Constitutional Rights and Finnish Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-606
Author(s):  
Raimo Lahti
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Remarkable Change ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms

The constitutional aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure only began to receive serious attention in Finland in the 1990s. The remarkable change in legal thinking and practice in this respect was connected to two major legislative reforms: firstly, Finland ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in 1990 and, secondly, new provisions on fundamental (basic) rights were incorporated in the Finnish Constitution in 1995. A fully revised new Constitution of Finland was enacted in 1999 (to be entered into force on 1 March 2000), but the substance of fundamental rights and freedoms was confirmed already in the constitutional reform of 1995.Those aspects had not, however, been completely overlooked before. Most of the relevant human rights treaties were eventually ratified in Finland (e.g., the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, CCPR) and, when ratified, they were incorporated into the domestic legal order. Nevertheless, courts or administrative authorities very seldom referred to human rights treaties or constitutional rights before the late 1980s; a tradition of invoking constitutional rights in the courts was lacking. Instead, human rights treaties and constitutional rights were primarily regarded as binding the legislator.

The Right to Compensation for Wrongful Conviction/Miscarriage of Justice in International Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-244
Author(s):  
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Wrongful Conviction ◽  
European Court ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
African Commission ◽  
Miscarriage Of Justice

Human rights treaties (including Article 14(6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (iccpr); Article 3 of the Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; and Article 10 of the American Convention on Human Rights) explicitly protect the right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is silent on this right. The Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have developed rich jurisprudence on the ambit of the right to compensation for wrongful conviction or miscarriage of justice. States have adopted different approaches to give effect to their obligation under Article 14(6) of the iccpr. Relying on the practice and/or jurisprudence from States in Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America and on the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the article illustrates the approaches taken by some States to give effect to Article 14(6) of the iccpr and the relevant regional human rights instruments.

Human Rights, Labour Rights, and Criminal Wrongs

2020 ◽  
pp. 210-228
Author(s):  
Virginia Mantouvalou
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Real World ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
European Court ◽  
Normative Significance ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
Civil Order

This chapter assesses the contribution of the criminal law in protecting the fundamental human rights of workers. Fundamental human rights identify the basic moral entitlements of workers. These entitlements have a special normative significance in the polity. Accordingly, serious violations of those entitlements by powerful private actors would seem to count as public wrongs against the polity’s ‘civil order’, as constituted by its most fundamental rights. The chapter discusses the position of criminal law under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and the interpretation of the state’s positive obligation to protect as encompassing a positive obligation to criminalize certain public wrongs against fundamental entitlements. This chapter also emphasizes how the European Court of Human Rights has developed an approach to criminalization that is sensitive to its effects in the real world. It is not sufficient to have criminal laws on the statute books. Those criminal laws must be investigated and enforced effectively, with adequate support and protection for victims, and the state also has a duty to dismantle the structural determinants of vulnerability such as those constituted by its own visa regimes.

scholarly journals Romania: derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights – freedom of expression during public emergency

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Mónika Márton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
European Court ◽  
Public Emergency ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms

A pandemic can provide a textbook example for the restrictions of fundamental rights and freedoms. Romania has decided to derogate from the application of the European Convention on Human Rights during the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The questions discussed in this paper are whether the derogation of Romania fulfils the criteria established by the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. If the answer is affirmative: does it have any effect on the inherent limitations on the freedom of expression as stated in art. 10 of ECHR?

CRIME AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
OLGA GUZEEVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Functional Connection ◽  
Domestic Literature ◽  
Relevant Task ◽  
Universal Instrument ◽  
Legal Restrictions ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms

Relevance of the research. The close substantive and functional connection between human rights and a crime forms a complex research subject, though its study is not given sufficient attention in the domestic literature. On the one hand, the concept of human rights violations includes acts that are not always criminalized, on the other hand, not all crimes can be regarded as violations of human rights. Meanwhile, the criminal law is recognized as a universal instrument of protecting human rights, and therefore it must take into account these features of offenses in the mechanism of its functioning. Purpose of the research. The relevant task of this publication is to define a differentiated analysis of the mechanism for the formation of a criminal-legal prohibition on committing dangerous acts, depending on whether they infringe or not infringe on the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. Research results. Acts that infringe on fundamental human rights and freedoms are subject to mandatory criminalization. The unlawfulness of such acts is determined precisely by the fact that they violate the general constitutional provisions on the inadmissibility of encroachments on fundamental rights and freedoms. Acts that do not infringe on fundamental human rights and freedoms can be criminalized in accordance with the discretion of the legislator. The establishment of a criminal law prohibition in this case is preliminarily mediated by the construction of sectoral legal restrictions for the relations protected by the criminal law. Such sectoral legal restrictions are subject to the requirements of Part 3 of Art. 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and can be expressed in two of their main forms: either as a complete prohibition of a certain right (freedom), or as a decrease in the options for possible, permissible behavior by establishing various limits of such behavior by state authorities. A differentiated analysis of the mechanism of criminalization of acts, depending on their correlation with violation of human rights, proves that the criminal law itself, formally confirming in the dispositional part, the restriction of the rights of law-abiding citizens, in reality does not restrict them, since the grounds for such a restriction lie outside the criminal law.

The Oviedo Convention: A European Legal Framework at the Intersection of Human Rights and Health Law

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Andorno
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
Degrading Treatment ◽  
First Time

AbstractIntroductionThe European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine of 1997 (“Oviedo Convention“) is the best current example of how to promote the protection of human rights in the biomedical field at a transnational level. The importance of this instrument lies in the fact that it is the first comprehensive multilateral treaty addressing biomedical human rights issues. Certainly, some of the principles it contains were already included in more general terms in previous international human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 (e.g. the rights to life, to physical integrity and to privacy, the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment and of any form of discrimination). However, this is the first time that these rights have been developed and assembled in one single multilateral binding instrument entirely devoted to biomedical issues.The purpose of this paper is, first, to give an overview of the history of the Convention; second, to present its general characteristics; and finally to summarize its key provisions.

scholarly journals Criminalising Defamation of Religion and Belief

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-375
Author(s):  
Marloes van Noorloos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Defamation Law

This article deals with the role of criminal law in dealing with defamatory expressions about religion or belief. Defamation of religion and belief is a form of indirect defamation ‘via identification’ which, as the discussion about the Dutch group defamation law shows, stretches up the notion of ‘group defamation’ — a crime which requires that (groups of) persons are insulted because they belong to a religious group. This contribution investigates whether European states can legitimately criminalise (certain forms of) defamation of religion and belief, in light of the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations framework (particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and legal theoretical considerations. The article shows how problematic it is for the criminal law — in light of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion, as well as the ultima ratio principle — to combat such speech.

scholarly journals Interpreting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Applying International and European Jurisprudence on the Law and Practice of Fundamental Rights

1969 ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
Errol P. Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Canadian Charter ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
States Experience

Since the arrival of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there has been much discussion of applying the United States' experience with its Bill of Rights to the inter pretation of the Canadian Charter. It is the author's thesis, however, that Canadians ought to study the European and United Nations jurisprudence in the area of human rights documents as these documents more closely resemble the Canadian Charter than does the American Bill of Rights. Some illustrative fundamental rights cases from the United Nations and Europe are discussed. Further, the appendices include the full texts of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for comparative purposes.

scholarly journals Citizenship Deprivation under the European Convention-System: A Case Study of Belgium

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-282
Author(s):  
Louise Reyntjens
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
System A ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Foreign Fighters

In response to Islamic-inspired terrorism and the growing trend of foreign fighters, European governments are increasingly relying on citizenship deprivation as a security tool. This paper will focus on the question of how the fundamental rights of individuals deprived of their citizenship are affected and which protection is offered for them by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (‘ECHR’). In many countries, these new and broader deprivation powers were left unaccompanied by stronger (procedural) safeguards that protect the human rights they might affect. Unlike the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ECHR does not provide for an explicit right to citizenship. The question therefore rises what protection, if any, is offered by the ECHRsystem against citizenship deprivation and for the right to citizenship. Through a case study of the Belgian measure of citizenship deprivation, the (implicit) protection provided by the Convention-system is demonstrated.

scholarly journals ”New” and ”Existing” Rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-32
Author(s):  
Gabriela Nemţoi ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Economic

Considered a fundamental document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union aims to bring together all the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that citizens and residents of the Community can enjoy in order to outline the EU’s obligation to respect these fundamental rights. Thus, from the perspective of the content of the Charter, civil and political rights can be understood as those rights necessary for the assertion of the individual and defined by the action of their holder[1] and in contrast are the economic, social and cultural rights that can be understood as those rights recognized to individuals, in their capacity as members of certain social categories. Through its content, the Charter reaffirms the rights that arise from the content of national constitutions and international obligations, common to the Member States. Thus, these rights stand out as a foundation that is built on the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, on the Social Charters adopted by the EU, on the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. In this context, it should be noted that the Charter is the first normative act that manages to codify in a single document, the main civil, political, economic and social rights[2], enshrined in previous Community Treaties. Under the auspices of the Charter, we will try to point out the innovative aspect that this document enjoys as a legal instrument for the protection of fundamental human rights.

scholarly journals Legal Certainty and Democracy: What the “Constitutional Legislator” Allows

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-448
Author(s):  
Mikhail V. Presnyakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Legal Certainty ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Democratic Transformation

Introduction. The article analyzes the legal certainty of the individual as the stability of the content of fundamental rights and freedoms in the context of democratic processes of reforming the current legislation and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Theoretical analysis. The article notes that the need for stability of fundamental human rights and freedoms is in some contradiction with their dynamic, evolutionary nature. The author questions the possible and necessary limits of majority democratic will with regard to the transformation of the legal system, in general, and constitutional rights and freedoms, in particular. The article addresses some “points of tension” between democracy and the rule of law. Results. On the basis of the article, it is concluded that participation in the processes of democratic transformation of the legal system can be considered as a right to democracy and, in this understanding, it needs the search for a balance with other fundamental rights and freedoms. It is on the basis of this balance that the legal certainty of the individual must be ensured, combining, on the one hand, the stability of the substantive characteristics of fundamental rights and freedoms, and, on the other hand, the expansion of legal claims and the evolution of human rights.

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