Abstract
The motivation of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments is based both on the exposition of reasons containing elements of fact and law and on the “psychological motives” that allow the European judge to build up his convictions. The motivation included in the judgment tries both to justify and explain the Court’s choice. So, it can’t be considered only as a purely logical deduction. It is also an important act of rhetoric. The European Court wishes her audience to accept its case law in a spontaneous and voluntary way. The Court chooses therefore to appeal to good sense rather than constraint to assert its case law authority and so fulfill its long term mission which consists in building a European common law on Human Rights . The motivation contributes to build the legitimacy of the European Court’s decisions. It also allows the public and the Contracting States to trust the European justice and to acknowledge the legitimacy of its decisions. It means that the motivation is also a teaching method helping to receive its case law and to accept the European supervision. To achieve this aim, the Court chose different strategies that sometimes show the mistakes, the manipulations or the excesses of the European Court’s function. Nevertheless, the general opinion on the Court’s motivation is positive and helps to adapt its contents to the realities of the democratic European society. The European Court’s efforts to build a quality style of judgments must be also underlined.