A People's History of the European Court of Human Rights [Hardcover]

Michael D. Goldhaber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0813539838 | ISBN-13: 978-0813539836

The exceptionality of America's Supreme Court has long been conventional wisdom. But the United States Supreme Court is no longer the only one changing the landscape of public rights and values. Over the past thirty years, the European Court of Human Rights has developed an ambitious, American-style body of law. Unheralded by the mass press, this obscure tribunal in Strasbourg, France has become, in many ways, the Supreme Court of Europe. Michael Goldhaber introduces American audiences to the judicial arm of the Council of Europe-a group distinct from the European Union, and much larger-whose mission is centered on interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council routinely confronts nations over their most culturally-sensitive, hot-button issues. It has stared down France on the issue of Muslim immigration; Ireland on abortion; Greece on Greek Orthodoxy; Turkey on Kurdish separatism; Austria on Nazism; and Britain on gay rights and corporal punishment. And what is most extraordinary is that nations commonly comply. In the battle for the world's conscience, Goldhaber shows how the court in Strasbourg may be pulling ahead. Michael D. Goldhaber is a contributing editor at The American Lawyer, where he has also served as chief European correspondent. Jacket illustration: detail from Justice, by Pieter Bruegel, 1559. From Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Prints and Drawings, Nadine M. Orenstein, ed., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. This etching illustrates torture's long history in Europe. The Kurdish claimant Zeki Aksoy asked the Strasbourg court to ensure that the would be the last European to suffer such rough justice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gripping account of the stories behind the cases that have made European human rights jurisprudence the force for moral good that it is today." -- Conor Gearty, director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics

"A one-of-a kind account of Strasbourg law." -- Mark Janis, William F. Starr Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law

"A wonderfully written and researched book that celebrates Europe's achievements in defending human rights through the stories of the victims who took their complaints to the European Court of Human Rights." -- Professor Kevin Boyle, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex

"We in the United States, who have watched the deterioration of constitutional rights in the absence of strong judicial oversight, can learn from the remarkable example of the European Court of Human Rights in this wonderful book." -- Howard Zinn

Review

Michael Goldhaber's approach to the Court and to the many important cases that have been brought before it cast the subject in a new light...I hope that he will continue to be, if I may borrow his phrase, a troubadour for the protection of human rights in Europe. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813539838
• ISBN-13: 978-0813539836
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,721,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Law > International Law > International Courts

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT, October 30, 2007

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Orange Blossom - See all my reviews

This review is from: A People's History of the European Court of Human Rights (Hardcover)

This item was in perfect condition. Exactly the way the seller said it would be.