Acquiring competences for the creation of criminal offences begs the question of legitimacy. The European criminal justice system already has such competences and many instruments define criminal offences. The legality principle is a cornerstone doctrine for legitimising criminal norms in Western legal systems. Despite already being part of the European legal order, this principle lacks a coherent theoretical and normative blueprint that shows how it should be conceived in European criminal law. This book develops such a theory for the principle of legality in European criminal law. The focus is on the legitimising and normative functions of this principle. The reader shall find a proposal for a theoretical framework that legitimises European criminal law and the accompanying normative requirements of criminal liability. Questions such as the precision of European and national implementing norms, the position of case law as a source of law and the scope of interpretative powers of European and national courts are addressed. The book uses comparative research into national systems and modern theories of criminal law to build a framework for the principle of legality. This is then instilled with special characteristics of the European legal order, such as the multi-level system of authorities and sources, pluralism and freedom of movement.

Disasters have a devastating effect on the lives of people. The occurrence of a disaster can kill thousands in an instance, injure many others, damage homes and destroy livelihoods. It is of essential importance that the response to a disaster is as effective and adequate as possible to limit and alleviate the suffering of disaster survivors. To this end, affected states can make use of offers of humanitarian assistance made by other states, international (humanitarian) organisations and NGOs. Such international assistance is vital for the effective response to a disaster when the affected state is unable (or unwilling) to respond adequately. When in such cases the affected state refuses to accept international humanitarian assistance, the disaster survivors suffer the consequences.Within public international law there are no legally binding instruments dealing explicitly with the obligations of states in the aftermath of disasters. Rather, a variety of sources can be used as pieces of a puzzle determining to what extent states have an obligation to accept international humanitarian assistance in disaster settings. In the first part of this book, these pieces of the puzzle are put together to create a legal framework explaining the steps an affected state must take in seeking and accepting humanitarian assistance. It becomes clear from the application of this framework that detail is lacking to make the framework of practical use. The needs which disaster survivors are usually deprived of (shelter, food, water and access to basic healthcare) are laid down as human rights in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The second part of the book will use this human rights instrument to concretise the legal framework, as such setting standards determining when an affected state must accept international humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of a disaster.

International law and state practice mirrors the recognition of children's particular need for protection during peacetime, but in situations in which international crimes are being committed the prosecution of international crimes committed against children before international courts and tribunals is also well embedded. While international prosecutions are thus in line with the overall development of protecting children from the consequences of armed conflict and large scale violence, the involvement of the child in international criminal proceedings also gives rise to new questions which relate to the procedural involvement of the child.As child participation in the proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC) constitutes a matter of fact, one may raise the question whether such participation is a welcome development. This study examines the procedural implications of child participation and thereby intends to contribute legal views and perspectives to the underlying debate on the adequacy of child participation in ICC proceedings. The study concludes with ten recommendations that underline the call.

The prohibition of abuse of rights in Article 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR or Convention) embodies one of the Convention's main principles: its commitment to democracy and democratic values. The provision aims to prevent groups and individuals from successfully invoking fundamental rights and freedoms to justify anti-democratic activities. At the same time it is also one of the Convention's most controversial provisions. There exists a certain tension between human rights protection and the concept of abuse of rights. While human rights essentially aim to promote freedom by affirming the basic rights and freedoms citizens enjoy vis-á-vis state authorities, the abuse clause primarily aims to protect the democratic organisation of the state against groups and individuals invoking these rights with the aim of undermining it. Furthermore, an analysis of the growing body of case law on this topic shows that the interpretation and application of Article 17 ECHR are far from unequivocal. While according to Article 17 ECHR anti-democratic activities may be excluded from the protection of the Convention, clear criteria for determining which activities fit this description are lacking. In addition, the case law covers different methods of application of the abuse clause that seem to be used rather arbitrarily. This has resulted in a rather obscure and inconsistent case-by-case approach. This study seeks to shed light on the prohibition of abuse of rights in Article 17 ECHR in order to contribute to a more coherent interpretation of this provision. To that aim it studies the abuse clause from different perspectives. First, it looks at the historical background of the provision to examine what motivated the drafters to include this prohibition. Then it moves on to the case law of the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights and to legal doctrine, revealing the difficulties and inconsistencies in the current interpretation of the abuse clause. Next, it analyses the interpretation of prohibitions of abuse in other human rights documents to see whether parallels can be drawn with the interpretation of Article 17 ECHR. Subsequently, it addresses the concepts of 'abuse of rights' and 'militant democracy' and examines the extent to which they offer a framework for understanding the abuse clause. Based on the insights obtained from these different perspectives, this study puts forward a proposal as to how Article 17 ECHR can best be applied in the future.

In the modern globalized world, so-called private military and security companies (PMSCs) are employed by a variety of actors in times of both war and peace. They are employed by, and perform a plethora of services for, not only international organizations, NGOs, and multinationals, but also States. It goes without saying that, especially in areas torn apart by armed conflicts, these corporations and their personnel can and sometimes do engage in different types of misconduct that may constitute violations of international law. While there are still regulatory gaps in the national and international legal frameworks applicable to PMSCs and self-regulatory schemes of the industry generally appear to be lacking effectiveness, the lines of responsibility often remain unclear. In light of this, State responsibility becomes an important instrument for attaining justice and ensuring respect for international law by private contractors.The use of PMSCs by States in conflict zones may, in certain instances, be considered morally problematic and might enable States to outsource fundamental governmental tasks to essentially private actors without necessarily being held responsible for instances of misconduct. This book investigates the possibility of applying the doctrine of State responsibility to the employment of PMSCs in areas affected by conflicts and to breaches of international law committed by these companies and their personnel. It examines an array of circumstances in which the unlawful conduct of PMSCs and their staff may be attributed to States under international law and the extent of such attribution. The study further analyzes the application of positive obligations imposed by international law on States and the scope of this application. It is illustrated that not only States hiring PMSCs, but also States where these companies are active, and States where they are registered or incorporated, are to be held responsible when violations of international law are attributed to these States in accordance with certain modes of attribution. In addition, the States in question also bear international responsibility when they fail to comply with their positive duties of result and diligent conduct stemming from the fields of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Millions of people worldwide lack adequate access to medicines, particularly in developing countries where resources are scarce with devastating human, social and economic consequences. The example of HIV/AIDS, for which treatment has advanced so significantly in the last decade that a diagnosis no longer necessarily brings with it a death sentence, highlights the importance of ensuring that essential medicines are affordable and accessible to all. This book focuses on one aspect of access to medicines: the affordability of essential medicines, and its connection to human rights and patents. The argument often made is that patent protection for medicines results in higher prices which negatively impacts access. Patients having no or inadequate access to affordable medicines endangers the full realisation of human rights, particularly the right to health. This book investigates this issue from a legal perspective, taking both an international and domestic angle. This study examines the interface of access to affordable medicines and patent protection from the perspective of international human rights law and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) within the framework of the World Trade Organisation. The essential question posed by this book is whether access to medicines and patent protection conflict or coexist. The discussion is deepened by including a developing country approach. Three country studies have been conducted, on South Africa, India and Uganda. These aim to provide a concrete insight into whether these countries recognise and acknowledge the interplay between patents and human rights with respect to access to medicines. Secondly these studies examine whether TRIPS leaves sufficient freedom for (developing) states to adopt a patent system suited to their domestic needs, enabling them to strike a fair balance between access to medicines and patent protection for medicines. In other words: does one size fit all?This book is targeted at both academics and human rights practitioners, including government officials, human rights advocates and NGOs. It goes further than a mere theoretical discussion on the issue from an international law perspective by providing an in-depth examination of domestic (legal) frameworks relevant for the issue of access to medicines. It illustrates that the normative force of human rights in combination with social movement can provide a powerful tool for prioritising the health needs of the global poor.