The European Court of Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Initiatives

Abstract

This chapter draws on the European Court of Human Rights’ recent case law on the practice of extraordinary rendition to evaluate whether its principles, judgments, and initiatives have limited abuses in counter-terrorism in Europe. The chapter reveals that the Court has found extraordinary rendition to constitute a practice that violates a number of rights and freedoms protected within the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“European Convention on Human Rights”), including the prohibition of torture or other inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in article 3, the right to liberty and security in article 5, the right to a fair trial in article 6, the right to respect for private and family life in article 8, and the right to an effective remedy in article 13. However, while the Court has laid down a number of principles regarding these rights, in particular relating to when the state’s responsibility for the actions of private individuals both on its territory and outside its jurisdiction is engaged, this chapter concludes that it has not necessarily been able to limit ongoing abuses against those subject to the extraordinary rendition program.