Reconstructing Human Rights through Transnational Legal Mobilization? Portugal and the European Court of Human Rights

This project addresses an important topic that has not been studied in Portugal, namely, the use of international human rights law through transnational legal mobilization in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).  The major goal of this project is to investigate the type of legal mobilization and the socio-legal significance of the cases against Portugal in the ECHR. We are interested in uncovering individuals´ motivations to resort to the ECHR, whether they are linked to any non-governmental organization, whether they use the court simply to settle an individual dispute or to provoke larger social and political change in the country. This project will contribute to uncover the type and level of transnational legal mobilization over human rights in Portugal. Furthermore, this study will serve as the basis for future comparative research on the use of the European and other regional systems of human rights, particularly the Inter-American System of Human Rights.