The European Convention on Human Rights and its Impact on National Private Law

Originally, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was meant to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals against interference from the state. However, following the landmark ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Marckx v Belgium, it has become apparent that the ECHR matters also in the ‘horizontal’ relationships between private parties. Over the last two decades, the ECHR has come to play a major role in a large number of private law issues. As a result, the case-law of the ECtHR has triggered significant changes in Contracting States’ domestic private laws. The aim of this book is to provide a broader view of the impact of the ECHR on national private law. To that end, it begins with a comparative analysis of the interaction between the ECHR and the States Parties’ domestic laws, focusing on two jurisdictions: Germany and Italy. The chapters forming the main part of the book explore, also from a comparative perspective, the influence of the ECHR on a wide range of fields of private law, including family law, data protection law, media law, copyright law, labour law as well as private international law and procedural law. The analysis of cases reveals many common features, but likewise some inconsistencies, in the decisions of the ECtHR involving issues of private law. The final part of the book focuses on a number of overarching issues, in particular on the role of comparative law in the reasoning of the ECtHR and on the contribution of the ECHR to European harmonisation of private law. What becomes apparent from the various contributions is that the ECHR and the case-law of the ECtHR are becoming important elements of a common European private law.