60 Years of the European Convention on Human Rights and Taxation

In this article, the author provides a survey of European Court of Human Rights decisions, from the 1959 X v. Germany case, regarding a tax levy on speculative bonds, to a series of recent cases on the prohibition of double jeopardy (ne bis in idem) set out in article 4 of the Seventh Protocol. The author goes on to examine areas in which the application of the ECHR has resulted in changes in the law, the biggest failings of the ECHR/ECtHR, the position of the taxpayer in the 2020s and, finally, the cause of any shortcomings in failing to protect taxpayers’ rights, together with possible solutions.