Treaties and Courts

Council of Europe: Intro

• Founded 1949• “Seeks to develop throughout Europe common and

democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals”

• www.coe.int• 47 members, 1 applicant country (Belarus), 5 observers

(Holy See, US, Canada, Japan, Mexico)• Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly (PACE),

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities • Official languages: English, French• Working languages: German, Italian, Russian

CoE: statutes and conventions

• All treaties (EN, FR, RU, DE, IT) – e.g. Statute of the Council of Europe –

establishing CoE

• European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms– enforced by European Court of Human Rights – text available in lots of languages– text and notes in EN, FR, RU, DE, IT from CoE site

EU: treaties

• Collection of treaties– Establishing the EU, amending previous treaties

• e.g. Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (html) or in OJ

– Accession• e.g.

treaty concerning the accession of Romania and Bulgaria (OJ)

UN: treaties and conventions

• Collection of UN treaties• http://treaties.un.org/Pages/Home.aspx?

lang=en• United Nations international law:http://www.un.org/en/law/

• Guide to key terms used in UN treaty collection

Other treaty resources

• UK: Foreign & Commonwealth Office– Treaties and MOUs –

Guidance on Practice and Procedures– http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/

publications-and-documents/treaties/

• National governmental resources• Global Legal International Network (GLIN):

searchable database of treaties

Courts

Court of Justice of the European Communitieshttp://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/European Court of Human Rightshttp://www.echr.coe.int/echr/Homepage_ENInternational Court of Justice http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?p1=0International Criminal Court

http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court

Tasks (1)

1. Look at the treaties of the EU and of the UN. What are the topics covered?

2. What is the function of the different courts on the previous slide? Which languages do they use?

Tasks (2)

3. Select two or three treaties in your TL, produced by different organisations if possible. Compare the form, structure and terminology of the treaties, identifying similarities and differences.

4. Compare your SL and TL versions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights or another international treaty. Make a note of similarities and differences in form and structure. Compile a glossary of key terms and phrases.

Tasks (3)

5. Find out more about the Council of Europe and write a note about membership, about its constituent bodies, and about its relationship with the European Court of Human Rights.

6. Check to see if governments of countries in which your SL and TL are spoken offer databases of treaties to which they are signatories.