Separating Normalcy from Emergency: The Jurisprudence of Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Greene, Alan

Separating Normalcy from Emergency: The Jurisprudence of Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Greene, Alan

Authors

Alan Greene

Abstract

This article argues that the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) approach to the interpretation of Article 15 ignores the concept of. By principally analyzing Lawless v. Ireland and A v. the United Kingdom, this article discerns that the ECtHR focuses only on whether the measures in acted on foot of a declaration of emergency are proportionate to the exigencies of the situation. This results in the erosion of the “shielding effect” of Article 15 (constraining emergency powers to instances where a “threat to the life of the nation” exists), leaving only its role as an “enabler” of human rights encroachments intact. In light of this assertion, this article argues for the ECtHR to take a less-deferential role towards “national authorities” when assessing states of emergency.

Citation

Greene, A. (2011). Separating Normalcy from Emergency: The Jurisprudence of Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights. German law journal, 12(10), 1764-1785

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Oct 1, 2011
Deposit Date	Sep 19, 2013
Publicly Available Date	Mar 26, 2015
Journal	GERMAN LAW JOURNAL
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	12
Issue	10
Pages	1764-1785
Publisher URL	https://www.germanlawjournal.com/index.php?pageID=11&artID=1384