A Comparison of the European, Inter-American, African and Arab Human Rights Courts: Institutional Aspects

This book focuses on the institutional aspects of the European, Inter-American, African and Arab Human Rights Courts. It emphasizes a comparative analysis of the legal and procedural aspects of the three currently active courts, the European, Inter-American, and African Human Rights Courts, while also considering the Arab Court of Human Rights, which has not yet become operational. By examining the procedural elements of all regional human rights courts from a comparative point of view, this edited collection fills a gap in the existing literature. 

This book contains eleven chapters by different authors, each addressing a particular procedural or institutional issue related to regional human rights courts. The diverse authorship, drawn from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, ensures a range of different perspectives that combine an interesting and sustained comparative analysis of the operation of the regional human rights courts. The chapters examine the institutional and procedural aspects concerning the judges, the courts' jurisdiction, the sources of applicable law, the access to the court and admissibility, the processes of hearing a case, interim measures, advisory opinions, judgments and reparation, and the supervision and enforcement of judgments. These substantive chapters are supported by an introduction that provides a historical context for each human rights court within its respective system, and a concluding chapter that critically examines the past, present and future of regional human rights protection and justice.

The aim of this book is to provide a valuable resource for both academic researchers and human rights practitioners. It should also be useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying human rights.

Ahmed Almutawa is an Honorary Fellow at Durham Law School, Durham University, United Kingdom.

Konstantinos D. Magliveras is Professor of the Law of International Organisations and of Public International Law, Department of Mediterranean Studies, University of the Aegean, Greece.