Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- Table of Cases
- 1 The Court and its Circumstances
- 2 Disappearances
- 3 Right to Life
- 4 Right to Humane Treatment
- 5 Right to Personal Liberty
- 6 Right to Due Process
- 7 Principle of Legality, Freedom from Ex Post Facto Laws, and Right to Compensation for Miscarriage of Justice
- 8 Right to Judicial Protection
- Index
3 - Right to Life
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 December 2017
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- Table of Cases
- 1 The Court and its Circumstances
- 2 Disappearances
- 3 Right to Life
- 4 Right to Humane Treatment
- 5 Right to Personal Liberty
- 6 Right to Due Process
- 7 Principle of Legality, Freedom from Ex Post Facto Laws, and Right to Compensation for Miscarriage of Justice
- 8 Right to Judicial Protection
- Index
Summary
Article 4. Right to Life
1. Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general, from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.
2. In countries that have not abolished the death penalty, it may be imposed only for the most serious crimes and pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court and in accordance with a law establishing such punishment, enacted prior to the commission of the crime. The application of such punishment shall not be extended to crimes to which it does not presently apply.
3. The death penalty shall not be reestablished in states that have abolished it.
4. In no case shall capital punishment be inflicted for political offenses or related common crimes.
5. Capital punishment shall not be imposed upon persons who, at the time the crime was committed, were under 18 years of age or over 70 years of age; nor shall it be applied to pregnant women.
6. Every person condemned to death shall have the right to apply for amnesty, pardon, or commutation of sentence, which may be granted in all cases. Capital punishment shall not be imposed while such a petition is pending decision by the competent authority
INTRODUCTION
Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the Convention sets forth the right of all persons to have their lives respected. After this extensive assertion, the Convention limits it by stating that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life”. “Arbitrarily” qualifies the deprivation of life; the right is not absolute, as situations exist in which it is permissible to take the life of a person without violating Article 4(1) of the Convention. A possible way to do so is through the imposition of the death penalty by a court. Another possibility would include a private individual taking a life in legitimate self-defense or in legitimate defense of a third party. A third possibility would be the undesired taking of a life by law enforcement personnel as the result of licit use of force in pursuit of a legitimate aim.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The American Convention on Human RightCrucial Rights and their Theory and Practice, pp. 101 - 146Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2016