TY - JOUR

T1 - Non-pecuniary damages before the European Court of Human Rights

T2 - Forget the victim; It's all about the state

AU - Fikfak, Veronika

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - This article studies how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) adjusts damages for human rights violations. The article empirically analyses 13 years of ECtHR's case law in relation to Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (torture, inhuman and degrading treatment), and 5 (arbitrary detention) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR, the Convention). The goal is to understand whether the statements made by the Court about the aims pursued through just satisfaction are confirmed in practice. Through an empirical quantitative study relating to non-pecuniary damages, the article analyses the practice of the Court in awarding non-pecuniary damages for human rights violations and compares it to the competing visions of the ECtHR's function. In particular, I am interested in determining whether just satisfaction is aimed at redressing the suffering of the victim, her circumstances and vulnerability, or whether the focus is more on the respondent state, its conduct and its past human rights record. The answers to these questions will contribute to the debate whether the ECtHR's role is one of delivering 'individual justice' or whether the Court is- A s an international court enforcing an international treaty-focused on the 'state'.

AB - This article studies how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) adjusts damages for human rights violations. The article empirically analyses 13 years of ECtHR's case law in relation to Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (torture, inhuman and degrading treatment), and 5 (arbitrary detention) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR, the Convention). The goal is to understand whether the statements made by the Court about the aims pursued through just satisfaction are confirmed in practice. Through an empirical quantitative study relating to non-pecuniary damages, the article analyses the practice of the Court in awarding non-pecuniary damages for human rights violations and compares it to the competing visions of the ECtHR's function. In particular, I am interested in determining whether just satisfaction is aimed at redressing the suffering of the victim, her circumstances and vulnerability, or whether the focus is more on the respondent state, its conduct and its past human rights record. The answers to these questions will contribute to the debate whether the ECtHR's role is one of delivering 'individual justice' or whether the Court is- A s an international court enforcing an international treaty-focused on the 'state'.

KW - damages

KW - European Court of Human Rights

KW - human rights

KW - non-pecuniary

KW - remedies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082703707&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/S0922156520000035

DO - 10.1017/S0922156520000035

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85082703707

VL - 33

SP - 335

EP - 369

JO - Leiden Journal of International Law

JF - Leiden Journal of International Law

SN - 0922-1565

IS - 2

ER -