268 research outputs found

    A Look at the European Court of Human Rights Case Law on Moral Issues and Academic Freedom

    Get PDF
     Ethics is constantly topical, and times of economic crises, issues of migration and refugees, and threat of terrorism are no exception. In almost all cases brought before it, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg faces morally oriented issues to some extent. The article examines key dimensions of ethics as addressed by it (the common ethical grounds and European values on which the decisions are often based; areas of differences in ethical grounds in cases wherein no European consensus on a given issue seems to exist; and the independence, impartiality, and internal ethics of the Court and its judges), and it discusses some central topics related to moral issues in its case law. The case law addresses matters from serious human‑rights violations to rights of prisoners and refugees, but the article pays particular attention to case law defining human dignity, which is closely connected with ethics. It elaborates on the beginning of life and reproductive rights: cases have dealt with access to lawful abortion, embryo donation and scientific research, home birth, medically assisted procreation, precautionary measures to protect a newborn baby’s health, prenatal medical tests, sterilisation, surrogacy, and an unborn child’s right to life. With regard to the end of life, the Court has found that the right to life could not, without a distortion of language, be interpreted as conferring the diametrically opposite right, a right to die. The article also considers the delicate issue of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. Also considered is the case law related to freedom of research and the responsibility of researchers and universities, with focus on the essence of academic freedom and morals, classical and other types of cases in connection with questions related to procedural rights before the Court that involve academic freedom, and the use of research results and academic freedom. The author presents conclusions related to the careful, pragmatic balancing among rights, between European and state level, and of public and private interests. There need not be a ‘European ethics’, but there certainly exist certain common values and understandings.&#160

    The Judicial System of Estonia and European Union Law

    Get PDF

    European Human Rights Law and Estonia: One- or Two-way Street?

    Get PDF
    The article discusses the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘the Convention’)  and the  case law of the European Court of Human Rights on Estonian law. It gives historical background on the ratification of the Convention and its protocols by Estonia and describes the status of the Convention in the Estonian legal order. It then shows in more detail the impact of the case law of the Strasbourg Court on Estonia’s legislature, executive power, and judiciary and examines the case law pertaining in particular to the historical past, deprivation of liberty, prison conditions, fair trial and length of proceedings, retroactivity, and lack of foreseeability of criminal law, along with the case law on pluralism and civil rights, especially freedom of expression. In addition, the article focuses on the important issue of reopening of a case on national level once the European Court of Human Rights has found a violation and looks at the implementation of judgements of that court by Estonia in general. Additional remarks are made on the Supreme Court of Estonia’s application of the Convention and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the impact of the case law of the Strasbourg Court in relation to Estonia on the general development of precedents with that court is discussed. In conclusion, in relation to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, it is important to understand that the Court finding a violation of the Convention in respect of Estonia is not so much a condemnation, ‘against’ the country, as a learning opportunity, in a sense, for Estonia’s democracy, rule of law, and human rights protection system. Furthermore, there could well be other difficulties in Estonia that the Court has for various reasons had no opportunity to address. This can be seen in areas wherein the Court has found a violation by another state but wherein a similar problem still exists in Estonia – e.g., in relation to prisoners’ voting rights. It is important to consider a more global picture of the human rights situation. It is unfortunate that in Estonia, especially in the media and for the wider public, little attention is paid still to the case law of the Court with respect to other states.  In general, European law has been well accepted in Estonia, especially the Convention and the case law of the Court. Working from the Estonian examples, one can confirm that the legislature; the executive power, even more so; and, above all, the judiciary of Estonia have recognised well that the Convention is an inseparable part of Estonia’s legal and democratic culture. Estonian courts need to feel that they also are human rights courts, especially in dealing with the facts and Estonian law, domains wherein the Court cannot and should not act as a fourth or first instance. At the same time, the Court should be able to speak not only to the Estonian courts as counterparts but also to the Estonian people. They as well need to understand European human rights law. All in all, Estonia is quite lucky: it does not have particularly worrying human rights problems; not many violations of the Convention are found in respect of Estonia by the Court. Estonian cases have been dealing with more or less the same issues every ordinary democratic country faces, even to a certain extent with problems of a modern, well-advanced society, such as freedom of expression and privacy rights on the Internet. Also the Court has been lucky to have Estonia as an exemplar: a country wherein the Convention system and the Court’s case law have been to a large extent respected and well complied with. But this mutual ‘happiness’, this quite nice two-way street, should not be taken for granted. The Court’s case law is a moving target. It is hoped that all future developments related to the Court will contribute to improvement of the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law all over Europe. Neither Estonia nor any other European country can apply the generally recognised principles by choice ‘in its own way’.  Estonia’s trump in Europe and beyond could be to serve as a model in the protection of human rights. In consideration of its experience, geopolitical location, and size, alongside its investments in education and the historically rooted importance of nurturing intellectual and cultural values, Estonia could be in a very good position to achieve this ambitious goal.&#160

    Kohtuniku eriarvamus. Selle vÔimalikkus ja vajalikkus Eesti Vabariigi Riigikohtus ja Euroopa Kohtus

    Get PDF
    http://www.ester.ee/record=b4341277~S1*es

    EuropĂ€ische IdentitĂ€t und Ethik. Überlegungen zu ethischen Grundlagen der europĂ€ischen Rechtsprechung

    Get PDF
    Der Artikel versucht eine Antwort auf die Frage zu finden: „Was versteht man unter der europĂ€ischen IdentitĂ€t und Ethik sowie in welchem Zusammenhang steht das mit ethischen Grundlagen der europĂ€ischen Rechtsprechung?“ und er setzt sich zuerst mit den europĂ€ischen IdentitĂ€tsfragen auseinander und danach analysiert er die ausgewĂ€hlten Aspekte der Ethik in der Rechtsprechung des EuropĂ€ischen Gerichtshofes fĂŒr Menschenrechte (EuGMR). Der Artikel wurde vor dem Brexit geschrieben und hat bereits dann auf eine fragliche IdentitĂ€tsfrage Europas angedeutet. Es wird nĂ€mlich festgestellt, dass von der Begeisterung der europĂ€ischen Integration nach der Erweiterung und insbesondere Wirtschafts- und Einwandererkrise eine EnttĂ€uschung geworden ist. Die Liebe kann nicht erzwungen werden, die EuropĂ€ische Union (EU) leidet auch unter einer sozialen und IdentitĂ€tskrise. Europa gibt keine Antworten mehr auf Probleme, sondern ist nicht selten selbst die Ursache von Problemen. Es gibt nicht mehr das alte Europa, die europĂ€ischen Völker bestehen lĂ€ngst nicht mehr aus traditionellen Nationen und Glauben, es gibt die Frage der KopftĂŒcher, des Extremismus, man will die Nation-Staaten verstĂ€rken, die Bevölkerung veraltet, dadurch verschĂ€ft sich auch das demographische Problem in Europa. Dabei hat sich aber leider die EU von den BĂŒrgern entfernt und ist das Ding an sich geworden. Jedoch als unikales Modell, sollte die EU keinen Anspruch haben, etwas zu werden, was den bereits existierenden Staatsstrukturen oder den internationalen Organisationen Ă€hnlich ist. Die EU sollte anstreben, nicht nur auf Papier, sondern vor allem in der Wirklichkeit einen Raum der Freiheit, der Sicherheit und des Rechts darzustellen. Vielleicht sollte man aufgeben, mit Kraft eine europĂ€ische IdentitĂ€t durchsetzen und stattdessen die wiedererwachende nationale IdentitĂ€t ernst nehmen, ehrlich ĂŒber Probleme reden, keine Scheinunion kultivieren. Die IdentitĂ€t lieber mit den Menschenrechten verbinden, denn die Letzten sind das Wichtigste fĂŒr eine IdentitĂ€t. Europa muss verstĂ€ndlich und menschlich sein. Die Ethik spielt hier eine bedeutende Rolle, es kann beides: ein Grund einer Ausnahme der Anwendung eines Rechtes, aber auch ein Grundstein einer europĂ€ischen Norm sein. Was ist wichtig, ist eine gute Ausbildung, eine „open mind“ zu haben, eine innerlich gewachsene Kultur und Ethik in der Familie, in der Schule, es muss nicht unbedingt eine „europĂ€ische Ethik“ als solche geben. Hauptsache ist, dass die Ethik ein Teil der Ausbildung ist, dass man ĂŒber die Vergangenheit und Traditionen redet und gleichzeitig zukunftsorientiert ist. Jemand, der gute eigene Wurzel hat und die nicht vergisst, den ein gutes starkes Zuhause und eine Familie umgeben, aber der gleichzeitig offen fĂŒr andere ist, egal wo in Europa, wird vor allem ein guter Mensch und dann frĂŒher oder spĂ€ter irgendwann automatisch ein guter EuropĂ€er. Es ist wichtig, Europa im globalen Bild zu sehen, auch Realismus und Selbstkritik gehören dazu, am besten Kritik durch eine Außenkontrolle, die von einer bereits existierenden Institution, sowie z.B. vom EuropĂ€ischen Gerichtshof fĂŒr Menschenrechte ausgeĂŒbt wird. Aber man muss darauf achten, dass man die Menschenrechte nicht missbraucht, sowie die ethische GrĂŒnde ein neues Recht zu schaffen oder ein Bestehendes einzuschrĂ€nken nicht missbraucht. Sonst besteht die Gefahr, dass die Menschenrechte devalviert werden und keiner von ihnen etwas hören will. Der Artikel gibt zahlreiche Beispiele aus der Rechtsprechung des EuGMR in den folgenden Gebieten: Ethik und Politik (zwischenstaatliche Konflikte; MilitĂ€reinsĂ€tze; FlĂŒchtlinge und Asylrecht; Nichtdiskriminierung; Glaubensfreiheit; Anfang- und Ende des Lebens; Terrorismus und Kampf dagegen; Wahlrecht); Ethik und Wirtschaft (große Unternehmer und Menschenrechte; Umweltrecht; FĂ€lle ĂŒber Schutz des Privateigentums); Ethik und Medien (Meinungsfreiheit und Schutz des Privatlebens; Internet in diesem Kontext). Der Schutz von Menschenrechten ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil fĂŒr die IdentitĂ€t der BĂŒrger Europas

    Judicial disagreement need not be political: dissent on the Estonian Supreme Court

    Get PDF
    I investigate the non-unanimous decisions of judges on the Estonian Supreme Court. I argue that since judges on the court enjoy high de jure independence, dissent frequently, and are integrated in the normal judicial hierarchy, the Estonian Supreme Court is a crucial case for the presumption that judicial disagreement reveals policy preferences. I analyse dissenting opinions using an ideal point response model. Examining the characteristics of cases which discriminated with respect to the recovered dimension, I show that this dimension cannot be interpreted as a meaningful policy dimension, but instead reflects disagreement about the proper scope of constitutional redress

    Herophilus and Erasistratus on the hēgemonikon

    Get PDF
    This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this record.In Alexandria at some point in the early third century bc, Herophilus of Chalcedon identified the nerves as a distinct system within the body, traced their origins to the brain, and recognised their role in transmitting sensation and voluntary motion. His discovery was based on dissection and vivisection, not only of animals, but also of human beings. Herophilus’ younger contemporary Erasistratus also integrated these findings into his rather bolder physiology. The implications of this discovery were of course wide-ranging. From a modern perspective, it is now widely celebrated as having established, for the first time on something like a scientific basis, that the brain has more or less the functions that we now ascribe to it. Likewise, in antiquity, Galen relied heavily on Herophilus’ discovery in his proof that the rational soul is located in the brain. As we shall see, it also had an impact on Stoic psychology. What exactly Herophilus and Erasistratus saw as its implications, however, is a different question, and the difficulties in answering it are considerable given the state of the evidence

    Emmanuel Larraz, Théùtre et politique pendant la guerre d'Indépendance espagnole : 1808-1814

    No full text
    Laffranque Marie. Emmanuel Larraz, Théùtre et politique pendant la guerre d'Indépendance espagnole : 1808-1814. In: Bulletin Hispanique, tome 94, n°1, 1992. pp. 366-371

    Aurora de Albornoz, PoesĂ­a de guerra de Antonio Machado.

    No full text
    Laffranque Marie. Aurora de Albornoz, Poesía de guerra de Antonio Machado. . In: Bulletin Hispanique, tome 64, n°3-4, 1962. p. 335

    Carlos Ramos-Gil, Claves líricas de García Lorca. Ensayos sobre la expresión y los climas poéticos lorquianos

    No full text
    Laffranque Marie. Carlos Ramos-Gil, Claves líricas de García Lorca. Ensayos sobre la expresión y los climas poéticos lorquianos. In: Bulletin Hispanique, tome 71, n°3-4, 1969. pp. 711-712
    • 

    corecore