Speaker: Dr Marko Bošnjak, President of the European Court of Human Rights

Chairs:

Dr Michael Spence AC, UCL Provost and President;
Veronika Fikfak, Professor of Human Rights and International Law

Commentators:

Colm O’Cinneide, Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights;
Virginia Mantouvalou, Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law

About this talk

In the last decade, Europe has observed a weakening and in certain places even an erosion of the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights has played a key role in addressing the challenges to the rule of law from various member states. In Baka v. Hungary, the Court found a violation of judicial independence due to the dismissal of a Supreme Court president for criticising government reforms. In Xero Flor v Poland, the Court ruled that the participation of person elected to the panel of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in breach of domestic law constituted a violation of judicial independence. In Navalnyy v. Russia, the Court ruled against Russia for politically motivated arrests of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, infringing upon his rights to liberty and freedom of association. In addition, during the past five years, the Court also had to tackle legal issues raised by the COVID pandemic and the extended powers of the executive to protect public health.

The lecture will explore what role the supranational court has played in this context, map out the choices judges have to make when deciding rule of law cases and address what challenges lie ahead for the Court.

About the Speaker

Marko Bošnjak is the President of the European Court of Human Rights. He has served as a judge at the Court since 2016. Before his appointment, Dr Bošnjak was an attorney and academic in Slovenia. His main areas of research include Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Human Rights Law, Constitutional Law, International Law, and Criminology. As an attorney, he represented clients in several landmark cases, including before the European Court of Human Rights and the General Court of the European Union. At the European Court of Human Rights, he has presided of the Grand Chamber and over chambers in a number of landmark judgments. He has written several separate opinions, including in the Big Brother Watch v UK case.

This event is part of the project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 803981).

The Role of the ECHR in Protecting the Rule of Law in Europe