Human rights and Democracy: Time to revisit the ECHR?
In May 2025, nine European leaders signed a joint letter questioning whether the European Court of Human Rights had extended its reach beyond the original intent of the Convention—particularly in relation to illegal migration. The response from European institutions was swift and dismissive. Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset rejected not only the argument but the premise that elected governments should question the Court at all, insisting that “no judicial body should be subject to political pressure.”
This is part of a broader and long-running debate about the role of international courts in domestic politics. European governments are now navigating a dense legal architecture involving the ECHR, the CJEU, and the UN Refugee Convention—an arrangement that has repeatedly constrained national attempts to tighten border controls, as seen in Hungary, in ongoing challenges to Italy’s Albania migration deal, and notably in the UK.
Much of the concern centres on “dynamic interpretation” by the courts, which has expanded the meaning of key articles—such as the prohibition on torture or the right to family life—often with extraterritorial effect. Critics argue that this evolving jurisprudence is not confined to international courts: it has influenced national judges as well, who increasingly mirror the expansive legal reasoning of Strasbourg and Luxembourg.
This raises a fundamental democratic question: at what point does the protective role of the courts begin to override the policymaking rights of elected governments?
Speakers:
Dr. Bernadett Petri, ministerial commissioner for the coordination of direct EU funds
Luke Gittos, lawyer; columnist, Spiked; author, Human Rights - Illusory Freedom: Why we should repeal the Human Rights Act
Marc Bossuyt, Professor emeritus of International Law of the University of Antwerp, President emeritus of the Constitutional Court of Belgium, Honorary Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, Former Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights
