The Core of Fundamental Rights and the European Court of Human Rights

The scope of fundamental rights as laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights has been extended strongly over the last decades. As a result, the impact of the European Court of Human Rights? decisions on national policies and legislation has increased significantly, even where less ?fundamental? rights are concerned. At some point, this might endanger the acceptance of this Court?s decisions by the states. It is therefore important to study if the Court can use a different approach to deal with ?peripheral? rights ? one that takes explicitly into account states? policies and practices. This project proposes to do so, by looking at the possibilities to determine the ?core? of rights and by examining how such determination can be used by the Court in its relation to the states.