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.

Time and place: Feb. 29, 2016 9:00 AM–Mar. 1, 2016 1:30 PM, Professorboligen, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo

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