The Impact of Accession to the European Union on the Application of the European Convention on Human Rights

Among the challenges for new member countries of the European Union (EU) in the law and justice sector is to familiarize the countries' legal practitioners with the relationship and interdependence of the various human rights protection systems in place, i.e. the national protection system, the protection system under the European Convention of Human Rights, and the human rights protection system of the European Union. The following contribution analyzes and explains the main consequences of a country's accession to the EU on its application of the European Convention on Human Rights. The four key areas considered in the article are: the legal sources, the scope of EU law, the standards of protection and the available legal remedies and procedures.The contribution is based on a lecture presented by Dr. iur. Johan Callewaert during a conference on "EU law and Judicial Practice" which the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Rule of Law Programme together with the Academy of European Law had organized in Bucharest, Romania, on April 7-8, 2006. It takes into consideration legal and jurisprudential changes throughout 2006.