States’ Positive Obligations to Eradicate Domestic Violence: The Politics of Relevance in the Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights

This Reflection draws on the judgment handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter the ‘ECtHR’ or ‘Court’) in March 2017 in Elisaveta Talpis v. Italy which concerns States’ positive obligations to counter domestic violence. It sheds light on the argumentative moves of the Court to eradicate domestic violence through a very specific approach of what is relevant for the sake of interpreting States’ legal obligations. In particular, it demonstrates that the provisions of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, adopted in 2011 in Istanbul and entered into force in 2014 (hereinafter ‘Istanbul Convention’), can constitute ‘relevant rules of international law’ under Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties (VCLT) in the interpretation of applicable articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter the ‘European Convention’).