Has the Power of the European Court for Human Rights Reached its Breaking Point? Discussing the Limits of Power Vested in International Judicial Bodies

European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) has recently ordered a release of an ETA terrorist sentenced for several thousand years in prison in Spain. It requested the UK to review its electoral code, Bosnia-Hercegovina to change its fragile constitution, or the Czech Republic to reform its schooling system. The list of court’s controversial judgments the concerned countries are reluctant to obey grows steadily in length and so does the tally of critics. Building upon the theoretical work on judicialization of world politics (especially that of Sweet and Sapirro) and overlegalization of international regimes (Helfer) the proposed contribution analyzes the current resistance to the power of the court. The aim of the paper is to discuss the changing nature of the political power vested in the international judicial institutions, its conceptualization within the theory of international relations, and especially its possible limits within the current international system.