The independence of the judiciary in Strasbourg judicial disciplinary case law : judges as applicants and national judicial councils as factotums of respondent states

Abstract

The case law of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ‘the ECtHR’) contains judgements and decisions where the applicant was a member of the national judiciary who complained that his or her human rights and fundamental freedoms contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter ‘the ECHR’ or ‘the Convention’) were breached by the national authorities in disciplinary proceedings through the active participation of a National Judicial Council (hereinafter ‘NJC’). Although these councils come by various names in the Member States of the Council of Europe, the generic phrase ‘National Judicial Councils’ is used in this chapter to refer to them irrespective of their exact textual designation under domestic law. [excerpt from Introduction]