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9 Eur. J. Legal Stud. 69 (2016-2017)
The Ratification of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention by the EU: A Step Forward in the Protection of Women from Violence in the European Legal System

handle is hein.journals/ejls9 and id is 395 raw text is: GENERAL ARTICLES THE RATIFICATION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE ISTANBUL CONVENTION BY THE EU: A STEP FORWARD IN THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM VIOLENCE IN THE EUROPEAN LEGAL SYSTEM Sara De Vido* The article explores the reasons why the EU should ratify the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, adopted in 2o1, and the consequences the ratification may entail. In the first part, I will make afew remarks on the main provisions of the Convention, which must be considered as the most advanced system ofprotection of women from violence at the international level in force for the time being and I will comment on the current status ofEU gender equality policies. In the second part, starting from the European Commission roadmap regarding the EU accession to the Convention (October 2o5), and the proposal for a Council decision on the signing of the Convention (March 2o6), the I will analyse the legal bases for the ratification of the Convention by the EU, and the possible impact this treaty may have on EUpolicies. I argue first that the legal basis of the decision of the Council concluding the agreement cannot be limited to Articles 82 to 84 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFE U), but should be extended to - at least - Articles 19 andi68 TFEUI will then explore the impact of the Convention on future policies of the E U also providing a comparison with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which constitutes the first international treaty on human rights ratified by the European Union. Secondly, I will contend that one of the provisions of the Convention, namely Article 30(2), which requires States to compensate victims of violence who have sustained 'serious injury or impairment of health', has direct effect. * Assistant Professor of International Law and vice-director of Centre for Human Rights at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy, affiliate to the Manchester International Law Centre, UK, co-founder of the Women in International Law Network. The author wishes to thank the two anonymous referees for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of the article. All remaining errors are mine. The article was completed in November 2016.