Between Forbearance and Audacity: The European Court of Human Rights and the Norm against Torture (Studies on International Courts and Tribunals) - Softcover

Yildiz, Ezgi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009108301 ISBN 13: 9781009108300

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

When international courts are given sweeping powers, why would they ever refuse to use them? The book explains how and when courts employ strategies for institutional survival and resilience: forbearance and audacity, which help them adjust their sovereignty costs to pre-empt and mitigate backlash and political pushback. By systematically analysing almost 2,300 judgements from the European Court of Human Rights from 1967–2016, Ezgi Yildiz traces how these strategies shaped the norm against torture and inhumane or degrading treatment. With expert interviews and a nuanced combination of social science and legal methods, Yildiz innovatively demonstrates what the norm entails, and when and how its contents changed over time. Exploring issues central to public international law and international relations, this interdisciplinary study makes a timely intervention in the debate on international courts, international norms, and legal change. This book is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

About this title

About the Author

Ezgi Yildiz is an Assistant Professor at California State University, Long Beach, and a Research Associate at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She is a member of the Expert Group for the EU's Anti-Torture Regulation and the Coordinating Committee of ESIL's Interest Group on Social Sciences and International Law.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009108301
• ISBN 13: 9781009108300
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274