Human dignity: an illusory limit for the evolutive interpretation of the ECHR?

Abstract

20 When speaking about human rights protection at the national, regional or worldwide level, an idealist would never put any limits to it. The sole fact of limiting an evolution of norms protecting human rights would be seen as counterproductive or even illogical. To claim that human dignity might be a limit for evolutive interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) could be seen by an idealist as a nonsense. However, the ECHR as an international treaty is not floating in a legal, political and social vacuum, but it is still anchored in a legal, historical and political reality. The aim of this article is to portray some basic elements of the relationship between the concept of human dignity and the evolutive interpretation. The author is unable to give a final answer to the question in the title of this article, but the purpose is more to spread out key elements, notions and considerations for further thoughts. The article will first present some basic issues related to the subject matter, will then focus on the evolutive interpretation, and finally outline the role of human dignity in the case law related to the evolutive interpretation.