Responsive Human Rights

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

Introduction
Chapter Summary
PART I
LEGAL AND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS
1. Substantive Scene-Setting – The Prohibition of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment
Chapter Summary
I. 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 Summary
I. A Primer on Vulnerability Theory
II. The Work of Martha Albertson Fineman
III. Theorising Human Rights through a Vulnerability Lens

PART II
MAPPING THE COURT’S APPROACH TO VULNERABILITY
3. A Typology of the Court’s Approach to Vulnerability under Article 3 ECHR
Chapter Summary
I. 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 Vulnerabilities
X. Underexplored Sources of Vulnerability
4. The Growth and Impact of Vulnerability Reasoning
Chapter Summary
I. 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 Summary
I. Vulnerability as a Vehicle of Exclusion and Inclusion
II. Reticence, Selectivity and the ‘Floodgates’ Problem

PART III
CONTEXTUALISING AND CRITIQUING THE COURT’S APPROACH
6. Situating Vulnerability Reasoning in a Broader Context
Chapter Summary
I. Vulnerability and Other Human Rights Bodies
II. 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 Summary
I. 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 Summary
I. 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 Thoughts
A Note on Methodology