The Living Instrument Principle and the No-Longer Living: Human Rights and Death Investigations under an Evolving ECHR

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_6How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Posthumous dignity; Living instrument principle; European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); Article 2 investigations; Coronial inquests; Prevention of Future Death reports (PFDs); Personality and reputational rights after death

Abstract

This article explores the potential influence of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) being interpreted as a “living instrument” in situations involving the no-longer living. It asks if, and in what way, Convention values have the potential to apply meaningfully beyond biological life, and the way this question becomes operational in relation to death-investigation duties, with a particular focus on Article 2 procedural obligations to conduct effective investigations. Using doctrinal analysis of ECtHR jurisprudence, with comparative reference to national approaches, this article maps the ECtHR’s hesitation to interpret deceased individuals as rights-holders whilst illustrating the way post-death interests are considered via the rights of the living and state obligations to protect dignity, ensure accountability and prevent future harms. Philosophical foundations are engaged through the will theory/interest theory debate and dignity-based accounts of posthumous harm, clarifying what is conceptually at stake when “rights” are invoked after death. The article concludes that the living instrument principle is not straightforward in the way it grants rights to the dead, but is able to reanimate certain human rights protection post-death by linking memory, dignity and prevention to the ECHR’s contemporary purpose.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Alicia Danielsson
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
TI  - The Living Instrument Principle and the No-Longer Living: Human Rights and Death Investigations under an Evolving ECHR
BT  - Proceeding of The Future of Life - Legal, Scientific, and Geopolitical Challenges (TFOL2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 71
EP  - 94
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-555-3_6
ID  - Danielsson2026
ER  -