Universal civil jurisdiction and forum necessitatis – do they have a standing as per the case – law of the European court of human rigths?

Abstract

The right of fair trial as per art.6, para.1 of European Convention on Human Rights is understood to provide for access to court in civil claims and it is a general test for compliance of all grounds of international jurisdiction. Its application is dominated by the procedural character of the notion whereas the subject matter of the dispute has lesser value even in cases of infringement of jus cogens rules against torture. The case law of European Court of Human Rights as it stands leaves no room for so – called universal civil jurisdiction and invest states with significant margin of discretion in defining the characteristics of the link between the court and the claim. The general trend for self – restraint by states in the exercise of judicial powers, where the cases are only tenuously connected with the respective jurisdiction, is inherent in the application of the right to fair trial. Human rights victims could hope for future evolution in the field of international civil jurisdiction since the matter is dynamic and the jurisprudence of the ECtHR is also possible to evolve.

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