Law Commons^™

Constitutional Patriotism And The Right To Privacy: A Comparison Of The European Court Of Justice And The European Court Of Human Rights, Francesca Bignami

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This chapter examines attitudes towards national diversity in one piece of the emerging European constitution-the right to privacy. There is a thick constitutional culture of privacy in Europe. The familiar debate of how to balance the right to privacy against freedom of expression, the market, and public security can be heard in many places: before the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, in the European Parliament and the European Council, and before Europe's numerous data privacy ombudsmen. And in these places, the less familiar problem of tolerance of diversity within Europe, among Europe's different national communities, …