European Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Human Rights - Essay Example It also seeks to promote the rights of women and children, as well as of minorities and displaced persons. ‘Margin of appreciation’ is a doctrine that was first developed and applied in the case law of European Court and Commission of Human Rights. It is a concept developed by the European Union where different member states’ courts can interpret the Convention of Human Rights differently (Greer, 2000, p.5). The doctrine does not have universal litigation for all convention rights, since it has higher profile for some convention rights i.e. right to property; however, it has lower profile on other rights in the conventions. Moreover, there is no simple and clear method of describing how the doctrine works; further, the doctrine’s nature is that of uneven and unpredictable. Due to the nature of margin of appreciation, there is need for much structure, precision supervision and regularity in its application (Greer, 2000, p.5). The European Union formulated th e margin of appreciation since its member states comprise of diverse cultural and legal traditions embraced thus, it was difficult to identify uniform European standards of human rights. Moreover, the doctrine provides the flexibility needed to avoid damaging rows between the European Court, General, and the Member States. Additionally it permits the Court to balance the autonomy of Member States with their obligations under the Convention. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contemporary practice of margin of appreciation in applying of Convention rights and freedoms. The paper will explore the logical flaws in the margin doctrine as currently conceived and the way they contribute in devaluing the convention. Moreover, the role of the Strasbourg Organ in the supervision of administering of the doctrine in its Member States is also discussed. Finally, an assessment of the efficiency and consistency of supervision is analyzed. Margin of appreciation The European Commission o f Human Rights endorsed margin of appreciation on the grounds that the national authorities are better placed to judge than the Strasbourg institutions. This doctrine is applicable in connection with articles of the convention providing some accommodations or limitation clauses. Some of the areas where Member States have been accorded margin of appreciation by the European Union convention on human rights are protection of morals, determining the mandate of the judiciary, prevention of crime and disorder and matters pertaining to national economy and security. In determining the scope of marginal of appreciation, the courts consider firstly, the subject matter of the protected right, i.e. a narrow margin is issued if the subject matter being protected is considered fundamental. Secondly, the aim and the interest of set restriction are also considered. Therefore, the margin of appreciation is determined by the effects of a restriction on other people in the society. Moreover, there a re European consensus standards, which are applicable to all Member States. In such cases, there is less need for application of margin of appreciation (Kleijkamp, 1999, p.50). However, there is concern in that uncontrolled margin of appreciation is devaluing the rights and freedoms provided by the Human Rights Convention. States that have the norm of human rights relativism can exploit this doctrine to cartel the exercise of human