Public interest as a concept that determines the scope of property rights protection – case – law of the European Court of Human Rights on austerity measures

Abstract

During times of systemic political and economic transformation, crises and pandemics, public authorities tend to prioritise the “public interest” over potential individual interests when implementing different types of policies. In the European legal area, the restriction of rights and freedoms is subject to limitations resulting from the European Convention on Human Rights. The extent to which States may invoke the public interest in order to implement specific social and economic policies has been repeatedly examined by the ECtHR, but special attention should be paid to austerity measures – government policies designed to reduce budget deficits during times of economic hardship. The article examines how the Court considered the individual applications resulting from austerity measures and concludes that in these cases, the Court defined “public interest” for the first time solely from the perspective of the economic interests of the respondent governments. Although this conclusion may seem pessimistic for human rights, the Court’s approach  undoubtedly reflects the need to introduce certain necessary government policies despite their deeply interfering character. It closely aligns with the original concept of property rights enshrined in the Convention, that of a “social conception of property” which enables the pursuit of social policies in the general interest. The article concludes that the Court’s rulings could be reasoned more persuasively in order to convince to their  righteousness broad target audience – not only governments, but also other individuals and societies.