| CODE | PBL4018 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Human Rights and Criminal Proceedings | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Public Law | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will focus on certain core areas of Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the ECHR, examine the more recent case law of the ECtHR in respect of each area, and see how this case law fits in or otherwise with local law and/or practice in respect of each area. The study-unit will begin by examining the salient case law of the ECtHR regarding the detention of a person as envisaged in Art. 5(1)(c) of the Convention, the prerequisites for such a detention, and the procedure to be followed in the course of detention on remand so as to abide by the Convention standards. The various aspects of the right to a fair trail, will be examined in the context of Article 6 of the Convention, including in particular the case law on the presumption of innocence, and on the "minimum rights" enshrined in Art. 6(3), together with the apparent restrictions that the ECtHR has placed on these "minimum rights". The modifications and exceptions to the right of appeal in criminal matters (Article 2 of Protocol no. 7) will also be briefly examined. The notion of a "flagrant denial of justice" as developed in the Court's case law will also be examined. The concepts of "finding of guilt", "criminal offence", "law" and "penalty" will be examined in the context of Article 7, as well as the principle of the retroactivity of the lighter penalty and the exceptions to the "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege" rule contained in Art. 7(2). The Court's case law on double jeopardy will be examined in the context of Article 4 of Protocol no. 7. Study-unit Aims: The principal aim of the unit is to focus on the latest case law of the ECtHR regarding Criminal Procedure in its wider sense and to compare and contrast with local law, case law and practice. A secondary aim is to familiarise students with the methodology of identifying, extrapolating and/or applying to concrete cases the principles emerging from the case law of the ECtHR in connection with the relative Articles of the ECHR. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (a) identify and, where necessary, apply the principles underpinning Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the ECHR to a local context; (b) master the pertinent case law of the European Court of Human Rights on Criminal Proceedings; (c) discuss the various components taught on human rights and criminal proceedings and how these components interact together. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (a) write on human rights law from the perspective of criminal proceedings; (b) interpret criminal proceedings through a study of case law on human rights law; (c) apply the methodological reasoning to other fields of law. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: The latest editions of these books should be available for general reference purposes only: Jeremy McBride, Human Rights and Criminal Procedure: The Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2018. Karen Reid, A Practitioner's Guide of the European Convention on Human Rights. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2012. Bernadette Rainey, Elizabeth Wicks, and Clare Ovey, Jacobs, White and Ovey: The European Convention on Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. David Harris, Michael O'Boyle, Ed Bates, and Carla Buckley, Harris, O'Boyle and Warbrick, The Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Dovydas Vitkauskas and Grigoriy Dikov, Protecting the right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights: A Handbook for Legal Practitioners. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2017. Specific cases (downloadable from the ECtHR HUDOC site) and other downloadable material will be indicated to the students ahead of each lecture session. No other texts or material are required. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Therese Comodini Cachia |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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