Fundamental Rights

In Europe, fundamental rights have come to be regulated by an increasing number of legal instruments, such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and international treaties. It is not always easy to understand what requirements are set in these different instruments and how they interrelate. This textbook therefore provides an integrated and systematic overview of the requirements imposed by international and European fundamental rights law. It discusses a range of both civil/political fundamental rights (eg freedom of expression) and social/economic rights (eg right to health), for each of which it is discussed how it is protected by the ECHR, by other Council of Europe instruments, by EU law, and by international treaty instruments. Each chapter is concluded with an integration section, which explains the relations between the different systems of fundamental rights protection and discuss differences, overlap and bottlenecks.

Janneke Gerards is professor of fundamental rights law at Utrecht University. Her research focuses on European fundamental rights, equal treatment law, judicial review and new technologies. Her activities outside the university include being a deputy Judge in the Appeals Court of The Hague, a member of the State Commission against Discrimination and Racism and a member of the Advisory Board of the Netherlands Human Rights Institute. Since 2015, Janneke Gerards is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.