State responsibility for injuries and killings perpetrated by State agents other than by the use of force in the performance of their duties

Available in Russian


Authors: Aida Grgić, Ayşegül Uzun-Marinković

DOI: 10.21128/2226-2059-2016-4-77-83

Keywords: positive obligations; right to life; State responsibility; The European Court of Human Rights; use of force; представители власти; применение оружия

Abstract

Under Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Contracting States are under an obligation to secure the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention to everyone within their jurisdiction. In broad terms, this means that the State has the duty to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Convention (negative obligation), but also to take appropriate steps to ensure respect for those rights and freedoms within its territory (positive obligation). According to the well-established case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, if a State fails to observe either its duty to safeguard the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention or those obligations, its responsibility under the Convention shall be engaged. However, the extent of a State’s responsibility under the Convention shall principally depend on the nature and the scope of its obligations under a particular Article and on whether the alleged violation occurred as a result of acts or omissions of State agents or private persons. This paper aims to explore the nature and scope of State responsibility for injuries and killings perpetrated by State agents acting outside the usual context of force used in the performance of their official duties. The survey focuses on cases examined by the European Court of Human Rights under Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention, which respectively guarantee the right to life and the right not to be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the principles of which are broadly the same.

About the authors: Ayşegül Uzun-Marinković – Lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights; Aida Grgić – Lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights.

Citation: Uzun-Marinković A., Grgić A. (2016) Otvetstvennost' gosudarstva za deyaniya, sovershonnye predstavitelyami vlasti vne ispolneniya sluzhebnykh obyazannostey [State responsibility for injuries and killings perpetrated by State agents other than in the performance of their duties]. Mezdunarodnoe pravosudie, no. 4, pp. 77–83. (In Russian).