Responsive Human Rights

Corina Heri is a post-doctoral researcher at the Amsterdam Centre for International Law at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

I highly recommend this book to all those who are interested in the relationship between vulnerability and the ECHR and Article 3 more generally. It will be an invaluable point of reference and it offers new conceptual grounds through which to advance Article 3.

• Introduction Chapter SummaryPART ILEGAL AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS1. Substantive Scene-Setting – The Prohibition of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment Chapter SummaryI. The Evolving Prohibition of Torture II. The ECtHR’s Interpretation of Article 3 ECHR III. Vulnerability and the Evolutive Interpretation of Article 3 ECHR IV. Interim Conclusion 2. Theoretical Scene-Setting – Vulnerability Theory Chapter SummaryI. A Primer on Vulnerability Theory II. The Work of Martha Albertson Fineman III. Theorising Human Rights through a Vulnerability Lens PART IIMAPPING THE COURT’S APPROACH TO VULNERABILITY3. A Typology of the Court’s Approach to Vulnerability under Article 3 ECHR Chapter SummaryI. Overview: A Typology and Distribution of References II. Dependency-based Vulnerability III. Vulnerability Due to State Control IV. Vulnerability Due to Victimisation V. Vulnerability in the Context of Migration VI. Vulnerability Due to Discrimination and Marginalisation VII. Vulnerability, Pregnancy and Precarious Reproductive Health VIII. Vulnerability Due to the Espousal of Unpopular Views IX. Intersecting VulnerabilitiesX. Underexplored Sources of Vulnerability 4. The Growth and Impact of Vulnerability Reasoning Chapter SummaryI. A Quantitative Analysis of Vulnerability under Article 3 II. The Effects of Vulnerability under Article 3 ECHR 5. Evaluation of the Court’s Approach in Practice Chapter SummaryI. Vulnerability as a Vehicle of Exclusion and Inclusion II. Reticence, Selectivity and the ‘Floodgates’ Problem PART IIICONTEXTUALISING AND CRITIQUING THE COURT’S APPROACH6. Situating Vulnerability Reasoning in a Broader Context Chapter SummaryI. Vulnerability and Other Human Rights BodiesII. Vulnerability and the Context of Minority Rights III. Vulnerability in the Court’s Non-Discrimination Jurisprudence 7. Vulnerability Deciphered – Human Dignity, Substantive Equality and Judicial Empathy Chapter SummaryI. On Human Dignity and Vulnerability II. On Vulnerability, Justice and Equality III. On the Court’s ‘Legitimacy’ and Judicial Empathy IV. Interim Conclusion: Synthesising a Coherent Theory of Vulnerability 8. Conclusion – A Framework for Using Vulnerability under Article 3 ECHR Chapter SummaryI. Between Theory and Practice: Concerns about the Court’s Approach II. Bringing Coherence to the Court’s Vulnerability Heuristic III. Revolutionising the Revolution: Vulnerability Theory and its Guidance for the Court IV. Final ThoughtsA Note on Methodology