TY - JOUR

T1 - Why Completeness and Coherence Matter for the European Court of Human Rights

AU - Letwin, Jeremy

PY - 2021/3/31

Y1 - 2021/3/31

N2 - The ECtHR has been much criticised for the lack of completeness and coherence of its judgments. Many of these critiques seem to presuppose an unarticulated theory about how complete and how coherent ECtHR judgments ought to be. My aim here is to articulate such a theory, in order to provide the foundations for a more principled critique of the jurisprudence of the ECtHR. I examine the nature of completeness and coherence in adjudication, and the reasons why the ECtHR should be particularly concerned with the completeness and coherence of its judgments. I identify instances in which ECtHR judgments have not been sufficiently complete and coherent, and I conclude by considering the implications this might have for making evaluations of the Court’s judgments in terms of legitimacy, justice, and desirability.

AB - The ECtHR has been much criticised for the lack of completeness and coherence of its judgments. Many of these critiques seem to presuppose an unarticulated theory about how complete and how coherent ECtHR judgments ought to be. My aim here is to articulate such a theory, in order to provide the foundations for a more principled critique of the jurisprudence of the ECtHR. I examine the nature of completeness and coherence in adjudication, and the reasons why the ECtHR should be particularly concerned with the completeness and coherence of its judgments. I identify instances in which ECtHR judgments have not been sufficiently complete and coherent, and I conclude by considering the implications this might have for making evaluations of the Court’s judgments in terms of legitimacy, justice, and desirability.

U2 - 10.1163/26663236-bja10002

DO - 10.1163/26663236-bja10002

M3 - Journal article

VL - 2

SP - 119

EP - 154

JO - European Convention on Human Rights Law Review

JF - European Convention on Human Rights Law Review

SN - 2666-3236

IS - 1

ER -