Withdrawal of a Contracting Party from the ECHR: Is it Possible and What are the Legal Consequences?

Abstract

The United Kingdom is faced with general elections in 2015. It is very likely for at least one of the political actors to propose a major reform to the British human rights law. The most radical of which, is the withdrawal from the ECHR. Yet, what are the legal implications from such a withdrawal? Is it legally possible? Could the UK renegotiate the terms on which it joined the ECHR? The purpose of this paper is to analyse those questions and look for possible answers. However, as it will be observed, from a legal point of view many of those answers remain blurred. This blurring effect is caused by the fact that the complex legal framework is also often dictated not only by legal considerations but also by the political and diplomatic reality as well.