UN Targeted Sanctions, Legal Safeguards and the European Convention on Human Rights

2003 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Qualitative Change ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The One ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
The Right ◽  
Ec Law ◽  
Legal Mechanism

AbstractThe introduction of Security Council targeted financial and travel sanctions against individuals involves a qualitative change in Security Council sanctions policy, which has previously been directed against governmental entities. Targeted sanctions can be a useful weapon in the international community's attempts to pressurize repressive regimes into accepting change. However, there is a problem in using against individuals, a powerful international law mechanism designed for pressurizing states. Individuals' rights under domestic and international law can be severely affected by such sanctions. The blacklists created under Resolutions 1333 and 1390 cause particular problems, as these are quasi-criminal in nature and in practice entail an allegation that the targeted persons are terrorists or terrorist associates. However, there is no international legal mechanism for checking or reviewing the accuracy of the information forming the basis of a sanctions committee blacklisting or the necessity for, and proportionality of, measures adopted. The implementation against non-governmental or quasi-governmental entities of targeted Security Council sanctions in European states is almost certainly contrary to European human rights norms, in particular, the right of access to court under Article 6 ECHR. There is thus a conflict between obligations under the United Nations Charter (UNC) on the one hand and the ECHR (and for EU states, EC law) on the other. Mechanisms can, however, be created which provide a broadly similar level of protection to that provided by Article 6 ECHR while maintaining whatever effectiveness targeted sanctions possess, so there is no logical incompatibility between obligations under the ECHR and Security Council sanctions.

Cestaro v. Italy: The European Court of Human Rights on the Duty to Criminalise Torture and Italy’s Structural Problem

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-585
Author(s):  
Domenico Carolei
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Structural Problem ◽  
European Court ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Normative Content ◽  
Italian Legislation

In April 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Italian legislation is inadequate to criminalise acts of torture (Cestaro v. Italy). Following the ECtHR’s decision, the Italian Parliament approved the bill A.C. 2168 which aimed to introduce the crime of torture (Article 613-bis) in the Italian Criminal Code. The bill does not seem to comply with the definition of torture provided by international law, and also neglects the legislative guidelines outlined by the ECtHR in Cestaro v. Italy. The purpose of this article is twofold. On the one hand, it will assess the ECtHR’s decision focusing on Italy’s structural problem and its duty to enact and enforce efficient criminal provisions under Article 3 of the European Convention. On the other hand, it will analyse the normative content of Article 613-bis in order to highlight its weaknesses and propose, on each of them, suggestions for amendment.

Reconstructing the European Court of Human Rights’ Article 8 Jurisprudence in Deportation Cases: The Family’s Right and the Public Interest

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-360
Author(s):  
Jonathan Collinson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Court ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

Abstract This article rationalises the case law of the European Court of Human Rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in deportation cases involving children. The Court engages in a balancing exercise between the right to family life of the deportee’s family on the one side, and the public interest in deportation on the other. This article expands on existing case law analysis by suggesting that in deportation cases, the Court considers Article 8 as a form of commonly held right, rather than an individual right held by one member of the family. Furthermore, the balance is argued to be constructed as a relationship between two factors on both sides, rather than of a sole factor on either side as being determinative. This article concludes that the best interests of the child (one of the ‘Üner criteria’) is not adequately reflected in the Court’s deportation decision-making practice.

Diritto a una tutela giurisdizionale effettiva e revisione dei processi penali: la Corte costituzionale e il caso Dorigo

2009 ◽  
pp. 85-110
Author(s):  
Stefano Dorigo ◽  
Pietro Pustorino
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Critical Comment ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Italian Constitution ◽  
Italian Norms

- The work is a critical comment to the judgment of the Italian Constitutional Court of 30 April 2008, n. 129, on the reopening of the criminal proceedings requested by the European Court of Human Rights. The work begins dealing deeply with the problem of the customary nature in international law of the right to a fair trial and the consequent possibility to invoke, in the framework of the Italian national system, Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Constitution. The authors suddenly stress the relevance of other constitutional norms in order to recognize a constitutional or quasi-constitutional rank to the norms of the European Convention on Human Rights, demonstrating that the Italian Constitution offers several possibilities on the matter. A very recent judgment of the Court of Cassation, adopted on 11 December 2008, confirms this opinion interpreting the Italian norms on the reopening of the criminal proceeding on the basis of Articles 111 and 117 of the Constitution.

scholarly journals A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PRACTICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND MALAYSIA IN RESPECT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazli Ismail @ Nawang
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
European Convention ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

International law, particularly treaties on human rights, has great influence on the development of the right to freedom of expression. The application of international treaties is very much dependant on the constitutions of individual countries and these constitutions to a large extent are dissimilar from one to another. The position in the United Kingdom is relatively unique since the country has no codified written constitution to safeguard the fundamental right to freedom of expression and as a result it was regarded as residual in nature. Nonetheless, the provisions of the international treaties, particularly the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) have altered this position and accordingly freedom of expression has been formally incorporated into the UK law via the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). Meanwhile, the international human rights treaties is considered to have less influence in Malaysia arguably since the country has a written constitution (the Federal Constitution) that contains a specific part on fundamental liberties including the right to freedom of expression. Keywords: International law, treaties, freedom of expression.

scholarly journals THE RIGHT TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND REPRESENTATION – GENERAL ASPECTS

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 113-117
Author(s):  
Roxana Matefi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
African Charter ◽  
General Aspects ◽  
The Right

The current paper wishes to generally analyze the right to legal assistance and representation, a component of the right to be defended and of the right to an equitable trial, which is regulated in internal law as well as in international law, such as the European Convention of Human Rights or the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

scholarly journals The Legal Nature of the Child’s Right to Access Information and the Restriction Thereof to Protect a Child Against Information Detrimental to the Mental Health and Development of Minors

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Olga Yu. Sitkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Access Information ◽  
The Right ◽  
Legal Mechanism

The article analyzes the norms of international acts in the field of human rights protection concerning the right to access information. The author of the article hypothesizes that the legal mechanism, which includes measures of coordinated interaction between the family and the state, best contributes to the implementation of measures to protect children from harmful information, combined with the preservation of the child’s right to access information. Within the framework of this direction, the article reveals the legal nature of the child’s right to access information. The article analyzes the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and a number of other international acts in this area. The practice of the ECHR in cases related to the right to freedom of expression has been generalized, which made it possible to determine the legal essence of this right in the context of the provisions of the main international acts on the protection of human rights

The European Court of Human Rights: Nada v. Switzerland

2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 268-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miša Zgonec-Rožej
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Family Life ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
European Convention ◽  
European Court ◽  
Grand Chamber ◽  
Effective Remedy ◽  
The Right

On September 12, 2012, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) ruled in Nada v. Switzerland that the implementation by Switzerland of the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Regime violated the right to private and family life under Article 8, and the right to an effective remedy under Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

scholarly journals The Legality and Legitimacy of Unilateral Armed Intervention in an Age of Terror, Neo-Imperialism, and Massive Violations of Human Rights: Is International Law Evolving in the Right Direction?

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 3-33
Author(s):  
J.-G. Castel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Security Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Bush Doctrine ◽  
The Right ◽  
Armed Intervention ◽  
Self Defence

SummaryWith the end of the Cold War, the United States has emerged as the sole remaining superpower whose ambition is to create a new open and integrated world order based on principks of democratic capitalism. To ensure its hegemony, the United States is prepared to resort to military action with or without UN approval when its international and national security interests are at stake. The intervention in Iraq by the Coalition of the Willing is a good example of this policy and raises the question of its legality and legitimacy under contemporary international law. May or must a state resort to military intervention against a state sponsoring terrorism or depriving its nationals of their internationally recognized human rights? The so-called “Bush doctrine” of anticipatory or preventive self-defence against a state accused of supplying weapons of mass destruction to a foreign terrorist organization, which was one of the reasons advanced by the Coalition of the Willing for intervening in Iraq, meets neither the conditions laid out in Article 51 of the UN Charter nor those of customary international law. Thus, at the present stage of development of international law, the Bush doctrine is not even lege ferenda. It is not an extension of the customary international law right of pre-emptive self-defence. Only with the approval of the Security Council pursuant to Chapter VII of the UN Charter or when it takes place within the strict confines of self-defence, can armed intervention be legitimate.The second reason for intervening in Iraq given by the Coalition of the Willing is based on humanitarian considerations, which raises the question whether the protection of human rights can be assured from the outside. Here, international law is evolving in the right direction since the international community is prepared to adopt the concept of responsibility to protect, which justifies the use of force to protect and enforce human rights as an exception to Article 2(4) and (7) of the UN Charter. Again, such intervention is legal only when approved by the Security Council acting pursuant to Chapter VII on the ground that human right crises do not fall “essentially within the jurisdiction of any state.” However, the international community, with the exception of the Coalition of the Willing, is not yet prepared to support a right of unilateral military intervention as a last resort when the Security Council is incapable and unwilling to do so. This includes intervention motivated by the non-democratic form of government of the targeted state. Although the primary responsibility to deal with human right crises rests with the United Nations based on the responsibility to protect, it is argued that one should not rule out unilateral military action based on a customary international law right of intervention to meet the gravity and urgency of the situation provided the intervening state fully observes the necessary precautionary principles governing such type of intervention. The conclusion is that terrorism and human rights abuses can only be effectively challenged through a concerted multilateral collective approach not through the politics of unilateralism.

scholarly journals PROBLEM ASPECTS OF EXECUTION OF PUNISHMENT IN THE FORM OF ARREST OF CONVICTED SERVICEMAN

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Ostapchuk L. G. ◽  
◽  
Kondratenko N. V. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Military Service ◽  
International Standards ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Criminal Punishment ◽  
Training Course ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
The Right

The article analyzes the provisions of criminal law and international law governing the punishment in the form of arrest of servicemen. It is determined that the studied type of criminal punishment in relation to servicemen has its own specifics since servicemen serve their sentences directly during military service. Therefore, in the process of serving a sentence in the form of arrest, convicted servicemen do not lose their special status, which is regulated by departmental normative-legal acts. The theory of criminal law of Ukraine and judicial practice are proved to not previously know such a type of criminal punishment as arrest. It is determined that of special interest are the issues of studying the peculiarities of the execution of punishment in the form of arrest of convicted servicemen, as well as the compliance of domestic legislation with international law. Among the main problems of the legislation of Ukraine, which regulates the legal procedure for execution and serving a sentence in the form of arrest by convicted servicemen, it is singled out the inconsistency of domestic legislation with international standards. There is the need to involve qualified personnel to work with convicted servicemen, who must be carefully selected, properly trained, paid for at the professional level and have a status that is respected in civil society. The European Penitentiary Regulations stipulate that before personnel can take up their duties, they must undergo a training course in the performance of their general and specific tasks and pass theoretical and practical examinations, and a training course must be completed for all personnel, including a study of international and regional instruments and norms in the field of human rights protection, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The analysis of domestic and international law indicates that special attention should be paid to the rules that ensure the right of a convicted serviceman to medical care, the convict’s right to purchase food and basic necessities, the right to visit relatives and friends, telephone conversations, the right to convicts’ separate detention of different sexes, the right to respect for their dignity, etc. Therefore, the reforms implementation in the penitentiary sphere is quite appropriate at present. First of all, it is necessary to bring military penitentiary institutions in line with the requirements of international legal acts that determine the rules for the treatment of convicts and prisoners, as most of them are not recommended, but mandatory. Key words: arrest, military criminal offenses, serviceman, guard.

scholarly journals Health, migration and law: what challenges?

sui generis ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Stéphanie Dagron
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Access To Healthcare ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
International Commitments ◽  
Political Commitments ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

The reality of migration today is that a large majority of migrants in vulnerable situations either do not have access, or have only very restricted access, to healthcare. While the current importance of the migratory phenomenon and the need to provide protection to disadvantaged migrants has, in recent years, trig-gered a strong response from the international community in favour of the protec-tion of the rights of persons, either refugees or migrants, fleeing their countries of origin; the central challenge of protecting and promoting the right of migrants to health seems as difficult to as ever. This article firstly sets out the international community’s recent political commitments to protect the human rights of migrants as well as the norms of international law applicable to the protection of the health of migrants, mainly contained within international human rights law and interna-tional refugee and migrant law. It then discusses the numerous barriers at the na-tional level which block migrants, particularly in vulnerable situations, from ac-cessing care. In doing so, this article highlights the profound paradoxes between State’s international commitments on the one hand, and State practices to protect and promote migrant access to healthcare on the other.

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