European Consensus and the Legitimacy of the European Court of Human Rights

Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou is a senior lecturer in law at the University of Surrey and a visiting professor at the European Humanities University in Vilnius, Lithuania.

• 1. Introduction; 2. The concept of European consensus; 3. Types of consensus; 4. Behind the scenes: comparative analysis within the Court; 5. Criticism of European consensus; 6. Legitimacy of the Court and legitimacy of its judgments; 7. European consensus: perceptions of the ECtHR judges; 8. Conclusion.

'Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou's book presents the first comprehensive treatise of consensus as used by the European Court of Human Rights … Dzehtsiarou deserves praise for this book. It discusses comprehensively a question hitherto often overlooked and opens up novel insights into 'all things consensus'. The combination of socio-legal method with the doctrinal method work[s] exceptionally well and should encourage future research along these lines.' Tobias Lock, Human Rights Law Review