Applying old tools to new challenges: The necessary adaptation of the French and ECtHR judges to emergency as a new paradigm of government

Marie Laur

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl.1891

Autores/as

Marie Laur Central European University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0501-2735

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.1891

Palabras clave:

Emergency, judicial review, ECHR, France, emergencia, revisión judicial, TEDH, Francia

Resumen

As states of emergency are becoming increasingly pervasive, courts can no longer rely on deferential approaches based on the assumption that emergencies are exceptional and temporary. This article investigates two mechanisms of judicial review in the case law of the ECtHR, French Constitutional Council and Council of State. The first mechanism is the review of the existence of the circumstances justifying the exceptional powers and restrictions on human rights. The second is the misuse of power or détournement de pouvoir doctrine. The article argues that both these elements of judicial review are under exploited while presenting the advantage of being readily available – therefore requiring no judicial creation – and offering strong bases to curb abuses of emergency powers. Examined at two different levels, national and regional, these two lines of reasoning, if deployed appropriately, might inspire further jurisdictions faced with similar emergency challenges.

A medida que los estados de excepción se están volviendo cada vez más frecuentes, los tribunales ya no pueden confiar en enfoques deferentes basados en el supuesto de que las situaciones de excepción son excepcionales y temporales. Este artículo investiga dos mecanismos de revisión judicial en la jurisprudencia del TEDH, el Consejo Constitucional francés y el Consejo de Estado. El primer mecanismo es la revisión de la existencia de las circunstancias que justifican los poderes excepcionales y las restricciones a los derechos humanos. El segundo es la doctrina del abuso de poder o détournement de pouvoir. El artículo sostiene que esos dos elementos de la revisión judicial están infrautilizados, al tiempo que presentan la ventaja de estar fácilmente disponibles -por lo que no requieren creación judicial- y ofrecen bases sólidas para frenar los abusos de los poderes de excepción. Examinadas en dos niveles diferentes, nacional y regional, estas dos líneas de razonamiento, si se utilizan adecuadamente, podrían inspirar a otras jurisdicciones que se enfrentan a retos de emergencia similares.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Metrics

Views 111
Downloads:
First_Online_Laur_OSLS (English) 97

Biografía del autor/a

Marie Laur, Central European University

Marie Laur is a doctoral candidate in the Legal Studies Department at the Central European University since 2020. She studied in France, Northern Ireland and Belgium and holds a master’s degree in international and Comparative Law from the University of Toulouse. She worked as lawyer at the European court of human rights between 2012 and 2016. Before joining CEU, Marie was a research fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law in Heidelberg focusing mainly on the constitutional amendment process in Mali and capacity building of the Malian Constitutional Court. Her research focuses on states of emergency, their articulation with constitutionalism and the role of apex courts. In 2021, she received the Academic Achievement Award for First-Year Doctoral Students.

Citas

Agamben, G., 2005. State of Exception. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226009261.001.0001

Becket, J., 1970. The Greek Case Before the European Human Rights Commission. Human Rights, 1(1), 91-117.

Boyron, S., 2012. The Constitution of France: A Contextual Analysis [online]. Oxford/Portland: Hart. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509955749 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509955749

Çali, B., 2017. Coping with crisis: whither the variable geometry in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Wisconsin International Law Journal, 35(2), 237.

Cheney, R.B., 2001. Vice President Cheney Delivers Remarks to the Republican Governors Association [online]. Speech transcription. 25 October. Washington, DC: The White House. Available at: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/vicepresident/news-speeches/speeches/vp20011025.html

Daubresse, M.P., 2020. Rapport au nom de la mission de suivi et de contrôle de la loi SILT. Senate.

Delvolvé, P., 2002. Le droit administratif. 3rd ed. Paris: Dalloz.

Dyzenhaus, D., 2012. States of Emergency. In: M. Rosenfeld and A. Sajó, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law [online]. Oxford University Press, 442–462. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199578610.013.0023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199578610.013.0023

Ferejohn, J., and Pasquino, P., 2004. The law of the exception: A typology of emergency powers. International Journal of Constitutional Law [online], 2(2), 210-239. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/2.2.210 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/2.2.210

Genevois, B., 2008. L’enrichissement des techniques de contrôle [online]. Presented at the Colloque du cinquantenaire du Conseil constitutionnel. 3 November. Available at: https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/sites/default/files/as/root/bank_mm/Colloques/genevois_031108.pdf

Gerards, J., 2019. General Principles of the European Convention on Human Rights. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108652926

Greene, A., 2020a. Derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights in response to the Coronavirus pandemic: if not now, when? European Human Rights Law Review [online], 2020(3), 262-276. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3593358 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3593358

Greene, A., 2020b. Permanent States of Emergency and the Rule of Law: Constitutions in an Age of Crisis. Oxford: Hart.

Gross, O., and Ní Aoláin, F., 2006. Law in Times of Crisis: Emergency Powers in Theory and Practice [online]. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511493997 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511493997

Harris, D., et al., 2014. Harris, O’Boyle, and Warbrick: Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780199606399.003.0001

Hennette Vauchez, S., ed., 2018. Ce qui reste(ra) toujours de l’urgence [online]. Research report. February. Clermont-Ferrand: Institut Universitaire Varenne. Available at: https://juridique.defenseurdesdroits.fr/doc_num.php?explnum_id=17814

Hennette Vauchez, S., 2019. La fabrique législative de l’état d’urgence : lorsque le pouvoir n’arrête pas le pouvoir. Cultures & Conflits [online], (113), 17-41. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4000/conflits.20717 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/conflits.20717

Hennette Vauchez, S., 2021. Democracies Trapped by States of Emergency: Lessons from France. iCourts Working Paper Series [online], (276). Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3982343 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3982343

Hennette Vauchez, S., 2022. La Démocratie en état d’urgence: Quand l’exception devient permanente. Paris: Seuil.

Heri, C., 2020. Loyalty, Subsidiarity, and Article 18 ECHR: How the ECtHR Deals with Mala Fide Limitations of Rights. European Convention on Human Rights Law Review [online], 1(1), 25-61. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-00101001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/26663236-00101001

Krunke, H., 2016. Courts as protectors of the people: constitutional identity, popular legitimacy and human rights. In: M. Scheinin, H. Krunke, and M. Aksenova, eds., Judges as Guardians of Constitutionalism and Human Rights [online]. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 71-94. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785365867.00010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785365867.00010

Raimbourg, D., and Poisson, J.F., 2016. Report on the parliamentary monitoring of the state of emergency. National Assembly, No. 3784.

Rosenfeld, M., 2005. Judicial Balancing in Times of Stress: Comparing the American, British, and Israeli Approaches to the War on Terror. Cardozo Law Review [online], 27, 2079. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.739224 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.739224

Sajó, A., 2021. Ruling by Cheating: Governance in Illiberal Democracy [online]. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108952996 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108952996

Scalia, A., 1997. Common-Law Courts in a Civil-Law System: The Role of United States Federal Courts in Interpreting the Constitution and Laws. In: A. Gutmann, ed., A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law. New ed. Princeton University Press.

Scheinin, M., 2016. The judiciary in times of terrorism and surveillance - a global perspective. In: M. Scheinin, H. Krunke, and M. Aksenova, eds., Judges as Guardians of Constitutionalism and Human Rights [online]. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 177-197. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785365867.00016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785365867.00016

Scheinin, M., 2020. COVID-19 Symposium: To Derogate or Not to Derogate? Opinio Juris [online], 6 April. Available at: http://opiniojuris.org/2020/04/06/covid-19-symposium-to-derogate-or-not-to-derogate/

Schmaltz, C., 2022. The European Court of Human Rights and Article 18 - An Indicator for the State of Democracy in Europe? In: P. van Dijk et al., eds., Theory and Practice of the European Convention on Human Rights [online]. Cambridge: Intersentia, 35-54. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748923503-35 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748923503-35

Schmitt, C., 1988. Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Secretary General of the Council of Europe, 2021. Democracy is in distress, finds the Council of Europe Secretary General’s annual report for 2021 [online]. Press release. 11 May. Strasbourg. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/democracy-is-in-distress-finds-the-council-of-europe-secretary-general-s-annual-report-for-2021

Sudre, F., 2020. La mise en quarantaine de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme. Le Club des Juristes [online], 20 April. Available at: https://www.leclubdesjuristes.com/archives-cdj/la-mise-en-quarantaine-de-la-convention-europeenne-des-droits-de-lhomme-2882/

Troper, M., 2008. Constitutional Law. In: E. Picard and G. Bermann, eds., Introduction to French Law. The Hague: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Tsampi, A., 2020. The new doctrine on misuse of power under Article 18 ECHR: Is it about the system of contre-pouvoirs within the State after all? Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights [online], 38(2), 134-155. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0924051920923606 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0924051920923606

Tsampi, A., 2022. The importance of “separation of powers” in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights: an importance that finally… grew? Blog droit européen [online], 2 June. Available at: https://blogdroiteuropeen.com/2022/06/02/the-importance-of-separation-of-powers-in-the-case-law-of-the-european-court-of-human-rights-an-importance-that-finally-grew-by-aikaterini-tsampi/

Uitz, R., 2020. Pandemic as Constitutional Moment: Hungarian Government Seeks Unlimited Powers. Verfassungsblog [online], 24 March. Available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/pandemic-as-constitutional-moment/

Wallace, S., 2020. Derogations from the European Convention on Human Rights: The Case for Reform. Human Rights Law Review [online], 20(4), 769-796. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa036 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa036