The Use of Force and Article 2 of the ECHR in Light of European Conflicts

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in its current form is incomplete and outdated. Due to significant development at a legislative and judicial level, the right to life spans beyond what is enumerated within Article 2.

With the belief that Article 2 is still relevant, this book investigates how the right to life can be better protected within Europe. It advocates for the modernisation of Article 2 through codifying legislative and judicial developments relevant to this provision in the form of guidelines. It also considers the improvements that can be made by the CoE bodies - the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Committee of Ministers (CoM), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights - to encourage adherence to Article 2 and promote effective remedies to prevent future violations.

It uses the experience from four internal European conflicts - the Basque conflict, Chechen conflict, the Northern Ireland Troubles and the Turkish-Kurdish conflict - to illustrate its points.