The United Nations System and European Convention on Human Rights: Dialogue or Confrontation

Abstract

The Master Thesis is devoted to the study of the content of States’ obligations stemming from the UN Charter and the ECHR while implementing targeted sanctions imposed by UNSC RESs. The main objectives of the Master Thesis were to analyse the provisions of the UN Charter, the ECHR and the ECtHR’s case law and to find out whether it is possible to meet obligations simultaneously under both international legal orders while implementing targeted sanctions; and to establish whether the UN security system and the ECHR have a dialogue or confront each other. The research has shown that Member States to the UN Charter are obliged to implement UNSC RESs concerning targeted sanctions. Moreover, Art. 103 of the UN Charter prioritises «obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter».The ECtHR, while analysing obligations of States’ under ECHR when they implemented targeted sanctions in the Al-Jedda, Nada, and Al-Dulimi cases clearly avoided a conflict between legal orders of the UN and the ECHR by using a harmonisation technique. By doing so, the Court created a dialogue between two international legal instruments. However, at the same time, the ECtHR put the burden of balance between the UN Charter and the ECHR on States Parties to the ECHR. Resolutions concerning targeted sanctions usually impose an unconditional obligation on Member States. The actions that States are required to take while implementing UNSC targeted sanctions resolutions are time consuming and de facto States Parties to the ECHR are required to give priority to one of the two legal instruments. Thus, it leads to a confrontation between the ECHR and the UN security system in reality.