“What’s in a Name?”: Shakespearean References in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights

• Autores: Michał Kowalski, Agnieszka Romanowska
• Localización: Difficult neighborhoods: the semiotics of conflict in culture / Sachiyo M. Shearman (ed. lit.), Wladyslaw Chlopicki (ed. lit.), Wladyslaw Witalisz (ed. lit.), Linda G. Kean (ed. lit.), 2025, ISBN 9781469696553, págs. 191-208
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This chapter focuses on the role of a shared cultural heritage in resolving conflictson international level as represented in the discourse of the judgements issued bythe European Court of Human Rights. The efforts undertaken by European states todevelop judicial mechanisms that would ensure effective protection of human rightsare reflected in the European Convention on Human Rights which the Court interprets in its case law. It can be expected that such a judicial institution—gathering aninternational community of judges and dealing with cases that range from a varietyof cultures—would be characterized by discourses which necessarily recall and referto a repertoire of common cultural elements. The authors present in this chapter anoverview of references to the works of William Shakespeare identified in the case lawof the European Court of Human Rights, precisely in the separate opinions attachedby individual judges to the judgements. The authors first situate the discussion in thewider context of the field known as law and literature and explain the function andspecificity of the separate opinions. In the main body of the chapter, the referencesare analyzed against the background of the cases and in relation to the Shakespeareplays they come from with the aim of describing their nature and intended functionand assessing their overall effect. The conclusions drawn from the analysis shed somelight on the role of the common cultural heritage in the conflict resolution processesundertaken internationally.