Critical evaluationInnovationsThe Lawless judgment was the first of the ECtHR. As the Convention remains silent on many organizational aspects, the first hearings before the Court raised numerous procedural questions. Ireland raised several objections to the procedure, which were rejected by the Court. Another aspect that was not yet regulated was the style of judging. The ECtHR adopted the French style, where the judgment is essentially structured around one long sentence. This tradition has since been superseded but still remains succinct compared to the British tradition. Besides these rather formal innovations, there are other important aspects to consider. According to Bates, the judgment was considered bold at the time, although from today's perspective it seems very technical. It was the first time that a citizen could sue the government of a sovereign state in an international court to defend their individual rights. This was applauded by most contemporary commentators and will be discussed in more detail below. The judgment set up the entire human rights mechanism in Europe and showed that the Convention was indeed operational and more than a dead letter. In addition to these assertions, the court shows its propensity for broad interpretations guided by the general spirit of the Convention. This is illustrated by the interpretation that the courts give to art. 5 ECHR where he notes that in the present case, the Irish interpretation “would lead to conclusions contrary to the fundamental principles of the Convention”. Furthermore, the Court clarified that it had broad powers, independent of the States and the Commission, when it considered that 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, the IRA and the Lawless Affair in Ireland: 1957-61.” » Journal of the Oxford University History Society, 2004, 1–20. Mowbray, Alastair R. Cases, documents and commentaries on the European Convention on Human Rights. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. “Advocacy at the Bar.” TheFreeDictionary.com. Accessed April 7, 2014. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Plea+in+Bar.Porter, Harold. “The Lawless Affair: A Beachhead for Civil Rights.” The Quarterly Review of International and Comparative Law 49, no. 1 (January 1, 1963): 79-82. “The Lawless Affair”. Duke Law Journal 11, no. 2 (April 1, 1962): 249–58.