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The limits of freedom of expression in the light of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
Kovářová, Veronika ; Bílková, Veronika (advisor) ; Tymofeyeva, Alla (referee)
Limits of freedom of expression in the light of case-law of the European Court of Human Rights This diploma thesis deals with the freedom of expression and its permissible limits as those declared in Article 10 od the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter referred as "Convention"). Freedom of expression is guaranteed to everyone. However freedom of expression is not absolute, restrictions on freedom of expression by the intervention of the national authorities to individual freedoms is permissable in case of existence any justifiable targets pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 10. We named this procedure by test legality, legitimacy and proportionality. So, in other words, the measures used against a person must be established legal standards, must pursue achieving a legitimate aim and be necessary in a democratic society. European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter "the Court") applies this test whenever it finds existing interference with freedom of expression. It focuses on case law precedents, set by the European Court's of Human Rights (hereinafter referred as "Court"), in cases of complaints for violation of the freedom of expression concerning the admissibility of the use of legitimate aim clauses by national authorities applying law. The structure of the contents of this thesis...
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The crime of aggression and the International Criminal Court
Matušinová, Anna ; Čepelka, Čestmír (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
The Rome Statute which came to existence in 1998 was a great step forward for international criminal law and its enforcement. Later, in 2002, the International Criminal Court was established in order to prosecute the most serious crimes according to the Statute - war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. Only the first three mentioned were specified in the Statute, while the fourth one was not agreed upon, meaning that the ICC does not possess jurisdiction over this crime. The aim of the Revision Conference in Kampala in 2010 was to incorporate the definition of the crime of aggression into the Rome Statute. Finally, the International Court had to gain jurisdiction over a crime of aggression. However the expectations were not fully met. The states agreed upon the definition which they specified in the Rome Statute; nevertheless the jurisdiction of the ICC has not yet been activated. This will probably happen in 2017 at the earliest if preconditions and triggering mechanisms are completed. The purpose of the thesis The Crime of Aggression and the International Criminal Court is to examine the questions related to aggression. The thesis begins with the historical development of the concept and continues with the most relevant international law provisions connected to...
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Targeted killing as a means of the fight against terrorism
Kučera, Tomáš ; Hýbnerová, Stanislava (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
In recent decades we can watch heated debates on the legal and moral permissibility of State-sponsored targeted killings involving representatives from Governments, academic circles, military and police forces, intelligence services, human rights groups, humanitarian institutions, intergovernmental organizations a and the mass media. These debates are even more intense after the killing of Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group Al Qaeda, in May 2011. The aim of the thesis is to answer to the question: Are targeted killings a permissible method of fight against terrorism? The legality of targeted killings is analyzed in term of lex lata international law, namely under human rights law, international humanitarian law and law of international security. The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter One defines basic terminology used in the thesis. The Chapter is subdivided into two parts. Part One defines the concept of targeted killings. Part Two defines the notion of terrorism. Chapter Two examines the legality of targeted killings in term of law of international security. Chapter Three describes the parallel application of human rights law and international humanitarian law. Chapter Four analyzes the legality of targeted killings under human rights law. The Chapter is subdivided into two...
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Legality of preemptive self-defence
Davidová, Veronika ; Bílková, Veronika (advisor) ; Balaš, Vladimír (referee)
The legality of pre-emptive self-defence The Master's thesis deals with one of the key issues of current international law, the right to pre-emptive self-defence. The work is divided into six parts, including introduction, four chapters and conclusion. After an introductory part the first chapter deals with the sources of international laws regulating the right to self-defence, their system and the way in which they interact with each other. This chapter seeks to analyse the impact of those sources on the development of right to pre-emptive self-defence. The main attention is devoted to the primary and secondary sources of international law regulating the right to self-defence, such as the U.N. Charter, customary international law, the judicial decisions of the International Court of Justice and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists. The second chapter first focuses on the concept of classical self-defence. It then goes on to examine the two traditional doctrinal approaches to the interpretation of the scope of the right to self-defence, the restrictive school of thoughts and the extensive school of thoughts. The next chapter relates to the prohibition of the use of force under international law. The last chapter first analyses the concept of pre-emptive self-defence from the...
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Regional and subregional protection of human rights in Africa
Demuthová, Tereza ; Faix, Martin (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
This thesis concentrates on the theme of regional and subregional protection of human rights in Africa. Firstly, it tries to give a summary of the system of human rights protection within the African Union and its evolution with brief characterization of the African Charter on Human and Peoples` Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples` Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. The second chapter concentrates on the protection of human rights under the regional economic communities provided by three subregional courts, namely the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the SADC Tribunal and the East African Court of Justice. It provides an insight into the functioning of these three subregional courts and analyses questions relating to their human rights jurisdiction as well as their human rights practice and different challenges that these courts had and have to face. It concludes that although the effectivity of the regional and subregional human rights protection in Africa is yet not high and has to be improved, the system is still in its beginning and there is a potentional for the subregional courts to became more effective forums for human rights protection.
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Duress as a defence in international criminal law
Hladíková, Eva ; Bílková, Veronika (advisor) ; Šturma, Pavel (referee)
This thesis aims on the issue of duress as ground for excluding criminal responsibility in international criminal law. Duress arises from a situation when a perpetrator is forced under a threat of immediate death or bodily harm to commit a crime under international law. This thesis shortly explores duress in national legal systems, especially the differences between the duress in common law and in civil law jurisdiction. It further considers the use of duress as an argument of defence in history of international criminal law and focuses on two key judicial decisions in this area - the Einsatzgruppen case decided by the American military tribunal after the Second World War and Erdemović case decided by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. This thesis discusses with complexity the individual characteristics and conditions of duress. These characteristics and conditions are as follows: i) conduct alleged to constitute a crime under international law, ii) threat of imminent death or of serious bodily harm, iii) necessary acts to avoid threat (subsidiarity) iv) reasonable acts to avoid threat (proportionality), v) the situation leading to duress must not have been voluntarily brought about by the person coerced and vi) person coerced did not have a duty to bear this threat. Duress...
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Legal protection of journalists in an armed conflict
Benešová, Barbara ; Bílková, Veronika (advisor) ; Balaš, Vladimír (referee)
The diploma thesis is concerned with the protection of journalists in armed conflicts. From my point of view this topic is relevant in connection with the recent war in Iraq and many other conflicts of local character. Many professionals in the world deal with this issue but in our country almost nobody opens it, with a few exceptions. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview of the protection of journalists in armed conflicts - it means the applicable legislation and also proposals of new regulation. The main question is whether applicable law is adequate to provide an appropriate protection for journalists and news media personnel in armed conflicts. I suggest a new convention, which contains a special status for journalists and determines a protective emblem for them, should be adopted and in this thesis This thesis is composed of thirteen chapters which are subsequently divided into subchapters. It consists of two main parts. The first one focuses on applicable rules - especially Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. The beginning of this part is concerned with the interpretation of the term "journalist" and then briefly describes a history of the protection of journalists in armed conflicts. These two chapters are followed by the third one, which...
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The attitude of the United States of America towards the International Law - Bush's Unilateralism
Keblušek, Andrej ; Ondřej, Jan (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
Title: THE ATTITUDE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TOWARDS THE INTERNATIONAL LAW - Bush's Unilateralism". Author: Mgr. ANDREJ KEBLUŠEK Department: Faculty of Public International Law Superviser: doc. JUDr. JAN ONDŘEJ, CSc., DSc. ABSTRACT On October 24, 1945 at a conference in San Francisco, the organization of the United Nations (hereinafter UN) was founded by, which has set up as its main goal "to save future generations from the scourge of war". On the same day the charter of this organization has also entered into force; it is known as the Charter of the United Nations (hereinafter the UN Charter), which anchored new international rules based on the principle of Jus ad Pacem ("right for peace") and forbidding the principle of Jus ad Bellum ("right for war") in future international relations. The war was thus - under the new international rules - banned for the future and could be waged from now on only in the interest of maintaining the international peace and security in absolutely isolated cases. However, the United States of America is the only country in the international community, which is most often using armed force in international relations, and it currently wages two giant war campaigns in Afghanistan (2001 - ) and Iraq (2003 - ). The objective of this work will be therefore the assessment of...
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Regional organizations and the fight against terrorism: a comparison of systems of the Council of Europe and the Organization of American States
Žabková, Marie ; Bílková, Veronika (advisor) ; Šturma, Pavel (referee)
The aim of my thesis is both to describe the steps of the OAS and the Council of Europe in the fight against terrorism and also to compare their approach in this area. The thesis is divided into four chapters, which are further subdivided into three parts. The first two parts of each chapter describe the steps of each organization separately, the third part compares their approach and puts it into the context. The first chapter examines the reasons for which these organizations decided to implement the fight against terrorism on their agendas and maps the adoption of the first international instruments. Although the time scale of the activity in this area rather overlaps, I point out the different approaches of the two organizations in terms of the adopted counter- terrorism conventions. The following chapter is devoted to the period after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when a review of existing documents took place and the counter-terrorism cooperation between the countries of both regions was intensified. In this chapter, I discuss in detail the newly adopted international tools and compare their impact on the existing regulation. In the third chapter, I try to outline new areas of interest in the field of counter- terrorism. The focus is shifted to the issues like financing of...
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Extraordinary Renditions and Human Rights
Švepeš, Petr ; Faix, Martin (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee)
1 Abstract Extraordinary Renditions and Human Rights Ing. Petr Švepeš The topic of this thesis is Extraordinary Rendition as the phenomenon of contemporary counter- terrorism strategies and its critical reflection in light of International Human Rights Law. Extraordinary Rendition represents a controversial method of obtaining intelligence information about terrorist activities carried out worldwide by the CIA. This method is based on the identification of terrorist suspects who might know valuable intelligence, followed by their tracing and subsequent kidnapping with direct assistance or connivance of the state in whose territory that person is located. Kidnapped persons are secretly transported by private jets via the "global spider's web" to a selected country which practices advanced interrogation techniques using various methods of torture. In this country the persons are incommunicado imprisoned and interrogated by local authorities. Extracted intelligence information is then passed on to the CIA and the suspects in this country are either criminally charged and indicted, further imprisoned without formal charges or simply "disappear." The main objective of this thesis is to present a detailed human rights analysis of Extraordinary Rendition and to identify potential violations of binding norms of...
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