ABSTRACT
Human rights treaties operate within Westphalian frame and their successful implementation depends upon sovereign states that are willing and able to do so. The question is, as ‘the Westphalian frame is notoriously fracturing’, how will human rights law accommodate the tectonic shifts in the system? This chapter addresses the puzzle; though tackling such a far-reaching question in its entirety would exceed its scope. It focuses on how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) approaches extraterritorially committed violations of human rights. The chapter examines closely the ECtHR’s reasoning in Jaloud and proposes the concept of ‘functional boundaries’ in order to understand the Court’s most recent jurisdictional test. A progressive approach for a human rights court would entail constructing a more inclusive legal doctrine regarding states’ extraterritorial human rights obligations. The rights safeguarded under the European Convention of Human Rights could not be ‘divided and tailored’ for the particular circumstances of the extraterritorial act at issue.
