The book gives insight into the structures and developments of the fundamental rights protection in Europe which is effective at the levels of the national Constitutions, the European Convention of Human Rights and, for the EU member States, of the EU Fundamental Rights Charter. The contributions of renowned academics from various European countries demonstrate the functional interconnection of these protection systems which result in an increasing convergence. Basic questions are reflected, such as human dignity as foundation of fundamental rights or positive action as a specific form of equality as well as the concept of rights convergence. In this latter contribution the forms of direct reception of a different legal order and of the functional transfer of principles and concepts are analyzed. Particular reference is made to the EU Charter, the United Kingdom Human Rights Act as well as to France and Germany. It becomes obvious how important interpretation is for the harmonization of national and conventional fundamental rights protection. Traditional institutional approaches like the dualist transformation concept in Germany are functionally set aside in the harmonization process through constitutional interpretation. Specific studies are dedicated to the field of the EU Fundamental Rights Charter and to the European impacts on the national fundamental rights protection in selected countries such as the "new democracies" Poland, Romania and Kosovo as well as more traditional systems such as Spain, Italy, the Nordic countries or Turkey.

Inhalt

1. Aspects of Fundamental Rights. Convergence in Europe with some comparative references to the developments in Germany, United Kingdom and France; Rainer Arnold and Eva Feldbaum.-2. Convergence of the protection of fundamental rights between the Spanish Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights; Pedro Julio Tenorio Sánchez.- 3. Human Rights, Between Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and Supranational Courts. The Italian Experience; Luca Mezzetti.-4. Discrimination and Equality. Affirmative Action in Spain and in the European Union; Maria Christina Hermida del Llano.-5. The Nordic States and the European Convention on Human Rights; Joakim Nergelius.-6. Fundamental Freedoms and Rights in Contemporary Europe; Boguslaw Banaszak.-7. Human Rights in Romanian Courts: A European Perspective?; Bianca Gutan.-8. Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in Turkey and the Turkish Constitutional Court; Selin Esen and Merih Öden.-9. Fundamental Rights Protection in a new Constitution:the Example of Kosovo; Arberesha Raca-Shala.-10.Protection of Human Rights in the European Union; Viktor Muraviov and Olena Sviatun.-11. Access to the Service of General Economic Interest under Article 36 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights EU and the National Law; Jiri Zemanek.