Dialoguing for due process : Kadi, Nada, and the accession of the EU to the ECHR

Abstract

This paper examines the dialogue between the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights regarding due process rules in the context of targeted anti-terror sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. By analysing the references that the two courts make to each other’s case law in the recent landmark decisions in Nada and Kadi II, the paper argues that the rivalling yet constructive relationship between CJEU and the ECtHR has played a key role in re-adjusting the balance between international security and fundamental rights in Europe. As the paper suggests, the looming accession of the EU to the ECHR influences the interaction between the two courts, and is already palpable in the case law of both.