ABSTRACT

This chapter analyzes some of the more significant developments in recent years and discusses potential future progressions in the European context, taking account of the evolution of standards, mechanisms and case law within the Council of Europe and the European Union, and looking ahead to the accession by the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights. The European Court has been required to adjudicate on egregious violations of the Convention in the context of situations of conflict, notably by the security forces in southeast Turkey in the 1990s, and the Russian armed forces in Chechnya in the 2000s. Whilst acknowledging the important contributions of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and other Council of Europe mechanisms, the chapter focuses on the position and impact of the European Court of Human Rights, before addressing the intensification of the influence of fundamental rights principles within the European Union.