Interview with Judge Ivana Jelić

The Press Office had the occasion to interview the Judge of the European Court of Human Rights Ivana Jelić during our CEDU training course that took place in our Venice Headquarters from 11-14 April 2024. 
 

What role can the European Court of Human Rights play in a context where human rights are continuously under threat? 
 
As an international regional court of human rights, the ECtHR is a corrective judicial mechanism, which protects human rights and freedoms enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Protocols thereto by establishing if the national courts correctly or wrongly applied European human rights legal standards. It is not the fourth instance court, but the court which respects principle of subsidiarity emphasizing that national courts bear primary responsibility in applying European human rights standards. The Strasbourg Court is often the last judicial instance at broader European level where the individuals can seek the justice. This is actually the court of hope. And, as such, it goes under continuous challenges also because human rights are under continuous threat. The latest decisions and a judgment on climate change influence on enjoyment on human rights bring a self-explanatory argument regarding the importance and actuality of the Court and its approach that the ECHR should be interpreted in accordance with the present-day conditions, invoking the application of a living instrument doctrine. 
 
What are the landmark judgments that the European Court has decided on in the last few years? What may be future ones that are currently under discussion? 
 
During last three years the Court decided in Grand Chamber on very important cases regarding the allegations on serious human rights violations and found violation in most of them. I would certainly like to say that those are a/m so-called climate change cases decided in 2024 - Carême v. France (dec.) [GC], no. 7189/21, Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others (dec.) [GC], no. 39371/20, Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland [GC], no. 53600/20. However, there are more land mark cases regarding different human rights, such as: Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye, no. 15669/20, decided in 2023, regarding conviction for membership of a terrorist organization based decisively on the use of an encrypted messaging application; Fedotova and Others v. Russia, no. 40792/10 and 2 others regarding absence in Russian law of any possibility of legal recognition for same-sex relationship, regardless of the form  such recognition might take; H.F. and Others v. France, nos. 24384/19 and 44234/20 regarding lack of review with safeguards against arbitrariness for refusal to repatriate nationals held with their young children in Kurd-run camps after the fall of "Islamic State" they had joined; Kavala v. Türkiye, no. 28749/18  which is the second judgment in an infringement procedure for failure to abide by Court’s final judgment explicitly indicating the need for an applicant’s immediate release; Grzęda v. Poland, no. 43572/18 regarding the democratic backsliding in the rule of law in Poland, treating the  applicability to premature termination, after legislative reform, of a judge’s term of office as a member of the National Council of the Judiciary, as well as a lack of judicial review. 
 
In your opinion, what is the importance of professional training for lawyers in the field of fundamental rights? What is so essential about the approach used in Global Campus courses that allows to integrate the Convention within the national judicial systems? 
 
The most important is that professional trainings in the human rights protection are regular and that their curricula are up to date. I would like to command the Global Campus courses inclusive approach in terms of including practitioners to train and be trained. It is highly appreciated that the GC includes European human rights judges in those trainings, with an emphasis on the recent ECtHR caselaw. Tandem lecturing is also very crucial for dynamics and interaction. 
 
Can you leave a message to the Global Campus of Human Rights community? 
 
Keep doing education on international legal standards in human rights protection, as well as dissemination of human rights culture and democratic values, as they belong to all and serve to all! 

 

For more information contact our Press and Communications PR Offices: 

Elisa Aquino – Isotta Esposito – Francesca Sante 

pressoffice@gchumanrights.org - communications@gchumanrights.org 

 

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