Reasoning Rights

This book is about judicial reasoning in human rights cases. The aim is to explore the question: how is it that notionally universal norms are reasoned by courts in such significantly different ways? What is the shape of this reasoning; which techniques are common across the transnational jurisprudence; and which are particular? The book, comprising contributions by a team of world-leading human rights scholars, moves beyond simply addressing the institutional questions concerning courts and human rights, which often dominate discussions of this kind, seeking instead a deeper examination of the similarities and divergence of reasonings by different courts when addressing comparable human rights questions. These differences, while partly influenced by institutional concerns, cannot be attributed to them alone. This book explores the diverse and rich underlying spectrum of human rights reasoning, as a distinctive and particular form of legal reasoning, evident in the case studies across the selected jurisdictions.

...this volume constitutes a very interesting, relevant and necessary insight into the legitimacy of courts entrusted with the task of reasoning and balancing rights. All chapters are of a very high academic standard and can be used not only by legal professionals but also by undergraduate and postgraduate students. …every university library should have this book in their catalogue. It can be recommended to a broad spectrum of law specialists interested in human rights and comparative law, European and international law as well as constitutional and administrative law.

Liora Lazarus is a Fellow in Law and University Lecturer in Law at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. Christopher McCrudden FBA is Professor of Equality and Human Rights Law, Queen's University Belfast; William W Cook Global Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School; and a member of Blackstone Chambers.Nigel Bowles is Director of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford.