The European Court of Human Rights between Law and Politics

Dr. jur. Jonas Christoffersen is Executive Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark's National Human Rights Institution). He was previously Assistant Professor in Human Rights Law at the University of Copenhagen, a temporary judge at the High Court of Eastern Denmark, and a clerk at the Supreme Court of Denmark. He is also an advocate admitted to the Danish Bar and the High Courts of Denmark.Mikael Rask Madsen is Professor of European Law and Integration at the University of Copenhagen and Director of iCourts, the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre of Excellence for International Courts. He was formerly at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He has been a visitor at numerous universities, including University of Strasbourg, Oxford University, and University of California at Berkeley.

• 1. Introduction: The European Court of Human Rights between Law and Politics ; PART I - POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONALISATION ; 2. The Birth of the European Convention on Human Rights-and the European Court of Human Rights ; 3. The Protracted Institutionalisation of the Strasbourg Court: From Legal Diplomacy to Integrationist Jurisprudence ; 4. Politics, Judicial Behaviour, and Institutional Design ; 5. Civil Society and the European Court of Human Rights ; 6. The European Court of Human Rights after 50 Years ; PART II - LAW AND LEGITIMIZATION ; 7. The Reform of the Convention System: Institutional Restructuring and the (Geo-)Politics of Human Rights ; 8. Constitutional v. International? When Unified Reformatory Rationales Mismatch the Plural Paths of Legitimacy of ECHR Law ; 9. Diplomatic Intrusions, Dialogues, and Fragile Equilibria: The European Court as a Constitutional Actor of the European Union ; 10. Individual and Constitutional Justice: Can the Power Balance of Adjudication be Reversed? ; 11. Rethinking the European Court of Human Rights ; Postscript

Every contribution to the book is relevant, illuminating and worthwhile reading.... Its purchase is highly recommended and should be a must for those actually involved in the reform process: at the Court, at the Parliamentary Assembly, at government departments, but also for anyone interested in the work of the Court and its functioning.