Domestic Implementation of Human Rights Judgments in Europe: Legal Infrastructure and Government Effectiveness Matter

  • Over the past couple of years, international law and international relations scholarship has shifted its focus from the question of whether human rights treaties bring any state-level improvements at all to investigations in the domestic context of the factors and dynamics influencing state compliance. In this direction, and focusing on the European Court of Human Rights, this study inquires into the factors that account for variable patterns of state compliance with its judgments. Why do national authorities in some states adopt a more prompt and responsive attitude in implementing these judgments, in contrast to other states that procrastinate or respond reluctantly? On the basis of a large-N study of the Strasbourg Court’s judgments and a comparison across nine states, this article argues that variation in state implementation performance is closely linked to the overall legal infrastructure capacity and government effectiveness of a state. When such capacity and effectiveness are high and diffused, the adverse judgments of the Strasbourg Court are unlikely to be obstructed or ignored, even when the government, political elites, or other actors are reluctant and not in favour of substantive remedies.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Author(s):Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Dia Anagnostou
Editor(s):Joseph Weiler
Parent Title (English):The European Journal of International Law
ISSN:0938-5428
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Place of Publisher:Oxford
Publication year:2014
First Page:205
Last Page:227
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chu001
Release Date:2015/11/06
Tag:Governance; Human rights; Legal infrastructure
Volume:25
Issue:1
Hertie School Research:European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building (ERCAS) | Centre
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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