Use of the Practice of the European Court of Human Rights to Ensure the Health Rights in the Criminal Procedure of Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the most effective measures of realization of the right to health that Ukraine could take in order to bring the law enforcement practice in line with the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights and precedents of the European Court of Human Rights, taking into account the experience of countries of the European Union and the Council of Europe, developing the most effective mechanisms for applying the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in domestic criminal procedure in this regard. Methodology. The methodological basis of the article is a set of methods of scientific knowledge, among which the dialectical method occupies a leading place. General philosophical, general scientific and special legal methods of research were also used. Particular attention is paid to comparatively legal, structural-functional, regulatory-logical and systematic methods of research. The scientific novelty is that the authors attempted to analyze and evaluate mechanisms for ensuring the right to health care in criminal proceedings produced by European practice. The precedents of the European Court of Human Rights on the exercise of the right to health through the protection of the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and security of person, the right to a fair trial, respect for privacy and family life, the protection of housing are explored. Recommendations on the feasibility of implementing certain standards reflected in the European Convention on Human Rights in Ukraine’s criminal procedural legislation have been made, and theoretical, practical and legislative proposals have been made to increase the level of protection of the right to health at the national level. Conclusions.The right to health, as an international standard of criminal justice, as elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights and reflected in the national legislation, is an intricate, complex concept that includes various options and rights that need protection. The right to health care can be exercised in the framework of the protection of those recognized by the European Convention on Human Rights and reflected in the national legislation, such as: the right to respect for privacy and family life (right to physical and moral integrity), the right to liberty and personal integrity, the right to information and confidentiality, the right to an eco-friendly environment, the right to obtain reliable and timely information on factors that affect health. An analysis of the precedents of the European Court of Human Rights on the decisions of domestic courts in the part of disputes related to the exercise of the right to health care allows to ascertain its relative «youth». The Court’s precedents on the complaints concerning violations of the right to health care by law enforcement and judicial authorities in Ukraine demonstrate the need to increase the level of protection of the right at the national level by: providing legal education of the population; informing the authorized participants of thecriminal procedure (investigators, prosecutors, judges) of the conventional provisions on the protection of the right to health care, as well as the practice of their application by the European Court of Human Rights; modification of departmental/interagency regulatory documents that will determine the content and list of biological specimens of a person.

Keywords: criminal proceedings; international standards; protection of rights; health care; European Court of Human Rights; freedom and privacy; biological samples of a person.