Bridge to nowhere : the right to integrity and the accuracy and weight of the Charter explanations

Abstract

The chapter analyses the nature of the Explanations to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It makes two arguments based on legal and legal historical analysis. First, prominent commentators are wrong to claim that the Explanations have significant, or even determinative, weight in interpreting the Charter. The Explanations are merely persuasive. Their persuasiveness depends on their accuracy as to the Charter's origins and its drafters' intentions. In this regard, they compete with other binding and persuasive means of interpretation. Second, the Explanations are misleading as regards three important aspects of Article 3 of the Charter (the right to integrity of the person): whether that Article contains principles; the origin and scope of its eugenic practices prohibition; and the origin and scope of its commercialisation prohibition. Overall, this chapter elucidates the nature and role of the Explanations, of historical interpretation in EU law, and of Article 3 of the Charter.