Особенности толкования международных договоров о правах человека

Abstract

"Interpretation Peculiarities of International Human Rights Treaties" The present paper is based on the idea that international human rights treaties have a specific character and therefore should not be regarded on an equal footing with other international conventions which are essentially predicated on eciprocity and bilateralism. Human rights treaties create not merely subjective, reciprocal rights for the States concerned, rather objective obligations aimed at protecting and maintaining non-mutual benefits, but the universally recognised and positivised value — fundamental human rights and freedoms. The specific character of international human rights conventions manifests itself, inter alia, in the interpretation of their substantive provisions. The author seeks to argue that the process of interpretation of human rights treaties is to certain extent different from the legal regime of interpretation provided for in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; the former should be essentially guided by the effective protection of the individual rights to be safeguarded. Having duly analysed the relevant case — law of international supervisory bodies, in particular, that of the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, the author comes to the conclusion that in interpreting these treaties, an evolutive and dynamic interpretation should be preferred to a static and historical one. The basic principle here is that human rights must always be interpreted and applied in the light of current circumstances. The dynamic interpretation allows for better adaptation of human rights protection to the changing social conditions. Interpreted in such a way the particular human rights gain an autonomous meaning which is independent of municipal legal systems and also of travaux preparatoires of the treaties they are enshrined in. The application of the dynamic interpretation may in some cases exceed the initial will of Contracting Parties and become divorced from the their consent.