Economic liberty : the forgotten rights

Abstract

This subject matter of this dissertation explores the legal nature of economic liberties. The aim will be to conjure a notion which nowadays is totally ignored or diminished in importance in many jurisdictions and by international institutions in contrast with modern day treatment of the economic sphere by taking into consideration the EU and European Court of Human Rights decisions. The choice of analyzing in some length US law was seen as an important undertaking as the original system promulgated by the US was unique and although comparable to the French model, the differences are apparently clear, if not contrary to the idea of liberty espoused by the two systems. The property rights and the right to enter into a contract harkening back to Biblical times and borrowing from authors during the Scottish enlightenment period and other European liberty doctrines, have amassed all the necessary elements by which a free and open society devoid from excessive intrusion could operate and produce the optimal outcome for the fulfilment of the materialistic wellbeing. Despite the divergent interpretations of US Constitutional clauses between the originators and interpreters, which will not partake a role in this dissertation, the aim is to provide how the outcome of only one facet of economic liberty is able to achieve such a notion and flourish in a system of less intrusive state and more control by lavish state regulations.