Topic: “In Search of Basic European Values”
The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has arguably been the most efficient and effective system for protecting human rights in the world. The European Court of Human Rights monitors compliance with the Convention in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Paragraph 5 of the European Convention refers to “a common heritage of political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law”. However, dilemmas remain open concerning what European Values actually are and how they can be identified. In particular, the question of whether certain minimum common denominators exist among Council of Europe member states regarding the values of the European Court of Human Rights has not been answered. It appears that there is strong disagreement between some European societies at least about certain basic values. Therefore, the conference will, among others, try to answer the following fundamental questions:
- What are European values?
- Is it possible to identify minimum common denominators of European values? Are basic European values similar in Glasgow, Khabarovsk, Rovaniemi and Ceuta?
- What is the approach of the European Court of Human Rights to the dilemmas posed by European values?
- What is the role of legal theory and legal philosophy in the search for European values?
- Which dilemmas and challenges are posed by the search for European values?
Venue and format
The two-day workshop will be held at the Graduate School of Government and European Studies and the European Faculty of Law in the beautiful surroundings of Ljubljana Old Town on 20 and 21 November 2015. The conference will be structured into four panels dedicated to legal theory and legal philosophy, constitutional law and human rights law, legal argumentation, and ethics. The event aims to bring senior and junior researchers from the above fields together. A special panel will be devoted to presentations by PhD researchers. You can find more info here.
Esohap 