Vulnerability as a path to a ‘social minimum’: An analysis of ECtHR jurisprudence

Abstract

The chapter contributes to a specific dimension of the debate on the ECtHR’s capacity to protect socioeconomic interests. It examines the relationship between the state’s positive obligations in the socioeconomic sphere and the applicant’s ‘vulnerability’. Vulnerability, the state of being ‘open and exposed to hurts and harms of various kinds’ has begun to feature prominently in the ECtHR’s case-law, including in cases with a socioeconomic dimension. This chapter argues that vulnerability can serve as a useful normative justification for the Court to be less deferential to the respondent state and to interpret the Convention in a manner that generates obligations in the direction of a social minimum for certain groups. Additionally, the chapter discusses the limitations of vulnerability analysis in this context and makes suggestions on how this tool could be developed further in the future.