VU Law Faculty has started the spring by lecture “Are Societal Values Reflected in the ECtHR Practice? Examples from the Baltic States” which was held by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Donatas Murauskas on March 1st.
At first D. Murauskas presented the discourse of human rights, which, according to him, today is essentially equal to the moral one. During his lecture, he stressed that when talking about specific human rights challenges, it is important to understand the tension between universalism and pluralism in the implementation of human rights. While we usually want to talk about clearly defined value standards, today’s debate is dominated by pluralistic attitudes and moral relativity. This is why human rights standards often become, in the process of their application, a compromise between the standard to be achieved and the need to take into account the specific attitudes and experiences of particular groups, states and individuals.
D. Murauskas presented how the fundamental intersection between universalism and pluralism is resolved in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, applying the principle of subsidiarity and the doctrine of freedom of assessment. The lecture focused on specific relevant Strasbourg Court cases: Vasiliauskas vs Lithuania, Savickis and Others vs Latvia and Valullina and Others vs Latvia.
Participants actively engaged in the lecture, sharing insights and asking questions about the complexity of reconciling a unified human rights standard and national values in a given case, as well as the legal challenges posed by specific cases.