Foreword [Court delay and human rights remedies]

Abstract

There is an inbuilt tension in our current conception of human rights, stemming from the attempt to n1arry an abstract understanding of the universal entitlements and freedoms of human beings to systems of enforcement that largely rest upon the laws and institutions of nation states. Within Europe, potential misn1atches between universal rights and national remedies have been addressed through the mechanism of the European Convention of Human Rights. Residents of European states which have ratified the Convention and granted the right of individual petition enjoy the possibility of direct access to the European Court of Human Rights, which means that national remedies for human rights violations may be tested against the minimum standards set at a European level and, to the extent that they are found wanting, replaced by the latter. [Excerpt]