Does Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights achieve the correct balance between allowing States to tackling situations involving a national emergency and ensuring continued protection of human rights?
ECHR Essay - December 2002 Alexander Korff 000378523 Article 15 - Derogation in time of emergency Does Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights achieve the correct balance between allowing States to tackling situations involving a national emergency and ensuring continued protection of human rights? . Introduction The international guarantees for the protection of human rights are of special importance in times of war or national emergencies, as it is precisely then that States will be most likely to deviate from the standards of human rights that would be accepted in times of peace. There are clear reasons why, to give an example, States may require that the period of time for which a person is detained is extended. The interpretation of whether the measures taken were justified at the time and whether the steps taken were 'strictly' necessary and whether a national emergency even exists need to be scrutinised closely by the Courts when overseeing States who have derogated from certain Convention rights. To answer the above question it is necessary to look both at the precise wording of Article 15 and at the way in which that Article is applied by the European Court of Human Rights. In this essay, I will therefore first examine the limitations which Article 15 itself imposes on States - with reference to certain other