Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Golden Oldie: Imposing rule of law

Rule of law through treaty (from October 2006)

The rule of law may sneak into a political system in unusual ways. In this case, through an old Cold War institution. And the motivation for accepting the authority of the international court is probably the desire by the Russian power elite for closer relations with the economic powers of Western Europe, even if that means basic political reform.

[There's a link to a page called "What's what?" in the last paragraph that is no longer valid. I suggest you check out The European Court of Human Rights page instead.]

 Europe's Long Legal Tether on Russia -- Court of Human Rights a Powerful Check on Excesses, Abuses

"While President Vladimir Putin has been marginalizing Russia's parliament, opposition, media and human rights groups, this international court sitting 1,250 miles away in Strasbourg, France, has emerged as a powerful check on the excesses of the Russian bureaucracy and failures by the country's own investigative organs and courts to follow Russia's laws.

"The European Court enforces the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, drawn up by the Council of Europe, an international body founded in the wake of World War II to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. Russia ratified the convention in 1998, agreeing to accept the court's decisions as binding... "

The First Edition of What You Need to Know: Teaching Tools is now available from the publisher

The Fourth Edition of What You Need to Know is available from the publisher (where shipping is always FREE).

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