The European Charter of Fundamental Rights - Essay Example

? To What Extent Can the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (EUCFR) be Viewed as “Revolutionary” in Relation to the Recognition and Protection ofHuman Rights Under European Union (EU) Law? Name: Institution: The Extent to which the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (EUCFR) can be Viewed as “Revolutionary” in Relation to the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Under European Union (EU) Law The European Charter of Fundamental Rights does recognise the civil political economic personal and social rights of the European Union residents and citizens. The fundamental rights represented in the charter are visible easy to understand. The charter contains the rights found in numerous legislative instruments such as the European Union Laws, the National laws and the international labour organizations. According to the European Union, the Charters main purpose is to create certainty within the European Union. Bilen examines the establishment of the European charter on the European Union; he states that the charter purpose is making the European citizens aware of their fundamental rights. Bilen further states that the establishment of the European charter and incorporating it into the European legal system created a sense of sanity n the Europe legal system which faced objection s from time to time from their member states (2005, p.4). The charter was drafted using numerous international human rights instruments; the charter does provide a modern and broader protection for the European citizens. The European Union member states use the charter in improving the protection of rights throughout the union. This is achieved by the enhancement of public awareness of the basic rights. The charter narrows the gap between the citizens and the remote institutions of the union. The rights covered by the charter include the rights to life, prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and security. Other rights covered include the right to respect family life, and privacy, freedom of thought freedom of assembly, expression and the freedom of association, the right to marry, prohibition to discrimination and a right to an effective remedy (Bilen, 2005, p.11). The European charter ensures that the rights are adhered to by supervising the European courts of human rights; the main principle of the European Law is ensuring that there is the protection of the fundamental human rights. Therefore, the European charter in its purpose to making the rights visible to its citizen’s aims at two things: the first is to strengthen and deepen the culture of rights and responsibilities in the European Union. The charter as a document that proclaims the existing rights if the citizens has a powerful effects in reinforcing in the minds of administrators, the government, and law enforcers the rights the European citizens are entitled to and needs to respect them. The second aim of the charter it declares the rights, freedoms and principles of the union. This declaration unveils the indefinites’ on protection of human rights (Bilen, 2005, p.23). The charter fits the description of being a revolutionary documentary in that it does denote the European Union as an entity built upon the citizen. It reflects n the rights and freedoms of the citizen and emphasises on the rights of the citizen that should not be overrun by collective welfare claims or national concern. The charter creates a union among the Europeans in the sense that the citizens share a peaceful future based on common moral values (European Union, 2010, p.83). In view of the changing society, social progresses scientific and technological developments the European Union utilise the charter as a tool to maintaining the visibility of the human rights. In an effort, to ensure that the fundamental rights of the European citizens is protected the charter has seen the establishment of a commission of human rights, a court of human rights, and a committee of Ministers of the council of Europe. Each of these departments has a role in ensuring the protection of the human rights. The commission of human rights is and advisor as well as a mediator in enforcing the European charter provisions. The court oversees that the member states of the European Union do not commit an abuse against the European charter provisions. The ministers decide whether a party of the European Union has violated the European charter provision (Kline, 2000, p. 40). The Czech Republic being a member of the European Union utilises the European charter for the protection for human rights. The charter also does focus on being on protecting minorities. The Czech Republic has included the charter as an integral part of its constitution. However, the extent of the protection of human rights by the charter is put in question, in the Czech Republic, considering the Roma population in the Czech Republic. The Roma population is a minority in the Czech Republic. The population does face a high rate of unemployment, violence, and illiteracy. In an effort to solve this issue, the European Union suggested some provisions to assist the Czech Republic in the integration of the Roma population into the Czech Republic. The reports of the violation of the human rights in the European states have been widely reported, and yet there are many cases that also go unreported (Klein, 2000, P.51). Let us conclude by saying the charter does advocate for respect for human right. This aspect is also similar in the convention and the laws of the European Union. The charter, as a document, represents the vision of the European Union for the European states. However, we will not ignore the fact that, sometimes, the charter does contradict with the convention. There are situations which would allow the laws of a country to introduce capital punishment, and at the same time the charter would forbid it (Mueller, 2003, p. 27). The charter does open doors for considerable constitution disagreement over the status of both existing and future national laws. It would, therefore, be a bad idea to use the charter as a binding part of a European Union constitution, which would only lead to the dangers of a legal strife among member countries and the union. The European charter is revolutionary in the sense that it recognises and protects the human rights. However, as we have seen above, it will not be a brilliant idea to have it as part of the constitution because of the little contradictions that may lead to a legal strife among the European member states. Bibliographies Bilen, A.,2005. EU Charter "Rival or Complimentary". Utrecht: Ministry of Justice of Turkey. Editorial Comments.,2006. “The EU Charterof Fundamental Rights Still Under Discussion.” CMLR, 1-6. Europe.eu.,2010. Charter of Fundamental rights. May 06.[Online]. http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/about/index_en.htm (accessed January 12, 2012). European Union.,2000. “Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.” Journal of the European Communities, 1-15. European Union.,2010. “Charter of Fundamental Rights of The European Union.” Official Journal Of the European Union, 380-403. Garcia, R.,2002. The General Provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rightsof the European Union. New York: New York University SchoOl of Law. Kline, C.,2000. “EU Inconsistencie Regarding Human Rights Treatment: Can the Czech Action as a Criterion for Accession.” The European Union, 35-56. Lord, G.,2001. “A Charter of Rights Freedoms and Principles.” CMLR, 273-300. Mahoney, P., 2002. “The Charter of Fundamental rights of The European Union and the European Convention of Human Rights From the Perspective of the European convention .” Human Rights Law Journal, 8-12. Mueller, D.,2003. Rights and Citizenships in the European Union. Austria: University of Vienna. Read More