Implementing ECtHR Judgments in So-Called "Multipolar Fundamental Rights Situations"

Abstract

The implementation of ECtHR judgments may be particularly difficult in cases where the concerns of two or more private litigants must be weighed against each other. The Strasbourg proceedings are unilateral in that only one of them (the party having lost the case at the national level) will be directly represented. If the ECtHR finds in favour of this party, implementing the judgment might raise fundamental rights concerns of the party previously having won the case before German courts. The article analyses the approach taken by the German Federal Constitutional Court, in particular in its famous Görgülü decision. It also evaluates the relevance of the “multipolar fundamental rights” argument in the jurisprudence of German courts.