What's amusing is how seriously people take Mensa given the intellectual capacity of some of its members.
The ECHR has transformed the legal landscape of all Member States in both civil and criminal law. To take the example of the UK, the convention has become the essential focus for all Parliamentary legislation, the deliberations of courts, the policies and procedures of human resources departments with regard to conditions of employment and the policies and procedures of all local and national government agencies. It is one of the most important sources upon which the equality and fairness of treatment of all citizens is based.
You personally have benefitted from the convention at least to the extent that it provides a shield against discriminatory practices and ensures that anyone who must deal with you from an institutional perspective must be mindful of your human rights.
The convention, a joke for you but a vital component of society for everyone, caused the urgent re-evaluation of procedural law in the UK in the Cadder v HM Advocate case before the Supreme Court.
Of particular relevance to our case, the "post-Salduz" world is one in which every citizen of every member state lives in and every visitor is embraced by. Slowly but surely each legal system with a hangover judicial culture still leaning upon a pre rights based interpretation of justice, is being challenged, dismantled and rebuilt. Italy, for example has been compelled to adjust its constitution, pass new law and provide for the re-opening of cases, which previously were not permitted to be re-opened, as a result of the convention's influence, which has now acquired constitutional status. All Italian courts are under an obligation to interpret domestic law in a convention compliant manner. Egregiously, in our case, this did not happen, otherwise it would have been ended by Judge Matteini, but there is no question at all that the ECHR will side with Amanda Knox in the evaluation of her application.
Interestingly, because the murder case has resulted in an eventual acquittal, a more direct assault on the lack of convention compliance in Italy, despite the legal basis of the convention in that country will not now be made by the ECHR from our case, however, once the callunia application has been decided, I doubt very much whether there will be much scope left for police and prosecutors to conduct rogue interrogations again.
