90 likes | 177 Views
Treaties and Courts. Council of Europe: Intro. Founded 1949 “Seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals” www.coe.int
E N D
Council of Europe: Intro • Founded 1949 • “Seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals” • www.coe.int • 47 members, 1 applicant country (Belarus), 5 observers (Holy See, US, Canada, Japan, Mexico) • Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Congress of Local and Regional Authorities • Official languages: English, French • Working languages: German, Italian, Russian
CoE: statutes and conventions • All treaties (EN, FR, RU, DE, IT) • e.g. Statute of the Council of Europe – establishing CoE • European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms • enforced by European Court of Human Rights • text and notes in EN, FR, RU, DE, IT from CoE site
EU: treaties • Collection of treaties • Establishing the EU, amending previous treaties • e.g. Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (html) or in OJ • Accession • e.g. treaty concerning the accession of Romania and Bulgaria (OJ)
UN: treaties and conventions • Collection of UN treaties • http://treaties.un.org/Pages/Home.aspx?lang=en • United Nations international law: http://www.un.org/en/law/ • Guide to key terms used in UN treaty collection
Other treaty resources • UK: Foreign & Commonwealth Office • http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/treaties/ • National governmental resources • Global Legal International Network (GLIN): searchable database of treaties
Courts Court of Justice of the European Union http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/ European Court of Human Rights http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/Homepage_EN International Court of Justice http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?p1=0 International Criminal Court http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court
CONFLICT in the EU over versions • All the language versions are legally valid, but they differ linguistically – conflict resulting in Iitigation occurs. • How does the court make a judgement?
Principles & procedures for judgement • 1) There is one law with a uniform interpretation. • 2)Compare different language versions. • 3) Refer to purpose & general scheme of law of the which the contested words form a part, and refer to Community law as a whole.