The responsibility of governments in violating the right to life Evaluation of the procedure of the European Court of Human Rights

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Mohammad Ashouri ¹
• Mohammadsadegh Chavoushi ²
• Jafar Koosha ³

¹ Full Professor, University of Tehran

² PhD Candidate

³ Associate Professor

10.22067/irlip.2024.82538.1392

Abstract

The right to life and the idea of human dignity play a very important role in the emergence of new legal rules and systems. It is in the light of this idea that today we are witnessing the development and establishment of new legal rules and systems such as "International Human Rights System" and "International Criminal Law". Committing to the right to life will result in conditions such as the criminal responsibility of governments. The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, based on Article 2 of the Convention, contains the important content that the right to life of all people must be protected by law and no one should be deliberately deprived of their right to life; except when executing the court order. The existential philosophy of Article 2 is to guarantee the right to life in every possible way. This is despite the fact that Article 2 does not only include intentional murder, but also includes situations in which the use of force causes the loss of life. In this situation, the use of lethal force is actually an example of intentional murder. Thus, according to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, cases of violation of Article 2 of the Convention, not only include the killing of a person, but also include any danger to a person's life as being subject to the criminal responsibility of governments.

Keywords

• The right to life
• the European Court of Human Rights
• the responsibility of governments
• human dignity