EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

In developed countries today the rights and free­doms of the individual are regarded as important. When we say that we live in a free society, we mean by this that everyone has certain basic rights and freedoms. These include freedom of speech, freedom to practise one's chosen religion, freedom from discrimination because of race or sex and the right to liberty. There are laws on particular points including racial and sexual dis­crimination, but some other rights are not written into the law. Even where our rights are set down in the law, there are limitations on these rights. Some limitations are needed in order to protect other people's rights or to protect society as a whole. To illustrate this, consider the right to lib­erty; clearly it is important that ordinary people have freedom of the person, the right not to be held prisoner; but there are situations where it is necessary to imprison violent and dangerous criminals to protect society from them.

In the English legal system the right to liberty has been important for centuries and was set out in the Magna Carta, an important document in British history which King John of England signed at Runnymede in the south of England in 1215. By doing this he agreed that limits could be set on royal powers. Later, especially in the seventeenth century, the document was seen as a statement of basic civil rights. There are limitations on these rights; but a person can only be detained on specific grounds set out in the law. The most widely used reasons for detaining people are as follows: a lawful arrest on the order of a court while awaiting trial, a sentence of imprisonment after being found guilty of a crime under the Mental Health Acts. If a person has been unlawfully detained he may sue in the civil courts and claim damages for false imprisonment. Where the person is still being detained there is a special writ of habeas corpus that can be obtained. An application for this writ is made to the Queen's Bench Divisional Court and its effect is to order that the detained person be brought before the court immediately. An application for a writ of habeas corpus takes priority over any other case in court on that day and it will be heard first. The court will decide whether the detention is lawful or not; if the court decides that there is no lawful reason for the detention it will order the immedi­ate release of the prisoner.

The Human Rights Act 1998 came into effect in 2000. This Act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into British law making it unlawful for any public authority to act in a way that is incompatible with a Convention right. Citizens can take action for breach of a right. Even before the Human Act came into effect the UK Government had signed this Convention.

The European Convention on Human Rights was drawn up in order to try and protect people's rights after the horrors of the Second World War. It fol­lowed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. Two years later in 1950 the Council of Europe adopted the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe is not part of the present European Union but a separate interna­tional organization formed in 1949 and with a big­ger membership than the European Union. In 1950 there were 21 members and 20 of these, including the United Kingdom, signed the European Convention on Human Rights. Since that date other European countries have joined the Council of Europe and signed the Convention, making 32 members in 1994.

The European Convention on Human Rights sets out the rights and free­doms that the people of Europe should have. It sets out that everyone has the right to lib­erty and that no one shall be deprived of his liberty except where the law allows arrest or detention. Even in these cases the arrested per­son has the right to be told of the reason for his arrest and brought before a court within a reason­able time. It states that everyone's right to life shall be protected by law but it does recognize that States may impose the death penalty for those convicted of certain crimes. The Convention says that no one shall be tortured and declares that slavery is not allowed.

In order to protect the rights set out in the Convention, a Court of Human Rights was established in 1959. The procedure for applying to this court was simplified in 1994. A new permanent single European Court of Human Rights was established and individuals who feel their rights have been breached can apply direct to the Court. Member States can also report another Member State to the Court. A Chamber of the Court will consider whether the complaint is admissible and if it decides that it is, the Government of the State concerned is asked for its comments. There is the possibility of coming to a friendly negotiated set­tlement, but if this is not successful then the Court will hear the case in full and give a judg­ment. The European Court of Human Rights sits at Strasbourg.

VOCABULARY NOTES

right, n. – право; basic rights – основні права; equal rights – рівні права; impaired right – відібране право; indefeasible right – недоторканне право; infringed right – порушене право; inherent right – невiд'ємне право; lawful/legal/legitimate right – законне право; to affect the rights – зачіпати права; to assign/to convey/to transfer a right – передавати право; to deny/to deprive of a right – відмовляти у правi; to infringe/to violate a right – порушувати право; to protect/to uphold rights – захищати права; to reserve/to retain a right – зберігати право; to vest rights in smb. – наділяти правами.

freedom, n. – свобода; право; absolute freedom – необмежене право; conditional/limited freedom – обмежена свобода; freedom of action – свобода дій; freedom of assembly – свобода зібрань; freedom of conscience – свобода совісті; freedom of contract – право укладання контрактів; freedom of discussion/speech – свобода слова; freedom of faith/religion/worship – свобода віросповідання; individual freedom – свобода особистості.

society, n. – товариство; асоціація; affiliated society – дочірня компанія; registered society – зареєстроване товариство; unregistered society – незареєстроване товариство.

penalty, n. – стягнення; покарання; commuted penalty/punishment – пом'якшене покарання; custodial penalty – покарання, пов'язане з позбавленням волі; death penalty – смертний вирок; extra-legal penalty – дисциплінарне стягнення; extreme penalty – вища міра покарання; grave/high/severe penalty – суворе покарання; lenient/light/mild penalty/punishment – м'яке покарання; to assess the penalty – визначити міру покарання; to charge/to calculate/to compute a penalty – нараховувати штраф; to impose/to inflict a penalty – призначити покарання; to make a penalty conditional – призначити умовне покарання.

imprisonment, n. –тюремне ув'язнення; awarded imprisonment – призначене тюремне ув'язнення; false imprisonment – незаконне позбавлення волі; imprisonment before trial – попереднє ув'язнення; imprisonment for life/life(-long) imprisonment – довічне ув'язнення; penitentiary imprisonment – тюремне ув'язнення; strict imprisonment – суворе ув'язнення; to send to imprisonment – піддавати тюремному ув'язненню.

detention, n. – затримання; арешт; взяття пiд варту; continuous detention – тривале утримання під вартою; detention in custody – утримання під вартою; detention on remand – попереднє ув'язнення; detention pending trial – взяття під варту; illegal detention – незаконне взяття під варту; lawful/legal detention – правомірне взяття під варту; preventive detention – превентивне ув'язнення; provisional detention – попереднє взяття під варту; temporary detention – тимчасове затримання; unfounded detention – необґрунтоване затримання.

application, n. – заява; використання; застосування; application for a job – заява про прийняття на роботу; industrial application – промислове використання; to find application – знаходити застосування.

prisoner, n. –в'язень; ув'язнений; conventional prisoner – звичайний в'язень; discharged prisoner – в'язень, звільнений з-під варти; life-term prisoner – в’язень, засуджений на довічне ув'язнення; long-sentence/long-term prisoner – засуджений, який відбуває тривалий строк ув'язнення; political prisoner – політичний в'язень; prisoner of the war/army prisoner – військовополонений; secure prisoner – в’язень, якого надійно охороняють.

priority, n. – пріоритет; перевага; first priority – першочерговість; legislative priorities – законодавчі пріоритети; top priority – позачерговість; to give priority – віддавати перевагу; to reserve priority – зберігати пріоритет.

complaint, n. – скарга; позов; офіційне обвинувачення; civil complaint – цивільний позов; criminal complaint – обвинувачення у вчиненні злочину; cross complaint – зустрічна скарга; original complaint – первісна скарга; telephone complaint – скарга, що надійшла телефоном; to address а complaint – звертатися зі скаргою; to consider a complaint – розглядати скаргу; to file/to lodge/to make a complaint – заявляти скаргу.

comment, n. – коментар, зауваження; case comment – зауваження щодо судової справи; comment by the defence – зауваження, висловлене у справі захистом; comment by the prosecution – зауваження, висловлене у справі обвинуваченням.

set­tlement, n. – урегулювання; amicable/out-of-court/voluntary settlement – мирова угода; claim settlement – задоволення вимоги; judicial settlement – урегулювання в судовому порядку; to reach settlement – досягати угоди.

judg­ment, n. – судове рішення; вирок; valid judgment – судове рішення, що набрало чинності; to appeal against the judgment – оскаржувати рішення; to enforce/to execute/to satisfy а judgment – виконувати судове рішення; to give/to make/to pass/to pronounce/to render a judgment – виносити судове рішення; to recall a/to reverse/to revoke judgment – скасовувати судове рішення; to reserve/to suspend a judgment – відкладати винесення рішення.

VOCABULARY EXERCISES