L'effet horizontal implique l'application de la Convention EDH dans les relations interindividuelles. Justifiée par la théorie des obligations positives, cette construction jurisprudentielle permet la mise en jeu de la responsabilité internationale de l'État lorsque celui-ci ne prend pas les mesures nécessaires pour prévenir et réprimer les violations de la Convention commises par les personnes privées. La reconnaissance de l'effet horizontal par le juge européen a pour conséquence la prolifération des obligations substantielles et procédurales de l'État. La transposition de celles-ci dans l'ordre juridique interne astreint les autorités publiques, y compris les tribunaux, à intervenir dans les rapports privés. Nécessaire à l'effectivité des droits de l'homme, la diffusion de l'effet horizontal a pour contrepartie l'accroissement de l'intervention étatique dans la sphère privée et l'apparition des devoirs individuels fondés sur le respect des droits et libertés d'autrui. La Cour EDH, pionnière de l' « horizontalisation », refuse d'en élaborer une théorie générale. Le défi est dès lors de délimiter l'extension des droits de l'homme aux relations interindividuelles afin que celle-ci ne devienne pas un facteur d'affaiblissement de la protection verticale des droits de l'homme.

A contribution to a conference on "Human Rights and the efficiency of the Judiciary", this article first looks at the efficiency issues affecting the European Court of Human Rights, then asks under what human rights themselves may be efficient. Retourner la question de l'efficacité vers le droit des libertés fondamentales invite dans un premier temps à examiner la capacité des mécanismes de protection à produire les effets que l'on attend d'eux. Cette étape institutionnelle sera strasbourgeoise en raison de l'importance particulière que la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme revêt pour la sauvegarde des libertés dans l'ordre juridique belge. Elle est nécessaire parce que, si le thème de l'efficacité est ancré dans l'air du temps, les soucis d'effectivité et de rendement inquiètent depuis plusieurs années la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme et dominent les travaux de modernisation de son fonctionnement. Le second temps de la réflexion dirige ensuite le test d'efficacité vers les droits fondamentaux eux-mêmes, dans le but d'éclairer les conditions particulières de leur effectivité

Now in a comprehensively updated edition, this indispensable handbook analyzes how international humanitarian law has evolved in the face of these many new challenges. Central concerns include the war on terror, new forms of armed conflict and humanitarian action, the emergence of international criminal justice, and the reshaping of fundamental rules and consensus in a multipolar world. ThePractical Guide to Humanitarian Law provides the precise meaning and content for over 200 terms such as terrorism, refugee, genocide, armed conflict, protection, peacekeeping, torture, and private military companies—words that the media has introduced into everyday conversation, yet whose legal and political meanings are often obscure. The Guide definitively explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries. Written from the perspective of victims and those who provide assistance to them, the Guide outlines the dangers, spells out the law, and points the way toward dealing with violations of the law. Entries are complemented by analysis of the decisions of relevant courts; detailed bibliographic references; addresses, phone numbers, and Internet links to the organizations presented; a thematic index; and an up-to-date list of the status of ratification of more than thirty international conventions and treaties concerning humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, and international criminal law. This unprecedented work is an invaluable reference for policy makers and opinion leaders, students, relief workers, and members of humanitarian organizations. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

In fundamental rights adjudication, a court first has to determine whether the interest at stake falls within the scope of the fundamental right invoked. Whether or not an individual interest falls within the scope or ambit of one of the fundamental rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights determines whether or not the European Court of Human Rights can decide on the merits of a case. This volume brings together a variety of legal scholars in order to examine the scope of fundamental rights. Topics range from the nature of human rights and the real or imagined risk of rights inflation to theories of positive obligations and social and economic rights. It contains contributions of a theoretical nature as well as analytical overviews of the ECtHR's approach. In addition, comparisons are made with domestic, EU and international law.

The African human rights system has undergone some remarkable developments since the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the cornerstone of the African human rights system, in June 1981. The year2011 marked the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter. It also marked 25 years since the African Charter entered into force on 21 October 1986.This book aims to provide reflections on most of the major human rights issues in the past 30 years of the African human rights system in practice and discussion on the future: the African Charter s impact and contribution to the respect, protection and promotion of human rights in Africa; the contemporary challenges faced by the African Human rights system in responding adequately to the demands of rapidly evolving African societies; and how the African human rights system can be strengthened in the future to ensure that the human rights protected in the African Charter, as developed in the jurisprudence of the African Commission since the Commission was inaugurated in 1987, are realised in practice.The chapters in this volume bring together the work of 20 human rights scholars and practitioners, with expertise in human rights in Africa, under the following general themes: rights and duties in the African Charter; rights of the vulnerable under the African system; implementation mechanisms for human rights in Africa; and towards an effective African regional human rights system.

The authors of this volume have been inspired by the scholar to which this "Liber Amicorum" is dedicated - Professor Ove Bring - to look into both the past and the future of international law. Like Ove Bring, they have dealt with many aspects of the law governing the use of force, from arms control to human rights, international criminal law, the UN Charter, and, of course, international humanitarian law. Like Professor Bring, they have allowed themselves to draw trajectories from history and into the future, and have shunned away from neither the controversial nor the speculative, be it on the Middle East, the invasion of Iraq or the independence of Kosovo. This collection brings together insights from a former UN Legal Counsel, a former Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, present and former judges of the European Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, one present and one former member of the International Law Commission, as well as law professors and practitioners, from all Nordic countries, Germany and Australia. Together they form a highly challenging mosaic of perspectives on topical issues like cluster munitions, targeting, human rights in peace operations and the purposes of sentencing in international tribunals. The volume also contains a bibliography and a presentation of Professor Bring's work.