The European Convention on Human Rights as an Instrument of Tort Law

Tort law and human rights belong to different areas of law, namely private and public law.Nevertheless, the European Convention on Human Rights increasingly influences national tort law of signatory states, both on the vertical level of state liability and on the horizontal level between private persons.An individual can appeal to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to challenge national tort law in two situations: where he is held accountable under national tort law for exercising his Conventions rights, and where national law does not provide effective compensation in accordance with Article 13.The second method is strongly connected with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights to award compensations itself on the basis of Article 41.A compensation in national tort law is considered to be effective according to Article 13 when it is comparatively in line with the compensations of the European Court of Human Rights granted on the basis of Article 41.This raises