ECHR and national constitutional courts

Abstract

Comprising fundamental rights and freedoms and establishing the effective control system, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) encroaches upon the area that is traditional reserved for constitutional law. Although built on the doctrine reserved for international treaty law, the Convention goes beyond the traditional boundaries that exist between international and constitutional law. It has gradually infiltrated into the national legal systems. Constitutional courts have had the crucial role in this process. This paper will focus on the applicability of the ECHR in proceedings before national constitutional courts. Having in mind the jurisdiction of the national constitutional court, the ECHR may be applied in two ways: first, in the process of constitutional review by national constitutional courts and, second, in the process of deciding on constitutional complaints.

Keywords

• ECHR
• constitutional court
• ECTHR