Jacques Serais 09:47, December 20, 2022

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is due to rule on Tuesday morning on a case between Éric Zemmour and the French government.

The former presidential candidate, convicted of provoking religious hatred in 2017, appealed this decision to the ECHR.

But what is the scope of this institution?

Europe 1 takes stock.

The decision will be made on Tuesday morning.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will rule on the "Zemmour against France" case.

The former presidential candidate was sentenced in 2017 for "provoking religious hatred" after having denounced a year earlier on television an "invasion", a "colonization" and a "struggle to Islamize a territory".

"I think we have to give them the choice between Islam and France," Eric Zemmour also said.

Condemned by France, the polemicist appealed to the ECHR against the French Government considering that this decision violated his "right to freedom of expression". 

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The ECHR, an obstacle to national sovereignty?

The ECHR, a court whose seat is in Strasbourg, does not depend on the European Union, but is attached to the Council of Europe.

It concerns the 46 countries of this organization and its court is composed of as many judges.

Its competence: to rule in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights.

This provides for the right to life, to a fair trial, the right to respect for private and family life, respect for property, freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion.

But for the ECHR to come to accept a case, all domestic remedies in the country must first have been seized.

Because the decision of this jurisdiction is superior to that pronounced in the applicant's country.

Hence the criticisms that very regularly target this court, seen by some politicians as an obstacle to national sovereignty.