New analytical presentation of the key aspects of European Court of Human Rights case law relating to LGBT issues
The Council of Europe has launched a major new publication on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on sexual orientation and gender identity.
You can read the 128-page report here.
The report aims to give an analytical presentation of the key aspects of the case law relating to sexual orientation and gender identity and to reproduce the relevant passages from the decisions and judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in cases dealing with these issues.
It is intended to be a handbook for human rights professionals, researchers and students.
Part one of the report proposes to discuss the grounds for relying on the European Convention on Human Rights in matters relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The report states that more specifically, the aim of part one will be to see which Convention rights have, in the current state of European case law, been relied on in cases relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. They can be divided into two main categories: rights guaranteeing a freedom and rights guaranteeing equality or non-discrimination.
Part two of the study discusses the standard of protection under the ECHR in matters relating to sexual orientation and gender identity as it emerges from the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
It offers the reader a theme-based approach, "theme by theme" or "field by field" (sexual freedom, access to employment, justice, adoption, marriage etc). For each field, the leading judgment establishing the case law is specified, together with any possible case law applications deriving from it. For each judgment, the principal facts of the case are set out and the relevant passages from the judgment as delivered by the Court are reproduced.
As the Conservative government seeks to enact a Bill of Rights that some claim may lead to Britain's departure from the European Convention on Human Rights, the study notes that the 1950 Convention is crucial for the definition of the rights of lesbian, gay and transgender persons.
"The European Court of Human Rights has enshrined these rights in its case law and has played both an essential and a pioneering role at international and European levels by prompting states to make major legislative changes on issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity," it says.
In related news, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday published a 68-page issue paper on human rights and intersex people, available here.
The six-chapter paper addresses the medical, legal and administrative obstacles which prevent intersex people from fully enjoying their human rights. "By publishing it, I intended to provide more detailed guidance to address this neglected human rights problem," the Commissioner said.
The paper informs governments and practitioners about current ethical and human rights developments, including global best practices already taken to protect and empower intersex people, for example through reforms of equal treatment legislation.