Etienne Chassaing

Bio: Etienne Chassaing is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Human rights & Common law. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 9 citations.

EU accession to the ECHR: Bringing about an aggiornamento for EU case law? Overview of ECHR and EU case law

Abstract: Would it be unfair to depict the relationship between the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU Treaties and the relationship between the Luxembourg Court and its Strasbourg…

A New Start for the Accession of the EU to the ECHR

Abstract: This chapter examines the main steps that provoked the accession process and the debates that surrounded the expression for the need for accession, including the core results that the latter will bear on the EU’s external picture both with regard to the Convention system and international law at-large. Internal changes to the EU position vis-a-vis Member States resulting from the accession process will be also examined vigilantly. This chapter therefore addresses the research question: ‘What are the main changes that the DAA will bring to the EU external image, and what are the core issues settled in the Draft Accession Agreement to this end?’ The chapter begins by analyzing how the need for EU accession to the ECHR was originally articulated, and the rationale for it to be a necessity for the organizational design of the Union. It then turns to the question of the main changes that the treaty system will experience with the EU placed in a state-like contracting position within the ECHR, and how will this affect the external treaty-making landscape of the EU. The chapter carefully analyzes how EU accession to the ECHR will be of a distinct nature, as the ECHR has been conventionally a state-based instrument of international law. Unique arguments are also presented in relation to the changes that international law will experience with the EU situated as a state-like party to a historically state-owned sovereign domain of human rights, namely the Convention system. This is contrasted with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties’ principles, showing how conventional views on treaty-making on human rights may be changed with the EU becoming a contracting party to the ECHR. All this is analyzed in the context of a multilayered human rights law in Europe debate, with the EU cultivating its federal attributes with accession to the ECHR. The chapter then embarks on the issue of treaty competence of the EU to accede to a human-rights instrument, previously a states-reserved domain of law, and the main implications that this process may bring to the EU external image, both vis-a-vis international law but also Member States legal orders. The chapter subsequently offers a Convention-based outlook on the structural changes that EU accession therein will generate, upholding the argument that the Convention will not only become a hybrid, but rather complex treaty system. Afterwards, the chapter embarks on an examination of the post-accession relationship between the EU, ECHR and EU Member States, arguing that the position of the EU will be strengthened post-accession, with the judicial dialogue being shifted from Member States-Strasbourg to a Luxembourg–Strasbourg orientation.

Status of ECHR and DAA in EU Legal Order

Abstract: The relationship between the Luxembourg and Strasbourg courts, EU law and the Convention system at-large are fundamentally conditioned by the legal status of the Convention and Accession Agreement in EU law. This chapter offers a novel examination of the status of the Convention and the DAA in EU law post-accession, analyzing not only the overall picture of cohabitation and/or competition but also the internal effect that accession will likely pose to the EU legal order (in relation to the Convention and the DAA). This chapter responds to the research question: ‘What is the legal status of the ECHR and DAA in the EU legal order post-accession?’ The chapter starts by examining the position and mode of penetration of international agreements in EU legal order, giving special emphasis to the effect that such agreements produce within the EU legal order. Haegeman, Commission v. Germany, Demirel and Bananas are examined to deconstruct Luxembourg’s stance on international agreements concluded by the EU, either alone or together with Member States. A careful deconstruction of Luxembourg’s jurisdiction to observe those agreements is also provided, showing how similarities may be drawn with regard to both the Convention and Accession Agreement. Then, the chapter embarks on an examination of the status of the Convention and the DAA, contrasting them with current Luxembourg benchmarks on international agreements. Arguing that neither the Convention nor the DAA form part of the usual international agreements which the EU has concluded, the chapter goes on to provide a novel analysis of the status of Convention and the DAA in the EU legal order arguing that this should be taken as a very unique case. The chapter then provides a comprehensive analysis on the specific status of the Convention and the DAA post-accession, examining both their rank and implied position within a multilayered system of human rights, while considering potential implications.

EU Becoming a Human Rights Law Organization: Starting from Nowhere with a ‘ gouvernment des juges ’

Abstract: This chapter examines human rights law development of the Union with reference to the Convention and Strasbourg regime of law at-large. The chapter evolves around the research question ‘How did the EU become a human rights law organization and the gradual development of its relationship with the ECHR system?’ Two perspectives of analysis are provided below: first, an EU-based perspective of human rights law development, focusing on the Convention and Strasbourg regime of law, and, second, a Strasbourg-based view of EU human rights development, and gradual recognition of the EU as a human rights liable entity and the means via which such relationship became construed. Overall, the chapter offers a much grounded outlook of the relationship between the Luxembourg and Strasbourg regimes of law, one that is needed to start shedding light on the preconditions that EU accession to the ECHR will likely materialize on these two legal orders.