The Future of Human Rights Protection in Europe

Author: Angelika Nußberger; Cathérine Van de Graaf; Yannick Schoog
Publisher: Larcier Intersentia Publishers
ISBN: 9781839704413
Published In: April 2026
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: Belgium ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Human rights protection in Europe stands at a pivotal moment. Legal systems, doctrines and institutions developed in the aftermath of war and authoritarian rule are increasingly confronted with complex and long-term crises, including climate change, populism, pandemics, digital disinformation and persistent social inequality. These developments challenge the resilience of the European human rights framework and raise pressing questions about its future capacity to safeguard fundamental rights. At the same time, the long-term consequences of today’s decisions will fall disproportionately on younger generations, whose voices remain underrepresented in scholarly debates. This edited volume responds to that imbalance by bringing together early-career researchers who engage critically with the evolving landscape of European human rights protection. Through doctrinally grounded and forward-looking legal analysis, the contributions explore how institutions, legal mechanisms and research approaches may need to adapt in order to respond effectively to emerging and intergenerational challenges.

The volume is organised into three thematic parts, each addressing a key dimension of transformation in European human rights law. The first part, ‘Future-Proofing Human Rights’, examines how legal and institutional frameworks might respond to structural and long-term threats, ranging from health emergencies and social rights enforcement to questions of accountability and institutional reform. The second part, ‘Opening Procedural Pathways to Tackle Injustice’, focuses on access to justice and the procedural mechanisms through which human rights claims are advanced and adjudicated. The contributions analyse how procedural barriers can limit effective protection and explore reforms in areas such as environmental litigation, repetitive applications before the European Court of Human Rights and corporate accountability within global supply chains. The third part, ‘Novel Approaches to Human Rights Research’, turns to methodological and conceptual innovation in the field. These include the evaluation of legal phenomena through narrative theory to reassess what is treated as legally relevant and what is not, the use of the extended case method to analyse human rights trajectories and the reliance on survey data to trace public support for human rights.

By combining legal analysis with innovative perspectives, this volume offers valuable insights for scholars, researchers and advanced students of European human rights law. It will also be of interest to practitioners, policy-makers and institutional actors working within the European human rights systems who seek to understand the emerging challenges facing rights protection and the potential pathways for its future development.

Introduction. – The Future of Human Rights Protection in Europe

Part I. FUTURE-PROOFING HUMAN RIGHTS

Chapter 1. Ahead to the Past: How the Future Will Govern Memory of the Past and the Present

Chapter 2. De-Imperialisation of Russia and Prospects for Its Reaccession to the Council of Europe

Chapter 3. After Covid-19: Future Pandemics as a State of (Health) Emergency and the Need for Judicial Review

Chapter 4. The Future of Social Rights in a Multilayered System for the Protection of Human Rights

Part II. OPENING PROCEDURAL PATHWAYS TO TACKLE INJUSTICE

Chapter 5. The Anthropocentric Approach of the ECtHR in Environment-Related Cases

Chapter 6. How Soon is Now? The Future of Repetitive Cases

Chapter 7. The EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: Making or Breaking Human Rights Protection in Europe?

Part III. NOVEL APPROACHES TO HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH

Chapter 8. ‘The Revolution Will Be Live-Streamed’: Narrating the Tensions around the Right to Political Expression in the Privatised Digital Public Sphere

Chapter 9. Education, Perception and the Future of European Human Rights

Chapter 10. Mapping the Actors in a Human Rights Trajectory before the European Court of Human Rights: How Procedural Openings Enabled the Exceptional Win of a Hijabi Woman in Lachiri v. Belgium

Conclusion. Uncertain Futures of Human Rights Protection in Europe