Interview with Professor Merris Amos
In this episode of EJIL: Live! the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, Professor Joseph Weiler, speaks with Professor Merris Amos of Queen Mary University of London, whose article “The Value of the European Court of Human Rights to the United Kingdom” appears as the first piece in the “Focus” section on Human Rights and the ECHR in issue 3 of volume 28 of the Journal. Professor Amos takes up the challenge of articulating the value that the ECtHR adds to the objective of protecting human rights. Moving the focus from legitimacy, Professor Amos presents three different levels where the ECtHR adds value: individual, global and national. This serves as a framework for the discussion on the rise of negative sentiment towards the Council of Europe in the United Kingdom and introduces—as well as debating—the three levels of value added to the United Kingdom by the ECtHR. This conversation accompanies and expands on the article, including conjectures about the future of the European Convention on Human Rights in the United Kingdom.