The Impact of National Security on Human Rights: A Comparative Study of Practice under the ECHR and in China

Abstract

Is national security the Achilles’ heel of the discourse on human rights protections? The thesis studies how national security and human rights interact with each other in Europe and China, and how each actor seeks to protect one without damaging the substance of the other. This thesis argues that the European Court of Human Rights’ reasoning in its national security case law can be read in a consistent and predictable way. On the one hand, depending on the nature of the rights involved, the Court prioritises human rights over national security in some cases, and vice versa in others. On the other hand, the Court attempts to redress this tendency by weighing the concrete facts and specific circumstances of each case. When it comes to China, the thesis first notes that it shares similar perceptions of national security and civil and political rights with Europe. Further, the thesis argues that China normally views national security outweighing human rights. By comparing the approaches taken by Europe and China, the thesis finds that both parties tend to allow the government authorities to take proactive actions against national security threats, even those threats may be potential, distant or cumulative. Nevertheless, divergences are found in how the two parties unfold their approaches. It is noted that the approach taken by China is short of an effective arrangement against abuse of power by the government authorities. In this context, the thesis proposes the areas that China can work on.