The European Court of Human Rights and its Theories of Interpreting the European Convention of Human Rights

Abstract

The European system of human rights protection is generally considered a model of effectiveness at the level of international human rights law. This general opinion expressed in the doctrine is mainly due to the current mechanism of protection of the rights guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights that enables a unique and permanent body, namely the European Court of Human Rights, to exercise effective control upon the violations of the convention made by the Member States. Still, the doctrine is not very open to the interpretations of the ECtHR. In the following, we shall present the main theories reflected in the ECtHR case law as well as the criticism formulated by the doctrine.