4 - Sites of Judicial Integration and Their Transformation

Summary

This chapter examines the ECtHR’s supranational authority in detail analyzing the Court’s classical function of providing judicial review, its remedial practice as well as the new advisory jurisdiction as introduced by Protocol 16. Acknowledging that the ECHR system cannot be connected to a larger autonomous political unit, the claim is put forward is that the ECtHR nonetheless provides for a complementary layer of public authority which directly operates on individuals alongside that of domestic legal systems. The ECtHR enjoys a broad measure of autonomy over states and may circumvent the state veil by placing individuals under international protection or responsibilizing domestic authorities. The direct interaction with domestic actors not only represents part of the Court’s supranational authority but informs, at the same time, its legitimacy as the Convention community feeds on domestic actors, individuals especially, directly submitting their arguments to the Court.