Reforms in UN Treaty Bodies and the European Court of Human Rights: Mutual Lessons?
The concluding conference of the MultiRights project will focus on analyzing and comparing the reform processes of the UN treaty bodies and of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) aiming at finding mutual learning experiences.
The European Court of Human Rights. Illustration: Colourbox.com.
Report of the conference:
A short report of the conference is now available on PluriCourts Blog
You can also watch podcasts of the presentations
The UN treaty body reform process started with consultations initiated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2009. Following the publication of a report by the High Commissioner, the process was concluded in 2014 by a UN General Assembly resolution (A/RES/68/268). The result included additional meeting time for the treaty bodies, harmonization of procedures, increased resources to the treaty body system, and capacity-building to assist member states in their implementation of their international obligations.
As concerns the ECtHR, a reform process has also been going on for several years, guided by the ministerial conferences in Interlaken (2010), Izmir (2011), Brighton (2012) and Brussels (2015). By the end of 2015 the Steering Committee for Human Rights will adopt a report on the long-term future of the convention system.
The conference will discuss these two reforms processes mentioned above focusing on:
1) The procedure of selection of members and judges
2) Potential solutions to the case load situation
3) The quality of reasoning
4) Margin of appreciation and subsidiarity
Confirmed speakers include:
- Hans-Joerg Behrens, Federal Ministry of Justice, Germany
- Inga Bostad, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
- Eva Brems, Gent University
- Başak Çali, Koc University
- Andreas Føllesdal, PluriCourts
- Larry Helfer, Duke University
- Martin Kuijer, VU University Amsterdam
- Kjetil Larsen, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
- Michael O'Flaherty, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights
- Nigel Rodley, University of Essex
- Morten Ruud, Committee of Experts on the Reform of the Court
- Kirsten Sandberg, University of Oslo
- Martin Scheinin, European University Institute
- Nora Sveaass, University of Oslo
- Geir Ulfstein, PluriCourts
Other relevant information:
Bringing Rights ot Life: The Fundamental Rights Landscape of the European Union (pdf)
MultiRights
Read more about the MultiRights Project