Taxation And The European Convention On Human Rights In The Domestic Law Of The Council Of Europe Countries

"During the almost fifty years in which the European Convention on Human Rights has been in force, courts in the countries of the Council of Europe have had to grapple with a number of issues relating to the application of the Convention to tax matters. A substantial number of tax cases have gone from national courts to the European Commission of Human Rights or the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Locating the domestic tax courts' jurisprudence on taxation and human rights is far harder than accessing the Strasbourg jurisprudence. This issue attempts to fill that gap and contains a survey of domestic case law (and doctrinal writings) on the application of the Convention to tax matters."--Editor.

Resumen del editor: "The increasing globalization and the restructuring of the European legal framework by the Treaty of Lisbon are important factors to suggest that the traditional separation of spheres between taxation and human rights should be revisited. This book examines the issues surrounding the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the guarantee and enforcement of human rights in the area of EU (tax) law and explores the possible development and potential impact of human rights in the field of taxation in this age of global law."

European Convention on Human Rights – Article 10 – Freedom of expression 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. In the context of an effective democracy and respect for human rights mentioned in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression is not only important in its own right, but it also plays a central part in the protection of other rights under the Convention. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression protected by independent and impartial courts, there is no free country, there is no democracy. This general proposition is undeniable. This handbook is a practical tool for legal professionals from Council of Europe member states who wish to strengthen their skills in applying the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work.

Although the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) mentions taxation only once – and in a context that, rather than conferring rights, limits their application – references to public prerogatives pertinent to taxation are present in several of the ECHR’s articles, giving rise to an implied normative framework that has influenced the tax jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Especially given the enormous impact of the famous Yukos cases, the ECtHR has made it abundantly clear that tax policies of State Signatories must be regularly stress-tested against the requirements of the Convention. This book is the first to critically analyse over 500 of the ECtHR’s important ‘tax cases’, which create a human rights code of conduct for ECHR State Signatories in matters involving taxation. Adopting a method by which relevant articles of the ECHR are each addressed by a detailed analysis of successful and non-successful tax cases flowing from it, the book provides the following invaluable knowledge base and guidance on the ECHR’s relevance to taxation: the ECHR’s legal concept ‘margin of appreciation’ and the ECtHR’s supervisory jurisdiction in taxation matters; the legal avenues to impugn tax measures on the basis of Article 1 of Protocol 1 ECHR and other Articles of the ECHR; the lines of defence hampering judicial activism in the tax arena; the concept of ‘emergency’ in tax policy; the effects of tax penalty classification and retrospectivity; the right to a fair trial in tax disputes; and the extent tax policy may hamper the right to privacy and other fundamental human rights. In its elaboration of the nexus between taxation and human rights, this book contributes a crucial element to the ongoing debate focusing on the tax-related jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. With its practice-oriented tax policy rulebook drawn from the judgments of the ECtHR, tax practitioners and in-house counsel will approach any case with full awareness of its human rights implications and constitutional consequences.

Freedom of movement is a key principle of the European Union (EU) resulting in the right of every EU citizen to move and reside freely within the EU. Many EU citizens work in other Member States than their Member State of origin. Direct taxes are not as such covered in the treaties and therefore have much smaller bases for harmonization at EU level than indirect taxes. As a result, decisions of European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the clash between the EU principle of free movement and Member States’ direct tax rules have a significant effect on national direct tax systems. This book focuses on the relation between free movement rights of EU citizens and the legal autonomy of Member States in the area of direct taxation and will immediately engage tax practitioners and scholars. The author asks (and answers) the question: Has the willingness at EU level to make EU citizenship a key driver behind the integration process come at the expense of national direct tax autonomy? The book’s incomparably thorough analysis of the distinctive evolution, mainly via ECJ case law, of the relation between the EU principle of free movement of persons and Member States’ direct tax rules includes in-depth discussion of the following elements and more: – the concept of EU citizenship in the EU’s constitutional and institutional development; – how the ECJ has interpreted the concept of free movement with regard to economically inactive persons; – how the notion of EU citizenship has widened the ECJ’s view on treaty access; – how the ECJ has addressed the clash between free movement of persons and direct taxation in the EU’s constitutional context; and – numerous tax policy initiatives with regard to EU citizens before and after the Treaty of Lisbon This is the first book to investigate in such detail how the ECJ has tried to reconcile specific national direct tax rules with the general EU principle of free movement of persons from the perspective of EU citizenship. This book explains that the ECJ is in the process of reconceptualizing the market freedoms relating to the free movement of persons, also in the area of direct taxation, as part of a broader EU citizenship right for all economically active EU citizens to pursue an economic activity in a cross-border context; a right beyond the aim of realization of the internal market. As an extremely important analysis of the influence of EU law on the direct tax autonomy of Member States, this book is sure to be itself of great influence in the practice and study of taxation in the EU.

Since its foundation, the Council of Europe has established a common legal system for European states, based on democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Its standard-setting texts have helped its members meet the challenges of changing societies and now apply all over Europe given the organisation¿s unprecedented geographical enlargement since 1989. In this connection, the Council of Europe has played a key role in the accession of the new member states to the European Union. The first section of the book deals with the "constitutional" law of the Council of Europe, or its internal statutes in the broad sense. It covers the 1949 Statute, which, along with related texts, lays down the Council¿s aims and determines its membership and operating methods. The second section concerns the role played by the Council of Europe - which has always been very active in standard-setting - in the harmonisation of European states¿ domestic law. The third section situates Council of Europe law in the European context. For instance, it studies the extent to which Council of Europe conventions have been incorporated in domestic law and how Council of Europe law and European Union law co-exist.

The book focuses on the protection afforded to taxpayers by the European Convention on Human Rights. It discusses the procedural guarantees of Article 6 of the Convention and the substantive rights guaranteed to taxpayers by Article 1 of Protocol no. 1 to the Convention (protection of property) and Article 14 of the Convention (prohibition of discrimination). These rights and guarantees are analysed through the prism of wide margin of appreciation afforded to the States in designing and implementing their tax policies.

This book analyses the relationships between tax treaties and domestic law from a constitutional and an international point of view, and how they can be improved in the fields of treaty override, treaty residence and anti-abuse measures. It also shows how the issues raised by these relationships are resolved by tax administrations and courts in selected European and non-European countries.