The European Court of Human Rights and its Search for Common Values

Abstract

Values play a significant role in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (Court), and carry the potential to influence the Court’s interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). This is particularly evident when the Court refers to common values whilst engaging in European consensus analysis. By exploring sociological approaches to the concept of values and Gilbert’s summative and plural subject accounts of shared values, this article argues that it is reasonable for the Court to search for common values amongst the member states of the Convention, in an effort to align its interpretation of Convention rights with such values. However, the article contends that when the Court ascribes normative authority to shared values identified purely through a comparative analysis of state practice, it is confounding the summative and plural subject accounts of common values in its reasoning, thus raising legitimacy concerns.