The Protection of Entrepreneurs and the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

In comparison to the European Convention on Human Rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which provides in its Article 16 for the freedom to conduct a business, is a much more modern instrument. In this article I argue that the Convention nevertheless appears to be no less important a document offering protection of entrepreneurs’ rights. This is the case even though it does not provide any particular rights devoted to the running of a business by entrepreneurs. This is possible, first of all, due to the right of individual application which may be lodged directly with the European Court of Human Rights in its capacity as an international court. No comparable measure for an individual complaint is available under the UN Charter. Secondly, the extensive case law of the Strasbourg Court has made it possible for entrepreneurs to rely on a number of Convention rights, despite the fact that these rights, at least at first glance, are not connected with the running of a business. This refers not only to the right to a fair trial on the protection of property, which offer entrepreneurs the protection of a number of their interests, but also to rights which at first glance have nothing to do with the running of the business, such as the right to respect for private and family life protected under Article 8 of the Convention. As a result, the right of individual complaint to the ECtHR should be perceived as an important measure of the protection and enforcements of entrepreneurs’ rights at the international level, in case of any failure to secure the protection of those rights at the national level.