Syllabus query



Academic Year/course: 2020/21

8075 - Master in European and Global Law

32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights


Teaching Guide Information

Academic Course:
2020/21
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8075 - Master in European and Global Law
Subject:
32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: Pending
Teachers:
Joan Solanes Mullor, Aida Torres Pérez
Teaching Period:
First Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

In Europe, the enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 (ECHR) and the process of economic and political integration in the European Union (EU) over the second half of the twentieth century have contributed to create multiple spheres of rights' protection on the basis of state constitutions, the ECHR, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). The ultimate interpreters of these declarations of rights are, respectively, Constitutional or Supreme Courts, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The dialogue among these courts has given rise to the so-called European ius commune in the field of fundamental rights.

The plurality of rights and courts offers new opportunities for the protection of fundamental rights, but it also poses many challenges from a structural and political perspective. This course will analyze the dynamic interaction between the constitutional, supranational, and international legal orders for rights' protection in Europe.

 

The course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the multilevel system of protection: the national, the European conventional system and the EU. It also shows the historical context in which this system has evolved. The second part analyses in depth the European conventional system. The third part explores the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the fourth part concludes the course with some reflections on judicial dialogue in a framework of constitutional pluralism.

Prerequisites

None

Contents

PART 1. INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT

 

SESSION 1. Reconstructing Europe after the II World War: a Europe of rights. The three levels of protection: post-second world war European constitutionalism, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

 

Readings:

 

European Convention on Human Rights

 

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

 

Council of Europe, Do not get confused, 2019

 

R. Schütze, “Three ‘Bills of rights’ for the European Union, Yearbook of European Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2011.

 

 

PART 2. THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 2. The institutional structure: the Council of Europe, the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights

 

Readings:

 

Council of Europe, The Council of Europe. An overview

 

Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights in 50 questions

 

Council of Europe, The ECHR in facts & figures 2019

 

 

SESSION 3. How to read the Convention? (I) The role of the ECtHR. Applying the Strasbourg’s test

 

Readings:

 

Case of Hatton and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 8 July 2003

 

Case of Leyla Sahin v. Turkey, 10 November 2005

 

Case of Salduz v. Turkey, GC, 27 November 2008

 

 

SESSION 4. How to read the Convention? (II) Autonomous concepts, margin of appreciation, evolutive interpretation, comparative reasoning and other international instruments

 

Readings:

 

Case of Demir and Baykara v. Turkey, GC, 12 November 2008

 

Case of Vinter and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 9 July 2013

 

D. Spielmann, “Allowing the Right Margin: The European Court of Human rights and The National Margin of Apreciation Doctrine: Waiver of Subsidiarity of European Review? CELS Working Paper Series, February 2012, 30.

 

 

SESSION 5.The European Convention, the Judgments of the Court and the National Legal Systems. Which is the impact of the ECtHR interpretation of fundamental rights on other European Courts?

 

Readings:

 

Case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, 15 October 2009

 

Case of Sejdovic v. Italy, GC,1 March 2006

 

D. Spielmann, "Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Systems of Europe", in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, May 2012, pp. 1231-1252

 

 

SESSION 6. Sovereignty and Authority. Criticism and the future of the Convention.

 

Readings:

 

Committee of Ministers, 13th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers. Supervision of the execution of judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights 2019.

 

H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, “Assessing the Impact of the ECHR on National Legal Systems”, in H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, A Europe of Rights, pp. 677-710.

 

 

PART 3. THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 7. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: drafting, content and structure. The evolution of fundamental rights protection in the EU and the role of the Court of Justice as a human rights court.

 

Readings: 

 

G. de Búrca, "After the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: The Court of Justice as a Human Rights Adjudicator?", 20 Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 2013

 

 

SESSION 8. The limited scope of application of the Charter to the Member States. When does the Charter apply to state action?

 

Readings:

 

K. Lenaerts and J.A. Gutiérrez-Fons, “The Place of the Charter in the EU

Constitutional Edifice”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014, pp.  1559-1571

 

Case C-617/10, Äkerberg Fransson, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-165/14, Rendón Marín, 13 September 2016

 

 

SESSION 9. Potential conflicts between levels of protection: the Charter as a minimum or maximum standard of protection? 

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte, “Level of Protection”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014

 

Case C-399/11, Melloni, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-168/13, Jeremy F, 30 May 2013

 

 

SESSION 10. From workers to citizens: the evolution of the concept of "persons" within the EU and the progressive recognition of (non-economic) rights.

Guest Professor: Diane Fromage, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, Sciences Po

 

SESSION 11. The (failed) accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte and Šejla Imamović, "Opinion 2/13 on Accession to the ECHR: Defending the EU Legal Order against a Foreign Human Rights Court", 40 E.L. Rev. 2015

 

CJEU Opinion 2/13, 18 December 2014

 

 

PART 4.CONCLUSION

 

SESSION 12. Constitutional pluralism: the multilevel protection of rights in Europe. Judicial dialogue: the interaction between Strasbourg, Luxembourg and constitutional courts

 

Readings:

 

A. Rosas, “The European Court of Justice in Context: Forms and Patterns of Judicial Dialogue”, European Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 2007

 

A. Torres Pérez, "Judicial dialogue and fundamental rights in the European Union: a quest for legitimacy", in Jacobsohn and Schor (eds.), Comparative Constitutional Theory, Edward Elgar 2018  

 

Teaching Methods

The sessions will consist of an introduction of the topic and main issues by the professor, followed by a class discussion on the readings assigned. The readings will include doctrinal articles as well as judgments of the ECHR and the CJEU. Students shall read the materials in advance. The doctrinal articles will be posted in the Aula Global. The students shall look for the judgments in the respective websites of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Active participation in class is required.

 

By the end of the course, students should have acquired a thorough understanding of the European systems of rights' protection and their mutual interaction. They are expected to develop skills for analytical reasoning and critical thinking regarding the problems of interpretation and judicial protection of fundamental rights in a plural context.

 

Attendance is required to at least 80% of the sessions.

 

Every student is expected to spend at least 3 hours per week in the preparation of the classes. They will need to devote at least 20 hours to the final essay.

Evaluation

Students are expected to read the materials and actively participate in class. By the end of the course, they will face an in-class exam. They will be asked to analyze two judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU and answer several questions. Students will need to show that they acquired the expected knowledge and skills.


Academic Year/course: 2020/21

8075 - Master in European and Global Law

32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights


Informació de la Guia Docent

Academic Course:
2020/21
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8075 - Master in European and Global Law
Subject:
32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: Pending
Teachers:
Joan Solanes Mullor, Aida Torres Pérez
Teaching Period:
First Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

In Europe, the enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 (ECHR) and the process of economic and political integration in the European Union (EU) over the second half of the twentieth century have contributed to create multiple spheres of rights' protection on the basis of state constitutions, the ECHR, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). The ultimate interpreters of these declarations of rights are, respectively, Constitutional or Supreme Courts, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The dialogue among these courts has given rise to the so-called European ius commune in the field of fundamental rights.

The plurality of rights and courts offers new opportunities for the protection of fundamental rights, but it also poses many challenges from a structural and political perspective. This course will analyze the dynamic interaction between the constitutional, supranational, and international legal orders for rights' protection in Europe.

 

The course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the multilevel system of protection: the national, the European conventional system and the EU. It also shows the historical context in which this system has evolved. The second part analyses in depth the European conventional system. The third part explores the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the fourth part concludes the course with some reflections on judicial dialogue in a framework of constitutional pluralism.

Prerequisites

None

Contents

PART 1. INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT

 

SESSION 1. Reconstructing Europe after the II World War: a Europe of rights. The three levels of protection: post-second world war European constitutionalism, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

 

Readings:

 

European Convention on Human Rights

 

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

 

Council of Europe, Do not get confused, 2019

 

R. Schütze, “Three ‘Bills of rights’ for the European Union, Yearbook of European Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2011.

 

 

PART 2. THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 2. The institutional structure: the Council of Europe, the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights

 

Readings:

 

Council of Europe, The Council of Europe. An overview

 

Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights in 50 questions

 

Council of Europe, The ECHR in facts & figures 2019

 

 

SESSION 3. How to read the Convention? (I) The role of the ECtHR. Applying the Strasbourg’s test

 

Readings:

 

Case of Hatton and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 8 July 2003

 

Case of Leyla Sahin v. Turkey, 10 November 2005

 

Case of Salduz v. Turkey, GC, 27 November 2008

 

 

SESSION 4. How to read the Convention? (II) Autonomous concepts, margin of appreciation, evolutive interpretation, comparative reasoning and other international instruments

 

Readings:

 

Case of Demir and Baykara v. Turkey, GC, 12 November 2008

 

Case of Vinter and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 9 July 2013

 

D. Spielmann, “Allowing the Right Margin: The European Court of Human rights and The National Margin of Apreciation Doctrine: Waiver of Subsidiarity of European Review? CELS Working Paper Series, February 2012, 30.

 

 

SESSION 5.The European Convention, the Judgments of the Court and the National Legal Systems. Which is the impact of the ECtHR interpretation of fundamental rights on other European Courts?

 

Readings:

 

Case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, 15 October 2009

 

Case of Sejdovic v. Italy, GC,1 March 2006

 

D. Spielmann, "Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Systems of Europe", in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, May 2012, pp. 1231-1252

 

 

SESSION 6. Sovereignty and Authority. Criticism and the future of the Convention.

 

Readings:

 

Committee of Ministers, 13th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers. Supervision of the execution of judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights 2019.

 

H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, “Assessing the Impact of the ECHR on National Legal Systems”, in H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, A Europe of Rights, pp. 677-710.

 

 

PART 3. THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 7. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: drafting, content and structure. The evolution of fundamental rights protection in the EU and the role of the Court of Justice as a human rights court.

 

Readings: 

 

G. de Búrca, "After the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: The Court of Justice as a Human Rights Adjudicator?", 20 Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 2013

 

 

SESSION 8. The limited scope of application of the Charter to the Member States. When does the Charter apply to state action?

 

Readings:

 

K. Lenaerts and J.A. Gutiérrez-Fons, “The Place of the Charter in the EU

Constitutional Edifice”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014, pp.  1559-1571

 

Case C-617/10, Äkerberg Fransson, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-165/14, Rendón Marín, 13 September 2016

 

 

SESSION 9. Potential conflicts between levels of protection: the Charter as a minimum or maximum standard of protection? 

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte, “Level of Protection”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014

 

Case C-399/11, Melloni, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-168/13, Jeremy F, 30 May 2013

 

 

SESSION 10. From workers to citizens: the evolution of the concept of "persons" within the EU and the progressive recognition of (non-economic) rights.

Guest Professor: Diane Fromage, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, Sciences Po

 

SESSION 11. The (failed) accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte and Šejla Imamović, "Opinion 2/13 on Accession to the ECHR: Defending the EU Legal Order against a Foreign Human Rights Court", 40 E.L. Rev. 2015

 

CJEU Opinion 2/13, 18 December 2014

 

 

PART 4.CONCLUSION

 

SESSION 12. Constitutional pluralism: the multilevel protection of rights in Europe. Judicial dialogue: the interaction between Strasbourg, Luxembourg and constitutional courts

 

Readings:

 

A. Rosas, “The European Court of Justice in Context: Forms and Patterns of Judicial Dialogue”, European Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 2007

 

A. Torres Pérez, "Judicial dialogue and fundamental rights in the European Union: a quest for legitimacy", in Jacobsohn and Schor (eds.), Comparative Constitutional Theory, Edward Elgar 2018  

 

Teaching Methods

The sessions will consist of an introduction of the topic and main issues by the professor, followed by a class discussion on the readings assigned. The readings will include doctrinal articles as well as judgments of the ECHR and the CJEU. Students shall read the materials in advance. The doctrinal articles will be posted in the Aula Global. The students shall look for the judgments in the respective websites of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Active participation in class is required.

 

By the end of the course, students should have acquired a thorough understanding of the European systems of rights' protection and their mutual interaction. They are expected to develop skills for analytical reasoning and critical thinking regarding the problems of interpretation and judicial protection of fundamental rights in a plural context.

 

Attendance is required to at least 80% of the sessions.

 

Every student is expected to spend at least 3 hours per week in the preparation of the classes. They will need to devote at least 20 hours to the final essay.

Evaluation

Students are expected to read the materials and actively participate in class. By the end of the course, they will face an in-class exam. They will be asked to analyze two judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU and answer several questions. Students will need to show that they acquired the expected knowledge and skills.


Academic Year/course: 2020/21

8075 - Master in European and Global Law

32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights


Información de la Guía Docente

Academic Course:
2020/21
Academic Center:
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
Study:
8075 - Master in European and Global Law
Subject:
32147 - European Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights
Credits:
4.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: Pending
Teachers:
Joan Solanes Mullor, Aida Torres Pérez
Teaching Period:
First Quarter
Schedule:

Presentation

In Europe, the enactment of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 (ECHR) and the process of economic and political integration in the European Union (EU) over the second half of the twentieth century have contributed to create multiple spheres of rights' protection on the basis of state constitutions, the ECHR, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). The ultimate interpreters of these declarations of rights are, respectively, Constitutional or Supreme Courts, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The dialogue among these courts has given rise to the so-called European ius commune in the field of fundamental rights.

The plurality of rights and courts offers new opportunities for the protection of fundamental rights, but it also poses many challenges from a structural and political perspective. This course will analyze the dynamic interaction between the constitutional, supranational, and international legal orders for rights' protection in Europe.

 

The course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the multilevel system of protection: the national, the European conventional system and the EU. It also shows the historical context in which this system has evolved. The second part analyses in depth the European conventional system. The third part explores the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the fourth part concludes the course with some reflections on judicial dialogue in a framework of constitutional pluralism.

Prerequisites

None

Contents

PART 1. INTRODUCTION: THE CONTEXT

 

SESSION 1. Reconstructing Europe after the II World War: a Europe of rights. The three levels of protection: post-second world war European constitutionalism, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

 

Readings:

 

European Convention on Human Rights

 

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

 

Council of Europe, Do not get confused, 2019

 

R. Schütze, “Three ‘Bills of rights’ for the European Union, Yearbook of European Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2011.

 

 

PART 2. THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 2. The institutional structure: the Council of Europe, the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights

 

Readings:

 

Council of Europe, The Council of Europe. An overview

 

Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights in 50 questions

 

Council of Europe, The ECHR in facts & figures 2019

 

 

SESSION 3. How to read the Convention? (I) The role of the ECtHR. Applying the Strasbourg’s test

 

Readings:

 

Case of Hatton and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 8 July 2003

 

Case of Leyla Sahin v. Turkey, 10 November 2005

 

Case of Salduz v. Turkey, GC, 27 November 2008

 

 

SESSION 4. How to read the Convention? (II) Autonomous concepts, margin of appreciation, evolutive interpretation, comparative reasoning and other international instruments

 

Readings:

 

Case of Demir and Baykara v. Turkey, GC, 12 November 2008

 

Case of Vinter and Others v. The United Kingdom, GC, 9 July 2013

 

D. Spielmann, “Allowing the Right Margin: The European Court of Human rights and The National Margin of Apreciation Doctrine: Waiver of Subsidiarity of European Review? CELS Working Paper Series, February 2012, 30.

 

 

SESSION 5.The European Convention, the Judgments of the Court and the National Legal Systems. Which is the impact of the ECtHR interpretation of fundamental rights on other European Courts?

 

Readings:

 

Case of Yuriy Nikolayevich Ivanov v. Ukraine, 15 October 2009

 

Case of Sejdovic v. Italy, GC,1 March 2006

 

D. Spielmann, "Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Systems of Europe", in The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, May 2012, pp. 1231-1252

 

 

SESSION 6. Sovereignty and Authority. Criticism and the future of the Convention.

 

Readings:

 

Committee of Ministers, 13th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers. Supervision of the execution of judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights 2019.

 

H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, “Assessing the Impact of the ECHR on National Legal Systems”, in H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, A Europe of Rights, pp. 677-710.

 

 

PART 3. THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

 

 

SESSION 7. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: drafting, content and structure. The evolution of fundamental rights protection in the EU and the role of the Court of Justice as a human rights court.

 

Readings: 

 

G. de Búrca, "After the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: The Court of Justice as a Human Rights Adjudicator?", 20 Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 2013

 

 

SESSION 8. The limited scope of application of the Charter to the Member States. When does the Charter apply to state action?

 

Readings:

 

K. Lenaerts and J.A. Gutiérrez-Fons, “The Place of the Charter in the EU

Constitutional Edifice”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014, pp.  1559-1571

 

Case C-617/10, Äkerberg Fransson, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-165/14, Rendón Marín, 13 September 2016

 

 

SESSION 9. Potential conflicts between levels of protection: the Charter as a minimum or maximum standard of protection? 

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte, “Level of Protection”, in S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, A. Ward (eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Hart Publishing, 2014

 

Case C-399/11, Melloni, 26 February 2013

 

Case C-168/13, Jeremy F, 30 May 2013

 

 

SESSION 10. From workers to citizens: the evolution of the concept of "persons" within the EU and the progressive recognition of (non-economic) rights.

Guest Professor: Diane Fromage, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, Sciences Po

 

SESSION 11. The (failed) accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

Readings:

 

B. de Witte and Šejla Imamović, "Opinion 2/13 on Accession to the ECHR: Defending the EU Legal Order against a Foreign Human Rights Court", 40 E.L. Rev. 2015

 

CJEU Opinion 2/13, 18 December 2014

 

 

PART 4.CONCLUSION

 

SESSION 12. Constitutional pluralism: the multilevel protection of rights in Europe. Judicial dialogue: the interaction between Strasbourg, Luxembourg and constitutional courts

 

Readings:

 

A. Rosas, “The European Court of Justice in Context: Forms and Patterns of Judicial Dialogue”, European Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 2007

 

A. Torres Pérez, "Judicial dialogue and fundamental rights in the European Union: a quest for legitimacy", in Jacobsohn and Schor (eds.), Comparative Constitutional Theory, Edward Elgar 2018  

 

Teaching Methods

The sessions will consist of an introduction of the topic and main issues by the professor, followed by a class discussion on the readings assigned. The readings will include doctrinal articles as well as judgments of the ECHR and the CJEU. Students shall read the materials in advance. The doctrinal articles will be posted in the Aula Global. The students shall look for the judgments in the respective websites of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Active participation in class is required.

 

By the end of the course, students should have acquired a thorough understanding of the European systems of rights' protection and their mutual interaction. They are expected to develop skills for analytical reasoning and critical thinking regarding the problems of interpretation and judicial protection of fundamental rights in a plural context.

 

Attendance is required to at least 80% of the sessions.

 

Every student is expected to spend at least 3 hours per week in the preparation of the classes. They will need to devote at least 20 hours to the final essay.

Evaluation

Students are expected to read the materials and actively participate in class. By the end of the course, they will face an in-class exam. They will be asked to analyze two judgments of the ECtHR and the CJEU and answer several questions. Students will need to show that they acquired the expected knowledge and skills.