Legitimate Expectation and Social Security Law Under the European Convention of Human Rights

Abstract

The concept of ‘legitimate expectation’ is one which has developed to different degrees in the domestic laws of contracting states of the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights tends to use the term is two related contexts. First, the Court refers to legitimate expectation as a way of expanding the scope of ‘possessions’ within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol 1 (P1-1) of the European Convention of Human Rights in order to bring an issue within the purview of the Court. Second, the Court uses the term to refer to a person’s expectations as to the future peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. The failure by the Court to define clearly what it means by the term ‘legitimate expectation’ and its use in two different (if related) ways has led to significant confusion in the Court’s jurisprudence as it concerns social security.