Creating an equilibrium : fundamental human rights and criminal justice with particular reference to terrorism

Abstract

International protection of human rights has increased considerably in the last century flanking the increased realisation that states share fundamental values which they seek to protect. Following the Second World War, the first international expression of the basic rights inherent to all human beings was the 1948 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights'. In 1953, the then newly formed Council of Europe provided the 'Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms' once again affirming the universality of fundamental human rights. Human rights have gradually become values protected and enforced by international criminal law. By means of this study I attempt to follow the process of reconciliation between the rights of the accused and those of victims and witnesses from a comparative angle as well as from the international perspective by going through the stages which make up criminal proceedings. The appreciation of the legal means which have been enacted to try and create this equilibrium between fundamental human rights and criminal justice lead to some final thoughts and considerations on measures which may be invoked on national as well international levels to continue easing this process in the dominion of domestic, regional and international criminal law.