Constitutional and International Criminal Law
Course type
Study programme and level
Language
slovenščina
Lectures | Seminar | Tutorial | Druge oblike študija | Individual Work | ECTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | 160 | 8 |
Study programme and level | Study field | Academic year | Semester |
II. level | Law | 2 | 1 |
Course type
Compulsory
Workload | Lectures (h/semester) | Seminar
(h/semester) |
Tutorial
(h/semester) |
Individual Work (h/semester) | ECTS |
40 | 160 | 8 |
Lecturer
doc. dr. Anže Erbežnik
Language
English
Prerequisites
Students will benefit from prior knowledge about the basic topics of criminal law and procedure, as well as the general placement of Slovenia in the European and international legal space. They must understand concepts such as crime and its elements, guilt, penalty of criminal proceedings, the privilege against self-incrimination, etc. They must also be familiar with the basics of Slovenian constitutional order and of EU law in the broader sense of national institutions and EU institutions, principle of separation of powers, legislative process, laws, regulations, jurisdiction, understanding the concepts of primary and secondary EU law, the fundamental principles of the EU, such as supremacy and subsidiarity, the EU acts, etc.
Content (Syllabus outline)
Comparative legal review of criminal law
The Continental system (continental Europe)
The Anglo-Saxon system (USA, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Cyprus, etc.)
The Relationship between procedural and substantive criminal law
Ancillary (adjective) process status in the inquisitorial model of criminal law (authoritarian regime)
the autonomous status of the process in the adversarial model of criminal law (democratic regime)
The importance of privilege against self-accusation: Zupančič: “The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination as a Human Right” [available in electronic form]
The importance of jury and evidential law
The importance of the exclusionary rule (Article 15 of the UN Convention against Torture):
decision of the European Court of Human Rights
CASE OF SOERING v. THE UNITED KINGDOM 07/07/1989
Decisions of the Committee against Torture:
P.E. V. FRANCE 21/11/2002
QANI HALIMI-NEDZIBI V. AUSTRIA 18/11/1993
The History of Criminal Law
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan: “If the laws cease, the crimes also cease.”
Journal of Social History: FACES OF VIOLENCE REVISITED. A TYPOLOGY OF VIOLENCE IN EARLY MODERN RURAL GERMANY
The Penal Code of Emperor Charles V (1532)
Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1731)
Césare Beccaria and his theory of criminal law (1764)
B.M. Zupančič: Criminal Law: Its Nature and Its Function [available in electronic form]
III. Modern criminal law
The continental model of criminal law (still predominantly inquisitorial and dangerous to human rights)
Decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia:
Zupan v. RS, Decision of the Republic of Slovenia, U-I-27/95 of 24 October 1996, separate opinion Zupančič
Ličina v. RS, U-I-289/95 of 4 December 1997, separate opinion Zupančič and Jambrek
Decisions of the ECHR:
CASE OF STRELETZ, KESSLER AND KRENZ v. GERMANY 22/03/2001 (retroactivity and principle of legality: separate opinion Zupančič)
CASE OF ÖCALAN v. TURKEY 12/03/2003 (see also, in particular, paragraph 207 of the judgment – a substantive legal decision of the court can only follow from the criminal proceedings without appeal)
CASE OF SELMOUNI v. FRANCE 28/07/1999 (torture)
CASE OF REHBOCK v. SLOVENIA 28/11/2000 (inhuman and degrading treatment by the police)
CASE OF HALFORD v. THE UNITED KINGDOM 25/06/1997 (reasonably expected privacy)
CASE OF SAUNDERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM 17/12/1996 (privilege against self-accusation and the exclusion rule)
The Anglo-Saxon adversarial (accusative) model
Its advantages
The dispute between the state and the defendant is at the forefront
The search for substantive-legal ‘truth’ is relativized
‘Truth’ as a self-referenced concept in criminal law
Alf Ross, “Tu-Tu”, 70 Harv. Law Review 812 (1957)
His deficiencies
Plea Bargaining
Postulates of substantive criminal law
Best source: Jerome Hall, General Principles of Criminal Law
Principle of the rule (see B.M. Zupančič, “Adjudication and the Rule of Law” [available in electronic form])
The principle of legality
nullum crimen sine lege praevia
CASE OF STRELETZ, KESSLER AND KRENZ v. GERMANY 22/03/2001
Benko and Turk v. RS, U-I-6/93 of 6 January 1994
nulla poena sine lege praevia
Principle of determination (lex certa)
decision of the CC of the RS on vouchers, Up. 40/94 of 11 March 1995, separate opinions of Zupančič, Šinkovec and Šturm
Criminal law dogmatics
Criminal offence (corpus delicti): elements
Reasons for the exclusion of the illegality of a criminal offence (justification)
Guilt
Direct intent (dolus directus, intent)
Types of direct intent
Eventual intent (dolus eventualis, ‘knowingly’)
Conscious recklessness (culpa, recklessness)
Non-conscientious negligence (culpa, negligence)
Reasons to exclude guilt (excuse)
Stages of an intentionally committed criminal offence
Concurrence of criminal offences
Complicity and participation
The punishability of specific entities for certain acts (delicta propria)
Criminal sanctions
The limitation and non-applicability of limitations of criminal offences
IV. International Criminal Law
General overview of international criminal law
B.M. Zupančič, “Mednarodna sodna presoja in internacionalizacija ustavnega prava”
T. Meron, “Is International Law Moving towards Criminalization?”, European Journal of International Law, vol. 9, No. 1
European Convention on Human Rights
Article 2 (Right to Life)
Article 3 (Prohibition of Torture)
Article 7 (No Punishment without Law)
Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private and Family Life)
Protocol 6 to the Convention (Abolition of the Death Penalty)
Protocol 7 to the Convention (Prohibition of a Retrial on the Same Matter)
United Nations Convention against Torture
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
Article 4 (Punishment of the Spread of Racial Discrimination)
International Criminal Courts
International Criminal Court
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Transitional justice
Criminal proceedings before international, mixed and national courts
Commission for Truth and Reconciliation
Removal from public positions
Terrorism, human rights and criminal law
Collections of Legal Principles:
the Digest of Human Rights in the Fight Against Terrorism (UN)
Guidelines on Human Rights and the Fight Against Terrorism (Council of Europe)
Judgments:
the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Rasul v. Bush, dated June 28, 2004
the decision of the Lord’s Chamber in case A and others v. Secretary of State for the Home Affairs Department, dated 16 December 2004
Study Literature
Obvezna literatura:
-Dežman, Zlatko in Erbežnik, Anže, Kazensko procesno pravo RS, GV, Ljubljana, 2002 (izbrana poglavja)
-Erbežnik A., Evolutivna teorija razvoja prava, 2012, GV založba
-Erbežnik A., Načelo vzajemnega priznavanja v EU kot slaba utilitaristična rešitev, Dignitas, 47-48/2010
-Erbežnik A., Vprašanje ekskluzije: Primerjava Evropskega sodišča za človekove pravice ter slovenskega in hrvaškega sistema, Revus, 11/2009
-Zupančič B. M., Ustavno kazensko procesno pravo, Pasadena, 2000 (izbrana poglavja: str. 529-726, 781-866, 949-1204)
Priporočena literatura:
Amar A. R., The Bill of Rights, Yale 1998
Beccaria C., O zločinih in kaznih
Bele I., Komentar kazenskega zakonika, splošni del, Gospodarski vestnik, Ljubljana, 2001
Bloom R., Searches, seizures and warrants, Praeger, 2003
Cassese A., Gaeta P. and Jones J. (eds.), The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002 (Final Analysis and Suggestions)
Deisinger M., Kazenski zakonik s komentarjem, posebni del, Gospodarski vestnik, Ljubljana, 2002
Erbežnik A., Smiselnost uvdbe ločenih mnenj pred Sodiščem Evropskih skupnosti, Revus, 8/2008
Erbežnik A., Sodnik kot varuh demokratične družbe, Pravnik, 4-5/2006
Hamilton A., Madison J. And Jay J., The Federalist Papers
Górski A., Hofmanski P., The European Arrest Warrant and its Implementation in the Member States of the European Union, 2008, http://www.law.uj.edu.pl/~kpk/eaw/other/220_EAW.pdf
Kritz, Niel J. (ed.), Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, United States Institute for Peace, Washington D.C., 1995 (Introduction)
Jacobs, White and Ovey, The European Convention on human Rights, Oxford 2010
Lasser M., Judicial deliberation: A Comparative Analysis of Judicial Transparency and Legitimacy, Oxford, 2004
Mitsilegas V., The constitutional implications of mutual recognition in criminal matters in the EU, Common Market Law Review 2006, pp 1277-1311
Peers S., EU Justice and Home Affairs Law, Oxford 2008
Rehnquist W., The Supreme Court, Vintage 2001
Schabas, William A., An Introduction to the International Criminal Court, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001 (Creation of the Court)
Spronken T., Vermeulen G., de Vocht D., Puyenbroeck L., EU Procedural Rights in Criminal Proceedings, Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy, Ghent University, 2009, www.eulita.eu/eu-procedural-rights-criminal-proceedings
Šturm, Lovro (ed.), Komentar Ustave RS, Fakulteta za podiplomske državne in evropske študije, Ljubljana, 2002
Zupančič B. M., The Owl of Minerva, Eleven, 2008
Zupančič B. M., Pravo in ptav, Cankarjeva založba, 1990
Zupančič B. M., Pravine pravne kulture, FDV, 1995
Objectives and competences
After completing the programme, students should understand the concept of constitutional and international criminal law, the role of courts in the emergence of such law, the functioning of the national criminal law system in the light of some fundamental criminal law principles and institutes, knowledge of the basics of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the provisions of the ECHR criminal law, knowledge of the constitutional foundations of the US system and the development of certain basic concepts of the criminal law of the United States as a legal arrangement, which first lead to a series of institutes, today being an integral part of the criminal law of democratic countries. Furthermore, they should also gain insight into the evolving criminal law of the EU and the issues of such development (different views on the interpretation of fundamental rights in criminal proceedings between EU Member States and the resolution of such issues through mutual recognition and harmonization through EU legislation).
Intended learning outcomes
Consequently, after the end of the program, students should be trained for independent work in the field of international and supra-national criminal law in terms of integrating the acquired knowledge either at the national level or in the international environment. In doing so, they will become familiar with the basic judicature of the National Constitutional Court, the European Court of Human Rights, the EU Court of Justice and the US Supreme Court – that is, judiciary – which is the basis for understanding the historical development of fundamental criminal legal rights and their contemporary concepts.
This will enable them to understand the foundations of the institutes, which are found in an abstract form, for example, in the ZKP (for example, a deeper understanding of the exceptions to judicial authorization in the house search system, the problem of preventive investigations that destroy classical criminal law frameworks, etc.). Furthermore, students will also be trained in the further independent monitoring of the area concerned and the search for resources and judicature.
Learning and teaching methods
The foundation will be a comparative law method, whereby lectures will be based on a Socratic method of promoting group discussion. For this purpose, the lecturer will present some issues; after the presentation, the participants will be encouraged to indicate their professional experience or opinion. At the same time, relevant literature will be presented before the commencement of individual lectures, which will enable the students to prepare for the lectures and thus facilitate their understanding of the topic and lecture. If appropriate technical options are provided, an audio-visual presentation of the course of a hearing before the ECHR and discussions at the EU level in the European Parliament and the Council on EU criminal law is also foreseen.
A script on the “European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights – Criminal Matters” will be provided.
Assessment
Written examination.
Lecturer’s references