Critical evaluationInnovationsThe ruling in the Lawless case was the first of the ECtHR. Since the Convention is silent on many organizational aspects, the first hearings before the Court raised numerous procedural issues. Ireland raised numerous objections to the procedure, which were rejected by the Court. Another aspect not yet regulated was the judging style. The ECtHR has adopted the French style, in which the sentence is essentially structured along one long sentence. This tradition has since been replaced, but still remains concise compared to the British tradition. In addition to these rather formal innovations, there are other important aspects to consider. According to Bates, the ruling was considered bold at the time, although from today's perspective it appears very technical. It was the first time that a citizen could take the government of a sovereign state to an international court to defend their individual rights. This was applauded by most contemporary commentators and will be discussed in more detail below. The ruling set the entire human rights machinery in Europe on its feet and demonstrated that the Convention was indeed operational and more than a dead letter. In addition to these statements, the Court shows its inclination towards broad interpretations guided by the general spirit of the Convention. This is illustrated by the Court's interpretation of art. 5 ECHR where it notes that in this case the Irish interpretation "would lead to conclusions repugnant to the fundamental principles of the Convention". Furthermore, the Court made it clear that it had broad powers independent of the States and the Commission, when it considered it could act alone to ensure the...... middle of paper ......NG. pdf.Lawson, Rick and Henry Schermers. Main cases of the European Court of Human Rights. Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri, 1997. “Locus Standi.” TheFreeDictionary.com. Accessed April 8, 2014. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/locus+standi.Maguire, John. “Internment, IRA and the Lawless Case in Ireland: 1957-1961.” Journal of the Oxford University History Society, 2004, 1–20. Mowbray, Alastair R. Cases, materials and commentaries on the European Convention on Human Rights. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. “Plea in Bar.” TheFreeDictionary.com. Accessed April 7, 2014. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Plea+in+Bar.Porter, Harold. “The Lawless Case: A Beachhead for Civil Rights.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 49, no. 1 (1 January 1963): 79–82. "The Lawless Case". Duke Law Journal 11, no. 2 (April 1, 1962): 249–58.