<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Over the last forty years the concept of the horizontal positive obligations of the State Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights has been developing in a number of cases of the European Court of Human Rights. This concept extends the protection of Convention rights and freedoms to horizontal relations, that is, to the relations between two private parties. However, the Convention on Human Rights can be violated only by the State; the violation by private parties is not possible, as private parties are not parties to the Conventions. Therefore, the only way to challenge a violation of Convention rights committed by private parties is to link this action to an act or omission of the State, and to claim that the State is responsible for it. This, in turn, requires demonstrating that the Convention obliges the State to protect one individual’s Convention rights from violations committed by other individuals. The State has a wide margin of appreciation as to how it discharges the obligation to protect Convention rights against violations by private individuals.</p></abstract>

Over the last forty years the concept of the horizontal positive obligations of the State Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights has been developing in a number of cases of the European Court of Human Rights. This concept extends the protection of Convention rights and freedoms to horizontal relations, that is, to the relations between two private parties. However, the Convention on Human Rights can be violated only by the State; the violation by private parties is not possible, as private parties are not parties to the Conventions. Therefore, the only way to challenge a violation of Convention rights committed by private parties is to link this action to an act or omission of the State, and to claim that the State is responsible for it. This, in turn, requires demonstrating that the Convention obliges the State to protect one individual’s Convention rights from violations committed by other individuals. The State has a wide margin of appreciation as to how it discharges the obligation to protect Convention rights against violations by private individuals.

The Role of the European Court of Human Rights in Promoting Horizontal Positive Obligations of the State

International and Comparative Law Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Over the last forty years the concept of the horizontal positive obligations of the State Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights has been...

The Role of the European Court of Human Rights in Promoting Horizontal Positive Obligations of the State

Published Online: Mar 28, 2018

Page range: 39 - 53

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/iclr-2018-0014

Keywords
European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, positive obligations of the State, horizontal relations

© 2018

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The Role of the European Court of Human Rights in Promoting Horizontal Positive Obligations of the State

Published Online: Mar 28, 2018

Page range: 39 - 53

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/iclr-2018-0014

KeywordsEuropean Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, positive obligations of the State, horizontal relations

© 2018

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, positive obligations of the State, horizontal relations