A Constitutionalist Approach to the European Convention on Human Rights

PART I FUNDAMENTALS 1. On the Concepts of Law and Human Rights I. The Dual Nature of Law II. The Concept of Human Rights 2. A New Concept of Evolutive and Static Interpretation I. Evolutive Interpretation Within a Normative Theory of Interpretation II. Evolutive Interpretation as an Element of the Time Dimension of Interpretation III. Static Interpretation as the Parameter for Evolutive Interpretation 3. The Legitimacy of Evolutive Interpretation Revisited I. Evolutive Interpretation and the ECHR II. Evolutive Interpretation and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties III. Evolutive Interpretation and General Principles of International Law 4. The Criticism against Evolutive Interpretation Revisited I. Democratic Legitimacy of Evolutive Interpretation II. Sovereignty III. Rule of Law PART II THE ECHR CONSTITUTION 5. The Argument of Constitutionalism I. Constitutionalism in the International Realm II. Cosmopolitan Constitutionalism III. Deliberative or Discursive Constitutionalism 6. The Constitutional Nature of the ECHR I. The Constitutional Status of the ECHR’s Judicial Review Mechanism II. Locating the ECHR in the International Constitutionalism Debate 7. Three Basic Constitutional Principles of the ECHR I. The Three Pillars of the Council of Europe as Constitutional Principles II. The Ideal and Real Dimension in the ECHR III. Time Dimension of Interpretation and the Dual Nature of the ECHR PART III BALANCED LEGITIMACY MODEL 8. Setting the Scene for Balancing at the Interpretation Stage I. The Distinction between Rules and Principles II. Connecting Static and Evolutive Interpretation to Formal and Material Principles III. Balancing in the Different Stages of Law Application IV. Balancing of Interpretive Canons 9. The Balancing Model for Evolutive and Static Interpretation I. Basic Ideas on the Balancing Model II. Critical Aspects of Balancing in Human Rights Interpretation III. Internal Structure of the Balancing Model IV. Weight Formula 10. External Justification I. How to Accord Weights in the ECHR? II. Weighting Rules in the Time Dimension of Interpretation III. The Epistemic Reliability of the Underlying Premises PART IV THE BALANCED LEGITIMACY MODEL APPLIED 11. The Right to Divorce I. Facts of the Case II. Time Dimension of Interpretation III. The ECtHR’s Reasoning IV. The Balancing of Static and Evolutive Interpretation V. The Legitimacy of the Evolutive Approach to Interpretation 12. The Right to Assisted Suicide I. Facts of the Case II. Time Dimension of Interpretation III. The ECtHR’s Reasoning IV. The Balancing of Static and Evolutive Interpretation V. The Legitimacy of the Static Approach to Interpretation 13. The Right to Preservation of the Environment I. Facts of the Case II. Time Dimension of Interpretation III. The ECtHR’s Reasoning IV. The Balancing of Static and Evolutive Interpretation V. A Stalemate Case