The European Convention on Human Rights and General International Law

The European Court of Human Rights is one of the main players in interpreting international human rights law where issues of general international law arise. While developing its own jurisprudence for the protection of human rights in the European context, it remains embedded in the developments of general international law. However, because the Court does not always follow general international law closely and develops its own doctrines, which are, in turn, influential for national courts as well as other international courts and tribunals, a feedback loop of influence occurs.

This book explores the interaction, including the problems arising in the context of human rights, between the European Convention on Human Rights and general international law. It contributes to ongoing debates on the fragmentation and convergence of international law from the perspective of international judges as well as academics. Some of the chapters suggest reconciling methods and convergence while others stress the danger of fragmentation. The focus is on specific topics which have posed special problems, namely sources, interpretation, jurisdiction, state responsibility and immunity.

Anne van Aaken, Professor for Law and Economics, Legal Theory, Public International Law and European Law, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Iulia Motoc, Judge, European Court on Human Rights

Anne van Aaken is a Professor for Law and Economics, Legal Theory, Public International and European Law at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. She was Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and taught as a guest professor at numerous universities in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. She was a Global Law Professor at NYU in 2016 and a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin in 2010/11. Van Aaken was also a Vice-President of ESIL, President of the Programmatic Steering Board of the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, Vice-President of the European Association of Law and Economics, and is a Member of ILA Committees. She has been awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt-Professorship in Germany and will take on her new position at the University of Hamburg in fall of 2018.


Iulia Motoc is a Judge at the European court on Human Rights and Professor at the University of Bucharest. She taught at several universities in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and United States. She was Special Guest Professor at EUI University in Florence and Senior Fellow in NYU and Yale School of Law. Motoc was also a Member and President of the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights (2000-2007) UN Special Rapporteur of the Democratic Republic of Congo (2001-2004), Member and Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Committee ( 2006-2013), and Judge of the Constitutional Court of Romania (2010-2014).