Human Dignity and Its Impact on German Substantive Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 575-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto Lagodny
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Personal Liberty ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Protection Of Life

Since 1992, the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty has been in force in Israel. Its purpose according to sec. 1 is: “to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to anchor in a Basic Law the values of the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state”. In sec. 2 and subsec. it guarantees: preservation of life, body and dignity (sec. 2); protection of property (sec. 3); protection of life, body and dignity (sec. 4); personal liberty (sec. 5); leaving and entering Israel (sec. 6) and privacy (sec. 7). The guarantees in sec. 2 and subs. might thus be seen as a concretization of art. 1. Here we have already an interesting parallel to constitutional theory in Germany. Human dignity is the article with which our constitution begins. The following guarantees may be seen — asDürigalready pointed out in the 1950's — as an emanation of human dignity with its main aspects of freedom/liberty (Art. 2 German Basic Law [GBL]) and of equality (Art. 3 GBL).

The Constitutionalization of the Israeli Legal System as a Result of the Basic Laws and its Effect on Procedural and Substantive Criminal Law

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aharon Barak
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Constitutional Revolution ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Normative Value

In March 1992, Israel underwent a Constitutional Revolution. In March 1992, two new Basic Laws were passed: Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation and Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. Under these new Basic Laws, several human rights — among them Dignity, Liberty, Mobility, Privacy, Property — acquired a constitutional force above the regular statutes. Most of these rights were already protected, prior to the constitutionalization. While a few were protected by the legislator, most were protected by the case law of the Supreme Court, developed by some of our greatest judges since the establishment of the State. The main difference made by the Basic Laws is the strengthening of the normative value of these rights. A regular Knesset (Parliamentary) statute can no longer infringe upon these rights, unless it fulfils the requirements of the Basic Laws (the ‘limitation clause’) namely, it befits the values of the State of Israel, it was passed for a worthy purpose and the harm caused to the constitutional Human Right is proportional to the purpose. Thus, we became a constitutional democracy.

Enforcement of Divorce Judgments in Jewish Courts in Israel: The Interaction Between Religious and Constitutional Law

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yehiel S. Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Coercive Measures ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Do So

In the State of Israel, Rabbinical courts are granted sole jurisdiction in the adjudication of marriage and divorce of Jews. In these courts, the husband presents the divorce writ of Jews, the get, to his wife on the occasion of their divorce at the end of the adjudication process. When Jews sue for divorce in Rabbinical courts, the courts occasionally determine that the man should grant his wife a get or that the wife should accept the get granted by her husband. Sometimes one spouse disobeys the ruling. Although the Rabbinical courts occasionally impose sanctions in an attempt to enforce divorce judgments, they are generally reluctant to do so. The implementation of inappropriate measures can lead to the conclusion that a given divorce is in fact a legally ineffectual coerced divorce. Consequently, the Jewish courts occasionally delay the imposition of these sanctions out of concern that inappropriate coercive measures invalidate the get, rendering the couple still legally married. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled, though, that the Rabbinical courts in Israel should act in light of the constitutional principles in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom. However, the Supreme Court of Israel has not clearly or specifically addressed the balance between the rights and obligations of the husband and wife in the process of enforcing divorce judgments, neither before nor after the enactment of the of the two important constitutional Basic Laws enacted in 1992. A detailed policy analysis of the sanctions against recalcitrant spouses in Rabbinical courts in Israel—in light of the principles of Jewish and constitutional law in the country—has not yet been undertaken. The aim of this essay is therefore to present the appropriate formula pertaining to the imposition of sanctions against recalcitrant spouses given the principles of Jewish and constitutional law. The formula is presented in light of constitutional law in Israel. However, it is also applicable in other countries with similar constitutional legislation, such as Canada, where legislation sometimes allows for the civil enforcement of Jewish divorce.

scholarly journals DOCTRINAL PROVISIONS OF THE CRIMINAL LEGAL POLICY OF THE STATE IN THE SPHERE PROTECTION OF MILITARY SECURITY OF UKRAINE

2019 ◽  
pp. 84-96
Author(s):  
Y. Lutsenko
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Legal Policy ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Military Security ◽  
Criminal Legislation

The article provides a scientific analysis of theoretical and practical problems that exist when implementing the criminal-legal policy of the state in the field of the protection of military security of Ukraine. Taking into account the existing challenges and threats facing the Ukrainian, sovereign, democratic state, and before the whole civilizedworld today, the place, tasks and goals of the criminal-legal policy of the state are determined, its role in the sphere of military security of Ukraine is comprehended. The work focuses on the concept and essence of criminal-law policy, clarifies its place and role in the state in counteracting the socially dangerous acts of the present. Attention is drawn to the fact that the state policy in the sphere of counteracting crime, which is being conducted now in Ukraine, should be developed taking into account new scientific developments, theoretical and practical recommendations of scientists, first of all, lawyers. The absence of a holistic, modern concept of the criminal-law policy of the state, as well as the development of the national legislation on criminal liability, leads to inconsistencies and inconsistencies with certain norms of the criminal legislation of Ukraine and other subordinate normative legal acts, including the Basic Law - the Constitution of Ukraine, which, in its turn, entails significant problems in the activity of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine.

Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Criminal Law Bill

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus D. Dubber
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Penal State ◽  
State 1

Part III of Dual Penal State uses dual penal state analysis to generate a comparative-historical account of American penality. With comparative glimpses at Germany and, to a lesser extent, England, it distinguishes between two responses to the shared challenge of legitimating state penal power in a modern liberal democratic state: (1) the failure to appreciate the legitimatory challenge of modern state penal power in particular (United States) and of modern state power in general (England); and (2) the failure to address the legitimatory challenge of modern state penal power as an ongoing existential threat to the legitimacy of the state (Germany). Chapter 6 undertakes a critical analysis of Jefferson’s 1779 draft of a criminal law bill for the State of Virginia, concluding that it fell well short of a criminal code that reflected the ideals of the American legal-political project as spelled out, for instance, in Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence of 1776.

Prosecutors and their Legislatures, Legislatures and their Prosecutors

2021 ◽  
pp. 326-350
Author(s):  
Russell M. Gold
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
State Level ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
The State ◽  
Institutional Incentives ◽  
Fiscal Pressure ◽  
Meaningful Data ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores the often-pathological relationship between prosecutors and legislatures and considers fiscal pressure as an important antidote to the pathology. Institutional incentives between prosecutors and legislatures align in a way quite different than the classic separation of powers story. Rather, legislatures are well served to empower prosecutors as much as possible by making criminal law broad and deep. And with respect to substantive criminal law, prosecutors have been enormously empowered. Prosecutors are not merely passive recipients of such power but indeed actively lobby for it—often quite successfully. But fiscal pressures can provide a cross-cutting pressure for legislatures, particularly at the state level where many governments must balance their budgets. Thus, sentencing law sometimes finds legislatures refusing prosecutors’ requests for ever longer or mandatory minimum sentences because longer sentences are expensive; this is especially true where sentencing commissions provide legislatures with meaningful data on costs of particular proposals. Criminal procedure has recently found progressive prosecutors leading the way toward defendant-friendly reforms such as using unaffordable money bail less frequently and providing defendants with more discovery than is required by law. In these spaces, county prosecutors have provided laboratories of experimentation that led the way toward broader statewide reforms.

The Impact of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty on the Law of Criminal Procedure and Evidence

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 678-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliahu Harnon
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Basic Law ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Law ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
Law Of Evidence ◽  
The Impact

In March 1992, Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, enacted Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. Some believe that this Basic Law has created a constitutional revolution in Israel, while others feel this view to be exaggerated. In any event, there is general agreement that the Basic Law, with its 13 brief sections, has effected many significant changes in numerous areas of law.It is well known that criminal procedure and some parts of the law of evidence are particularly sensitive to constitutional changes. To what extent is this also true in Israel as a consequence of the Basic Law and interpretations given to it?More particularly, what precisely does the Basic Law say, and what has the Supreme Court inferred from the principles of human dignity and liberty beyond the express provisions of the Basic Law? What influence does the Basic Law exert on new legislation and indeed on legislation preceding the enactment of the Basic Law itself? May one expect that the Supreme Court will adopt the idea that the Basic Law embodies an exclusionary rule of evidence obtained in breach of a constitutional right? These, and other relevant questions, will be discussed below. First, however, we shall refer briefly to the legal and social background of the Basic Law.

scholarly journals Another example of the situational nature of changes in domestic criminal and criminal procedural legislation or a vital short story?

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-83
Author(s):  
Nikolay Letelkin ◽  
Dmitry Neganov
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
The State ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The Russian Federation

The article examines the situationality of modern lawmaking in the field of criminal law in the context of the adoption of the federal law of 1.04.2020 No. 100-FZ «On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 31 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation», adopted by the State The Duma of the Russian Federation in connection with the pandemics of the Corona Virus Disеаsе 2019 (COVID-19).

scholarly journals Reforming Scottish Criminal Procedure: In Search of Process Values

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Pamela R. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Criminal Trial ◽  
Wrongful Conviction ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Illegal Migrant ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
Normative Account

Recent proposals to reform Scottish criminal procedure are motivated by considerations of efficiency and accurate fact-finding, and there is little attempt to offer a normative account. This paper describes these proposals and contends that their emphasis on finding ‘the truth’ is misplaced on two distinct bases: (1) it equates erroneous acquittals to wrongful convictions, thus fails to uphold a fundamental tenet of criminal procedure, namely the particular importance of protecting the innocent against wrongful conviction; and (2) it fails to recognise the importance of non-instrumental process values which are at the heart of the adversarial criminal trial.  The paper suggests that it is only by adhering to these process values that the state maintains – and demonstrates that it maintains – its moral authority to condemn and punish offenders.Key notes: Return Directive, entry ban, illegal migrant, criminal law sanctions, crimmigration, expulsion.

scholarly journals The Jewish Verfassung, the Israeli nomos: the constitutional situation of the beginnings of the State of Israel in the context of Carl Schmitt's political and legal philosophy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Wojciech Engelking
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Philosophy ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
National Community ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Arab Origin ◽  
The Impact ◽  
State Of Israel ◽  
Basic Matter

Abstract The paper is an attempt to examine how Carl Schmitt's constitutional theory can be useful to analyse the Constitution of the State of Israel designed in the late 1940s – the impact of which Jacob Taubes once certified. The author analyses three projects created then by Leo Kohn through the prism of Schmitt's concept of Verfassung and Verfassungsgesetz. He also reads in the context of Schmitt's philosophy (from Constitutional Theory and The Nomos of the Earth) the constitutional situation of Israel as a country where, first, the Constitution has not been passed and the basic matter of its legal system is regulated by the Basic Laws; second, citizens of Arab origin are excluded from the national community; and third, the borders of the state remain fluid and change due to the constant partition of the land.

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