The European Court of Human Rights As a Pathway to Impunity for International Crimes

This book presents contentious case rulings by the European Court of Human Rights providing extensive case notes and questions. The book elucidates just how the Court came in those cases to contribute to lack of State accountability and to impunity for individual perpetrators of international crimes. Issues addressed include the Court’s: derogation of the jus cogens nature of certain fundamental human rights, grant of State immunity from any liability for systemic torture, unjustified failure to classify certain European Convention on Human Rights violations as international crimes; and improper declining of jurisdiction where States participated in a U.N. peace-building mission that itself involved serious violations of the U.N. Charter human rights principles. The book argues that the moral integrity of the Court’s rulings (rulings that promote and protect international human rights) is an essential aspect of promoting the internationalization of the rule of law.

Sonja C. Grover, Ph.D., is a Professor with Lakehead University, Canada. She has authored 7 books and over 80 refereed articles; over 60 on the topic of human rights published in leading international human rights and law journals, has presented numerous international conference papers and published book chapters in this field. She has also written several books on children’s human rights including, "Children's Human Rights: Challenging Global Barriers to the Child Liberation Movement" (2007); "The Child’s Right to Legal Standing" (2008) and a major reference book, "Prosecuting International Crimes and Human Rights Abuses Committed Against Children: Leading International Court Cases" (2009).