Prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment
Course outline
This course focuses on the evolution of EU criminal law, including the role of EU legislation and case law of the Court of Justice and of the European Court of Human Rights. The participants will have the opportunity to learn how the case law of the ECHR determined the evolution of both domestic and European Union Criminal Law.
The course will look at the two pillars of criminal law development in Europe; the ECHR and EU law encompassing the jurisprudence of the ECHR. The developing body both of the substantive and of procedural criminal law will be scrutinised. Additionally international co-operations in criminal matters will be studied. This course provides participants with knowledge of the European and international standards and international mechanisms for protection against torture and inhuman and degrading punishment and treatment. It explores the concepts of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on the basis of international law and jurisprudence. The major sources of the latter are the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The course also introduces the international mechanisms for protection against torture and CID treatment or punishment. It deals with four types of mechanisms: reviews by the UN statutory bodies; reviews of country reports before the UN treaty bodies; international complaints mechanisms and the mechanisms for prevention of torture and CID treatment or punishment at the UN, Council of Europe and national levels.
Competences
The participants will endeavour to separate the ius cogens and the parts of regional international law concerning criminal matters. The approach of the course reflects a case analysis method including the solving of imaginary cases and problems. The course is based on participatory, active learning approach. It draws on a variety of sources, including reports and decisions of international human rights bodies and academic literature. The course is based on participatory, active learning approach, with an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning. It draws on a variety of sources, including reports and decisions of international human rights bodies and academic literature. Occasionally, participants will be presented with fact patterns and will be asked to apply the standards, which they learned, to resolve cases.
COMPLUSORY READING
- Evans, Malcolm D.: Preventing torture - a study of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Clarendon Press, 1998, p.475)
- Barbara Bernath: The Prevention of Torture in Europe: The CPT : History, Mandate and Composition (Association for the Prevention of Torture Publisher, 1999.)
- John Hedigan: Codification of the Criminal Law and the European Convention on Human Rights
- Mireille Delmas-Marty: The Criminal Process and Human Rights: Toward a European Consciousness (1995.)
Conventions and treaties:
- Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Rome, 4. XI. 1950)
- Treaty of Lisbon (13 December 2007), Treaty establishing the European Community, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000)
RECOMMENDED READINGS
- Association for the Prevention of Torture: The implementation of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment (Association for the Prevention of Torture Publisher, 1995.)
- Rodney Morgan, Malcolm David Evans: Protecting Prisoners: The Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Context (Oxford University Press, 1999., p. 294)
- Rhona K. M. Smith: Textbook on International Human Rights (Oxford University Press, 2007.)
- Rodney Morgan, Malcolm Evans: Combating Torture in Europe: The Work and Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) (Council of Europe Publishing; 2001.)
- Codification in International Perspective (Selected Papers from the 2nd IACL Thematic Conference, Series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, Vol. 1)
- Lyal S. Sunga: The Emerging System of International Criminal Law: Developments in Codification and Implementation [1997]
- Codified criminal procedure and human rights: Some observations on the French experience. (CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW pp. 165-182.)