ABSTRACT
The multilevel system on human rights defenders is still imperfect despite its existence as a trend of the constitutionalization of international law. Since the creation of the UN Mechanism, there is a particular protection of human rights defenders in regional systems by Rapporteurships, policies and in the COE area through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Commissioner for Human Rights. The Commissioner has developed a private procedure for human rights defenders that have been subject to reprisals after their interaction in the COE. The Commissioner participates with third interventions in cases of human rights defenders submitted to the court. The possibility of holding a direct application to the European Court of Human Rights by human rights defenders enforces the judiciary guarantee of their instrumental rights. The term human rights defenders is used in the ECtHR case law. This is however asymmetric with the European Social Charter, where there is not the possibility of individuals’ application, and excessive measures of austerity can also be harmful for the promotion and protection of human rights. In Europe, the multilevel system differs and converges with different guarantees among the European Union, COE, and OSCE.
