A Theory of Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights Book

Table of Cases     xiii
Table of Legislation     xvii
Introduction     1
Human Rights, Legality, and the ECHR     17
Introduction     17
Background to and a Very Brief History of Human Rights     18
No One-Size-Fits-All Theory of Human Rights     21
Human Rights as Conditions of Legitimacy     26
Human Rights, Legal Rights, and Interpretivism     29
Conclusion     36
Autonomous Concepts, Conventionalism, and Judicial Discretion     37
Introduction     37
The Emergence of Autonomous Concepts     40
Good-Faith Violations of the ECHR     43
A More Recent Example of an Autonomous Concept     46
Autonomous Concepts and Judicial Discretion     48
Need for Harmonization and Uniform Application?     49
Autonomous Concepts as Disagreement     51
Does Disagreement Entail Judicial Discretion?     53
Possible Choices     56
Intentionalism, Textualism, and Evolutive Interpretation     58
Introduction     58
Originalism in Constitutional Law     60
Golder v UK: VCLT and the Case of Unenumerated Rights     61
After Golder: the ECHR as a LivingInstrument     65
The Failures of Originalism     68
The Object and Purpose of the ECHR     72
Evolutive Interpretation: Truth Not Current Consensus     74
Two Concepts of the Margin of Appreciation     80
Introduction     80
Theories of International Human Rights Law     81
The Substantive Concept of the Margin of Appreciation     84
The Structural Concept of the Margin of Appreciation     90
Consensus and Public Morals     92
Liberal Principles of Human Rights Interpretation     99
Introduction     99
Rights, Interests, and Reasons     99
Liberal Egalitarian Theories of Rights: Rawls and Dworkin     105
Rawls's Theory of Rights     105
Dworkin's Rights as Trumps     110
Liberal Egalitarian Principles for the Interpretation of the Limitation Clauses     117
Public Morals, Consensus, and Rights Inflation: A Critique     120
Introduction     120
Public Morals and the Moralistic Preferences of the Majority     120
Consensus, Piecemeal Evolution, and Legality     123
Rights Inflation: Hatton and the Right to Sleep Well     126
Bibliography     131
Index      137