2018/19
807 - Masters Centre of the Department of Law
8071 - Advanced Master in Legal Sciences
31851 - European constitutionalism and fundamental rights
Joan Solanes Mullor, Jose Alejandro Saiz Arnaiz
Contents
SESSION 1
The Plural System of rights' protection in Europe
The European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Courts, individuals, and mechanisms.
Readings:
*European Convention on Human Rights
*EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
*R. Schütze, "Three 'Bills of rights' for the European Union", Yearbook of European Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2011
SESSION 2
On reading the European Convention (I)
The language of rights and the role of the Court.
Readings:
*Case of Mamatkulov and Askarov v. Turkey, GC, 4 February 2005
*Case of Schalk and Kopf v. Austria, 24 June 2010
*Case of S.A.S. v. France, GC, 1 July 2014
SESSION 3
On reading the European Convention (II)
The techniques used by the Court: national margin of appreciation, European consensus, living instrument, other international documents.
Readings:
*D. Spielmann, "Allowing the Right Margin the European Court of Human Rights and the National Margin of Appreciation Doctrine: Waiver or Subsidiarity of European Review?", CELS Working Paper Series, February 2012, 30
*Case of Demir and Baykara v. Turkey, GC, 12 November 2008
*J.E. Helgesen, "What are the limits of the Evolutive Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights?",
Human Rights Law Journal, December, 2011, pp. 275-281.
SESSION 4
The Effects of Judgments and Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights
What the Convention says, what the Court does, what the States do.
Readings:
*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
*Case of Verein Gegen Tierfabriken Schweiz (VgT) v. Switzerland (n. 2), GC, 30 June 2009
SESSION 5
The Rome Convention, the Strasbourg Court, National Constitutions and Constitutional (Supreme) Courts of States parties to the Convention
"Dialogues" and reciprocal influences. Roma (Strasbourg) locuta causa finita?
Readings:
*B. Hale, "Argentoratum Locutum: Is the Strasbourg or the Supreme Court Supreme?", Human Rights Law Review, 3, 2013, pp. 65-78
*H. Keller and A. Stone Sweet, "Assessing the Impact of the ECHR on National Legal Systems", in Keller and Stone Sweet eds., A Europe of Rights, pp. 677-710
SESSION 6
The scope of application of the EU Charter to the Member States
The limited scope of application of the Charter: understanding the notion of "implementing" EU law. Free movement and fundamental rights. Rights attached to the status of EU citizenship.
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-304/14, CS, 13 September 2016
SESSION 7
Levels of protection
The Charter as a minimum or a maximum standard of protection? The role of Constitutional Courts as guardians of fundamental rights. Potential conflicts between standards 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
*A. Torres Pérez, "Melloni in Three Acts: From Dialogue to Monologue", European Constitutional Law Review, 10, 2014
*Case C-399/11, Melloni, 26 February 2013
Case C-168/13, Jeremy F, 30 Mayo 2013
SESSION 8
Criticism and the future of the conventional system
Readings:
*Lord Hoffmann, "The Universality of Human Rights"
*R. Spano, "Universality or Diversity of Human Rights?", Human Rights Law Review, 2014
SESSION 9
The accession of the EU to the ECHR
The dialogue between Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Reasons for the accession: the accession agreement. The
co-respondent mechanism. The prior involvement of the CJEU. The failure of the accession after the CJEU Opinion 2/13.
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
*P. Eeckhout, "Opinion2/13 on EU Accession to the ECHR and Judicial Dialogue - Autonomy or Autarky?, Jean Monnet Working Paper Series JMWP 01/15
* CJEU Opinion 2/13, 18 December 2014
SESSION 10
Judicial dialogue
Forms of judicial interaction: from comparative reasoning to judicial dialogue.
Readings:
*A. Rosas, "The European Court of Justice in Context: Forms and Patterns of Judicial Dialogue", European Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 2007
SESSION 11
Invited Professor, to be determined
SESSION 12
Invited Professor, to be determined