Dr James A. Sweeney is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Durham University, UK. He is also Deputy Director of Durham Global Security Institute. Dr Sweeney has acted as an expert advisor to the Council of Europe in relation to freedom of assembly projects in Armenia, Azerbaijan (with the Venice Commission), Georgia, and Kosovo. In March 2011 he delivered human rights legal training to judges of the Ukrainian Supreme Court as part of a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office project. Throughout 2009 he acted as an expert advisor to the EU's Committee of the Regions as it prepared its Opinion on reforms to the Common European Asylum System. His work on the human rights of failed asylum seekers has been cited by both the UK House of Lords (in its former judicial capacity) and the Court of Appeal.

This book examines the case law of the European Court of Human Rights with particular reference to democratic transitions in Europe and the consequent enlargement of the European Convention system. The book analyses how the Court has responded to the difficult circumstances presented by the new Contracting Parties.

1. The Council of Europe, Transitional Justice, and the Universality of Human Rights Part 1: The ECHR and Transitional Policies 2. Transitional Criminal Justice: Prosecution and Amnesty 3. Openness, Secrecy and Historical Justice 4. Reparatory Justice and the Restitution of Property 5. Lustration Part 2: Democratic Rights in the Transitional Context 6. Freedom of Expression 7. Freedom of Assembly and (Religious) Association 8. Free Elections 9. Universality in Transition