ABSTRACT
The Brighton Declaration aims to set out a shared understanding of what the principle means and to embed and reinforce the principle as it applies to all aspects of the system set up to enforce the Convention. The Declaration is accordingly key to understanding the central importance that subsidiarity has in the Convention system. Many of the potentially well-founded cases result from a failure at the national level to fully implement the Convention. It follows that if States were to implement the Convention more effectively, many of these cases would no longer arise. The Declaration seeks to reinforce the role that national courts play in the Convention system through a new system of advisory opinions. The idea is that, when considering a Convention issue, the highest national courts will be empowered to ask the Court for a view on an issue of principle raised in the case.
