The United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been historically fraught. This article examines this relationship with a view to understanding how the United Kingdom’s conceptions of human rights protection, both domestically and in Europe, shape its willingness to comply with ECtHR judgements. The article argues that the U K maintains a sense of a distinctly ‘British’—as opposed to ‘European’—rights culture, based on principles such as parliamentary sovereignty and so-called common sense values. In doing so, the article explores an important analytical gap in terms of understanding the relationship between compliance behaviour and international law, as current theoretical explanations do not necessarily explain how cultural perceptions of rights and law translate into decisions to comply.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Compliance, United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, norms, rights culture
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Political science
Research Field:	International relations
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	International relations
Objective Field:	International relations not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Jay, Z (Ms Zoe Jay)
ID Code:	121921
Year Published:	2017
Web of Science® Times Cited:	10
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2017-10-20
Last Modified:	2018-04-19
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