Access to Justice at International Level and the Right to an Effective Domestic Remedy

2011 ◽  
pp. 50-62
Author(s):  
Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade
Keyword(s):  
Access To Justice ◽  
International Level ◽  
The Right

Simoncioni v. Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-406
Author(s):  
Riccardo Pavoni
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Sovereign Immunity ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Compensation Claims ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

With Judgment No. 238/2014, the Italian Constitutional Court (hereinafter Court) quashed the Italian legislation setting out the obligation to comply with the sections of the 2012 decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy; Greece intervening) (Jurisdictional Immunities or Germany v. Italy) that uphold the rule of sovereign immunity with respect to compensation claims in Italian courts based on grave breaches of human rights, including—in the first place—the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Court found the legislation to be incompatible with Articles 2 and 24 of the Italian Constitution, which secure the protection of inviolable human rights and the right of access to justice (operative paras. 1, 2).

Summary judgment — Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-114
Author(s):  
Thino Bekker
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Core ◽  
Golden Opportunity ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
The Right ◽  
Summary Judgment ◽  
Made In

The summary judgment procedure in South African law provides for a speedy judgment in favour of a deserving plaintiff where it can be shown that the defendant does not have a triable defence. In 2019 the Rules Board made certain drastic amendments to the procedure of summary judgment in the high court. In this article the historical development of the procedure of summary judgment will be discussed, and the new amendments to rule 32 of the Uniform Rules of Court critically evaluated. It will be argued that the amendments to rule 32 were unnecessary and that it may diminish the right to access to justice in civil disputes. It will, however, also be argued that there are some merits in the critique raised by the Rules Board in relation to rule 32 and that the Rules Board missed a golden opportunity to overhaul the entire summary judgment procedure in a more sensible manner and in line with the core constitutional values of s 34 of the Constitution. It will be argued that rule 32 should be replaced in its entirety by a new, more streamlined procedure, and some recommendations for legal reform will be made in this regard.

scholarly journals Victim’s Right of Access to International Criminal Courts

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Fazlollah Foroughi ◽  
Zahra Dastan
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Level ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

Due to quantitative expansion and evolution in committing the crime at the international level, the scope of criminal proceedings has been widened significantly. Tolerance and forgiveness towards crimes that happen at international level not only is a double oppression on the victims, but also provide a fertile context for others to commit crimes more daringly. Thus, it is essential that international criminals are held accountable to the law and competent institution, and the realization of this issue leads to the victim satisfaction in international law. Not only in international law, but also in domestic law, show respect and protection of human rights is effective only when there is an effective justice system to guarantee the rights. Although some international crimes practically occur by the government or at least high-ranking government officials, the Statute of the International Criminal Court has reiterated this point that they only have jurisdiction over the crimes committed by natural persons rather than legal entities, which one good example is governments, and although the real victims of these crimes have been human beings, in the case of action and referring the case to the competent international courts, these are the states (rather than the victims) that actually have the right of access to the authorities and not beneficiaries .Thus, at the first step, we should see whether the Court has jurisdiction over the crime committed by the government and whether people can file an action independently in the International Criminal Court or not? When people, rather than governments, are beneficiaries in some international crimes, why only the government and not the people is the plaintiff? And what is the right of the victim in such category of crimes? Accordingly, the current research seeks to examine these rights and restrictions, and relevant limitations.

scholarly journals Current Problems of the Realization of the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religious Вeliefs by Christians in Western European States

2020 ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Наталия Сергеевна Семенова
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
International Level ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
National Courts ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
Freedom Of Thought ◽  
Western European ◽  
The Right

На сегодняшний день сформирована солидная правовая база международных обязательств государств по гарантии права на свободу мысли, совести и религии. Соблюдение данных гарантий обеспечивается на международном уровне наличием разработанной системы уставных и договорных контрольных механизмов, в рамках которых государства отчитываются о выполнении своих обязательств. Тем не менее, несмотря на наличие хорошо разработанной международно-правовой системы защиты права на свободу мысли, совести и религии, проблемы реализации данного права, включая преследования и дискриминацию по признаку отношения к религии, остро стоят во многих странах Западной Европы. Причем, проблемы реализации права на свободу совести и вероисповедания возникают, как правило, у последователей Христианства - культурообразующей религии большинства государств Западной Европы. В статье рассмотрены основные проблемы и причины дискриминации христиан в Западной Европе. Приведены примеры практики национальных судов и Европейского суда по правам человека в области дискриминации христиан в западноевропейских государствах. Проанализированы последствия «политики толерантности», продвигаемой странами Западной Европы на международном уровне как основной «ценности» демократического общества, во взаимосвязи с дискриминацией христиан. To date, a solid legal base of the international obligations of states has been formed to guarantee the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Compliance with these guarantees is ensured at the international level by the existence of a developed system of statutory and contractual control mechanisms, within which states report on the fulfillment of their obligations. Nevertheless, despite the existence of a well-developed international legal system for protecting the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the problems of the realization of this right, including persecution and discrimination based on religion, are acute in many countries of Western Europe. Moreover, the problems of the realization of the right to freedom of conscience and religion arise, as a rule, among the followers of Christianity, the culture-forming religion of most states of Western Europe. The article discusses the main problems and causes of discrimination against Christians in Western Europe. It contains examples of the practice of national courts and the European Court of Human Rights in the field of discrimination against Christians in Western European countries are given. The consequences of the «policy of tolerance» promoted by the countries of Western Europe at the international level as the main «value» of a democratic society, in connection with discrimination against Christians, are analyzed.

scholarly journals Advocacy as a tool for the realization of the fundamental right of a person to professional legal assistance

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 240-243
Author(s):  
P. Badzeliuk
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Entities

This article is devoted to the study of the implementation of the fundamental right of a person to professional legal assistance through the vectors of influence of the bar, the role of the human rights institution in the mechanism of such a right and its place in public life.An effective justice system provides not only an independent and impartial judiciary, but also an independent legal profession. Lawyers play an important role in ensuring access to justice. They facilitate the interaction between individuals and legal entities and the judiciary by providing legal advice to their clients and presenting them to the courts. Without the assistance of a lawyer, the right to a fair trial and the right to an effective remedy would be irrevocably violated.Thus, the bar in the mechanism of protection of human and civil rights and freedoms is one of the means of self-limitation of state power through the creation and active functioning of an independent human rights institution, which is an active subject in the process of fundamental rights. The main constitutional function of the state is to implement and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, and the constitutional and legal status of the legal profession allows it to actively ensure the rights of civil society as a whole and not just the individual. Effectively implement the human rights function of the state by ensuring proper interaction between the authorities and civil society, while being an active participant in the law enforcement mechanism and occupying an independent place in the justice system.Thus, the activities of lawyers are a complex manifestation of both state and public interest. After all, it is through advocacy and thanks to it that the rule of law realizes the possibility of ensuring the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Advocacy, on the one hand, has a constitutionally defined state character, and on the other hand, lawyers should be as independent as possible from the state in order to effectively protect citizens and legal entities from administrative arbitrariness. Thus, the bar is a unique legal phenomenon that performs a state (public-law) function, while remaining an independent, non-governmental self-governing institution.

scholarly journals Framework of communication needed to protect against human rights violations of individuals who exercise their right to religious freedom in minority religions

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanus P. Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
World Peace ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
International Level ◽  
Minority Religions ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship

The right to religious freedom is generally believed to be the solution to religious intolerance and discrimination and to ensure world peace amongst world citizens. On an international level, the United Nations, through the appointment of a special rapporteur for freedom of religion and belief, has introduced a tool to monitor violations of this right. This tool is known as �the framework of communications� and is focused mainly on the relationship between governments and religions. Unfortunately, religion is not excluded from the violation of human rights within its own ranks. This article pointed out that however pure the intention of freedom of religion, no real measures are in place to address violations of human rights in minority religions. Therefore, a tool is needed to investigate and address alleged violations within minority religions.

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