The European Court of Human Rights

by Angelika Nußberger

The European Court of Human Rights, by Angelika Nussberger is the first title in a new series, The Elements of International Law. Providing a fresh, objective, and non-argumentative approach to the discipline of international law, this series is an accessible go-to source for practicing international lawyers, judges and arbitrators, government and military officers, scholars, teachers, and students.

In this volume, Professor Nussberger explores the Court's uniqueness as an international adjudicatory body in the light of its history, structure, and procedure, as well as its key doctrines and case law. This book also shows the role played by the Court in the development of modern international law and human rights law. Tracing the history of the Court from its political context in the 1940s to the present day, Nussberger engages with pressing questions about its origins and internal workings. What was the best model for such an international organization? How should it evolve within more and more diverse legal cultures? How does a case move among different decision-making bodies? These questions help frame the six parts of the book, whilst the final section reflects on the past successes and failures of the Court, shedding light on possible future directions.

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2020

Reviews

[Markel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you need to know about the ECtHR. Although there are indeed some minor typos (probably due to the rush in publishing this very first issue on the Elements of International Law series), it reads barely as a textbook, but instead introduces the subject matter in a very amenable manner. While written by an insider, the book covers in a neutral way a wide array of topics and actually provides rich insides in the day-to-day functioning of the Court, its various compositions and partner institutions. I found particularly interesting the sections on the dialogue between the ECtHR and other international courts and bodies, as well as with national judiciaries. I did miss some more elaboration on landmark caselaw on human rights issues to which the Court contributed or even established anew, but I guess that is a topic for a another book. Compared to the A Very Short Introduction series, this book turns out way more user-friendly and entertaining, even if somewhat longer at its 200+ pages.

[Philip Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written summary from an expert in the field, but the English text is clearly not written by a native speaker, or corrected by one, which is distracting throughout. Disappointing from the Oxford editors.