Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Jan Petrov
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Masaryk University Brno
Impact of the ECHR Case Law on National Legal Orders: The Role of National Authorities
Jurisprudence 1/2016 Section: Articles Page: 21-29
Keywords: European Convention on Human Rights; Execution of the ECHR judgements, res interpretata, compliance with international law
Abstract: The article is concerned with the impact of the ECHR case law on national legal orders. The text distinguishes between the binding force of the Strasbourg judgments for the parties of the dispute, and the res interpretata effect. The execution of a particular judgment comprises the duty of a respondent state to adopt general measures of non-repetition. The res interpretata effect describes the normative consequences of the judgments against other states. In the next part, the article draws up a model diagram of the ECHR impact on national legal orders. It emphasizes the importance of national authorities, which play two roles within the mechanisms of the ECHR judgments’ implementation. In the first phase, they function as “diffusers” as they spread the ECHR rulings’ consequences by adopting general rules. In the second phase, the national authorities apply and enforce the rules adopted in the first phase and, thereby, they fulfil the role of “filters” vis-ą-vis the ECHR.
