Just Words : The Effectiveness of Civil Justice in European Human Rights Jurisprudence

The book is intended for academics, students, and practitioners of European and human rights law interested in a critical assessment of European legal doctrine. Human rights advocates in particular will find the non-theoretical approach to fair trial principles valuable.

This book examines the role of the European Court of Human Rights in promoting standards of effective civil justice in Europe. It defines judicial effectiveness as composed of three main components, namely the length, cost and predictability of proceedings. Following a comprehensive review of the relevant case law, the book argues that the legal standards established by the Court in these areas are rather modest, and that the legal reasoning behind them is predominantly formalist. Rather than developing an understanding of the relevant policy choices that determine the institutional framework of civil justice, the Court bases its decisions on abstract concepts like 'reasonable time', 'access to court' and 'legal certainty'. By sidelining the key institutional issues such as resource allocation and incentives, the Court has produced a largely theoretical case law that actually has little value for persons who wish to enforce their rights in courts.