If a treaty from the 1850s regulating 'commerce' or forbidding 'degrading treatment of persons' is to be interpreted 150 years later, does 'commerce' or 'degrading treatment of persons' have the same meaning at the time of interpretation as they had when the treaty was agreed? The evolutionary interpretation of treaties has proven one of the most controversial topics in the practice of international law. Indeed, it has been seen as going against the very grain of the law of treaties, and has been argued to be contrary to the intention of the parties, breaching the principle of consent. This...

Domestic courts are entrusted with the application of the European Convention on Human Rights, as faithful trustees of the rights protected in the Convention. Their relationship with the European Court of Human Right is defined by their application of the ECHR.
Through analysis of the way in which domestic courts in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany apply the Convention, this book considers domestic application of the Convention to be in good faith, contrary to what others have contended. Arguing that it is not true in descriptive terms, nor desirable in normative terms, that the...

A European public law is under construction, but how has this occurred and what is its character? Stirn proposes that this European public law is being constructed by the convergence of three circles: the law of the European Union, the law of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the different domestic legal orders. The mutually influential relationship of these constituents has allowed them to develop, most considerably in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.

The book begins by reflecting on the different phases of...