The Past, Present and Future of the Relation between the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights

Summary:

Opinion 2/13 the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) declared the long-negotiated draft agreement on EU accession to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) incompatible with the EU treaties.

The article puts the ruling of the CJEU in a wider context. It recalls the long-standing historical relations between the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and discusses the possible scenarios that may open up in the future. In particular, it claims that, even in the aftermath of Opinion 2/13, a virtuous competition between the CJEU and the ECtHR can have beneficial effect for the protection of fundamental rights, as evidenced by the case of judicial review of targeted UN sanctions. The article suggests that the interaction between the two European supranational courts can still play a positive role for fundamental rights in Europe.