.

This book provides analysis and critique of the dual protection of human rights in Europe by assessing the developing legal relationship between the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The book offers a comprehensive consideration of the institutional framework, adjudicatory approaches, and the protection of material rights within the law of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It particularly explores the involvement and participation of stakeholders in the functioning of the EU and the ECtHR, and asks how well the new legal model of ‘the EU under the ECtHR’ compares to current EU law, the ECHR and general international law. Including contributions from leading scholars in the field, each chapter sets out specific case-studies that illustrate the tensions and synergies emergent from the EU-ECHR relationship. In so doing, the book highlights the overlap and dialectic between Europe’s two primary international courts. The book will be of great interest to students and researchers of European Law and Human Rights.

The principles of equality and non-discrimination lie at the heart of international human rights law. They are the only human rights explicitly included in the UN Charter and they appear at the beginning of virtually every major human rights instrument. This volume contains selected works by leading authors on the subject of equality and non-discrimination under international law. The selections are grouped into four sections. The first presents essays that explore theoretical concepts of equality and non-discrimination. The next addresses the development of international legal standards on the subject. The third presents articles analyzing how those standards have been interpreted and applied by UN and regional human rights bodies, and the last contains works on what measures besides legal action States are to take to in order to achieve equality and non-discrimination.

This revised and updated casebook comprehensively compares the U.S. legal approach to problems of inequality and discrimination with the approaches of a variety of other legal systems around the world.

The concept of the migrant as rights bearer at law is surprisingly recent and under-developed. Migrants have traditionally been seen as outsiders, persons who are in society but not yet of society. Migrants are at best invitees, ’guests’ for whom presence in a country is a privilege. This is the first of two volumes which bring together writings which trace the evolution in thinking about migrants as legal subjects and rights holders. The articles cover: issues around state sovereignty and migrants as subjects of international law; the articulation of rights; different categories of migrants; issues around health and disability. The volume also features an extended article on the proposal for an International Migrants’ Bill of Rights (IMBR) put forward by an international consortium of academics and students. A related volume Refugees and Rights is also published as part of the series.