Tort Law and Human Rights

Common law principles need to be re-evaluated in the light of the Human Rights Act for two reasons. First,to ascertain whether those principles comply with Convention standards as laid down in the ECHR and interpreted by the Strasbourg organs. Secondly, to determine the extent to which tort principles may be shaped to achieve this goal. In this book, the author pursues this objective by analysing the effect of the Act, including the issue of horizontality, and then evaluating and juxtaposing principles of tort law and ECHR jurisprudence in order to consider whether the approach of the English courts measures up to the European standard. Generally the ECHR does not prescribe how states should meet their treaty obligations and the book therefore considers, where appropriate, the possibility of remedies other than tort principles as a means of meeting the UK’s obligations. Thus, the book examines whether the principles of tort law, considered in the light of other remedies, are likely to be the mechanisms for the implementation of human rights standards.