The Economic Crisis and the Evolution of the System Based on the ECHR: Is There Any Correlation?

Volume 22, Issue 1, January 2016 is a Special Issue with the theme 'Fundamental Rights In Crisis'. Issue edited by: Elisabeth Lambert Abdelgawad, Gaëtan CliquennoisAbstract
This article analyses the relationship between the freezing of the budget of the Council of Europe, the introduction of ‘new management’ techniques to increase productivity and the reforms of the European Court of Human Rights to increase the number of cases solved (and at the speed at which they are solved). To what extent has the the drive to reduce cost had an impact on the evolution of the European Convention of Human Rights? Detailed attention is paid to the preparatory works of both the successful and the unsuccessful reforms of the European system of human rights, other relevant documents of the Council of Europe. Several key institutional actors were interviewed. It is concluded that financial cuts imposed on the budget of the Council of Europe have saved the Court (to a certain extent) but have significantly damaged the European system of human rights.