Europe’s multi-layered human rights protection system: challenges, opportunities and risks

The aim and purpose of fundamental rights is not to foster harmonisation or uniformity; they are about the empowerment of individuals and the protection of liberty primarily against state authorities. The European multilevel system of rights protection is composed of layers of protection, that complement each other, instead of layers that are neatly separated according to their origin (constitutional, EU or international). Uniformity is neither required nor desirable in a Europe composed of nation states, each of which with its own distinctive traditions of fundamental rights protection.

What is required is consensus on certain minimum standards which apply to everybody by virtue of being human. They are the rights of every human being, virtuous and unvirtuous alike. The European system will only remain credible if it rests on mutual respect and trust, good will and cooperation. For a mobile to work, the different parts of the system have to go about their task with sensitivity in order to preserve the overall balance. All this requires not only sincere dialogue and willingness to engage substantially and transparently with the arguments used by ‘other’ courts, but also the recognition of certain common (minimum) standards which transcend both national and supranational legal orders.