Suchergebnisse

A recent decision handed down by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and reported in its last published report, involves the broad consideration of the status of sovereigns as defendants both from the point of view of international and of municipal law. The decision concretely confirms the opinion that no matter from what point of view the theory of international law may be said to proceed, its doctrines are based on as firm principles of sound reasoning and justice as are the doctrines of the ordinary municipal law. And this notwithstanding the popular impression prevalent, especially among laymen, that international comity is the dominant principle of international law.

Respect for human rights in a state of law is without doubt "conditio sine qua non". Today human rights have a imperative meaning and therefore whether one state will adhere to this or not, it is identical to Hamlet's question "To be or not". Simply a state in the real meaning can only be that in which the human rights will be the most indisputable notion. Permanent upgrading and respecting of human rights increases citizens' trust in the national institutions, otherwise the existence of a high level of distrust in state institutions, especially in the courts and public prosecutor's offices, is a real indicator of a society where the rule of law erodes. Every person must enjoy his rights, including the accused persons who only with recognized rights are integrated into an accusatory and fair procedure. The defendant, having own rights, will have trust in the judicial authorities, that he will be brought before an independent and impartial court and with a fair trial will receive a legally and fair verdict. Because the law is that who guarantees to a defendant a fair judgment and the state is obliged to enable and protect it. This was greatly invented by the old Roman lawyers when they defined the law as ars boni et aequi - a skill of the good and the fair, and the state as res publica - an organization who protects all inhabitants. Only this combinatorial and cohabitation of the state and the law is the way in which the defendant will be a process entity with guaranteed, protected and effected rights and part of a fair trial. Criminal law and criminal procedural law with their principles, very well reflect the position of the defendant in the accusatory procedure. The principle of legality, the presumption of innocence, the prohibition of discrimination from the criminal substantive law, including the principle of seeking the truth, fair procedure, contradiction and principle of publicity from the criminal procedural law are one of the most important principles in these areas that are related to the defendant's rights. They represent the base from which the rights of the defendant are further formed. This also shows the dependence of the defendant's rights from the penal policy in the state and from her behavior to the human rights. Therefore, the rights of the defendant besides the criminal law matter are part of the guaranteed basic human rights. The United Nations and the Council of Europe as institutions have great integrity in relation to the human rights, including the rights of the defendant. With the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights and the European Convention on Human Rights are established the international standards for the defendant's rights and also criteria for the states that must meet if they want to acquire the epithet state of law. Therefore, in this paper will be analyze and study the rights of the defendant from the aspect of human rights according to already established international standards. Key words: Human rights, fair trial, accusatory procedure, defendant.

Although there is no uniform definition of procedural principles in criminal procedure theory, they can be defined as legal rules or guidelines on which the criminal proceedings are based. As such, the principles of criminal procedure law apply to procedural entities and procedural actions. Evidentiary actions, as a type of procedural action, clarify the criminal case that is the subject of the criminal proceedings. The Criminal Procedure Code stipulates several evidentiary actions, one of which is the preliminary hearing of the defendant. The defendant hearing, in which the defendant gives their testimony, is given a great deal of attention because it represents one of the most important pieces of evidence, and the course of evidence presentation is the most significant and crucial issue of the criminal proceedings. Therefore, the paper will present a review of the criminal procedure principles related to this evidentiary action, starting from the principle of legality as the main principle, followed by the principles of orality, publicity, immediacy and adversity (party control of facts and means of proof).