Conference: Taking Ambivalence Seriously

A particular ambivalence surrounds in the role of the European Court of Human Rights in democracy promotion. On the one hand, as an international court, it can play a potentially useful role in countering the anti-democratic excesses of political populism in the light of its general independence from national political processes. On the other hand, as a supranational court detached from domestic constitutional arrangements, it is an easy target for authoritarian populist rhetoric. The papers in this workshop use this ambivalence in the ECtHR’s role in democracy promotion as their starting point to examine the resources available to the Court to promote and enhance democracy in Europe from theoretical, political and doctrinal perspectives.

Speakers Include:

• Başak Çali, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford
• Esra Demir-Gürsel, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin,
• Michaela Hailbronner, University of Giessen
• Aileen Kavanagh, Trinity College Dublin,
• Rory O’Connell, University of Ulster
• Alain Zysset, University of Glasgow

The conference is organized by Professor Mikael Rask Madsen (director of iCourts, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen) and Professor Cormac Mac Amhlaigh (Edinburgh Law School) and is funded by the Edinburgh – Copenhagen Strategic Partnership Fund.

Host or Publisher Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh