Abstract

After a brief summary of the relevant facts and after review of the meaning and scope of the so-called "Parot doctrine" in Spanish case law, the article goes on discussing the decision issued by the European Court of Human Rights in the "Del Rio Prada" case with its partially dissenting arguments by individual opinions. Finally, the article stresses the need for the European Court to make an effort to clarify similarities and differences among legal systems more accurately and consistently: a process depending largely on the acknowledgment of the existence of common minimum standards in European constitutional systems without prejudicing the faculty of States to configuring specific national standard of protection.