CYIL Vol. 4, 2013

SOME GUARANTEES REGARDING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS APPLICABLE … SOME GUARANTEES REGARDING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS APPLICABLE TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS: PROTOCOL NO. 7 TO THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Abstract: The paper deals with the rights and guarantees of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in criminal proceedings under Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights. The author comes to the conclusion that the Convention has an autonomous concept of the term “NGO” which includes a whole range of legal persons, from non-profit making organizations to business corporations. In its case law the European Court gives a special connotation to “criminal matters” and, therefore, applies Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Protocol No. 7 as well as to administrative and disciplinary proceedings. Analysis of the practise of the Court shows that it did not issue any judgment in which a member state was held liable for a violation of guarantees in the criminal procedures under Protocol No. 7 with respect to NGOs. Such a situation can be explained, firstly, by the fact that corporate criminal liability is a new phenomenon in the doctrine of criminal law, and many contracting parties have adopted legislation on the subject only a few years ago. Secondly, those states which have a long tradition of criminal liability of legal persons, such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, did not ratify this Protocol. Thirdly, those countries holding the first and the second place in the number of applications submitted to the Court, namely Russia and Turkey, do not possess national legislation on the criminal liability of legal entities. Nevertheless, the situation is to be changed, as Ukraine, which is always among the four leading countries in the number of applications lodged with the European Court, adopted the legislation at issue in May 2013, and a draft law on corporate criminal liability was elaborated in the Russian Federation. Resumé: Článek se zabývá právy a zárukami nevládních organizací v trestním říze- ní dle Protokolu č. 7 k Evropské úmluvě o lidských právech. Autorka dospívá k závě- ru, že Úmluva má autonomní pojem „nevládní organizace“, který zahrnuje veškeré možné druhy právnických osob, od neziskových organizací po obchodní společ- nosti. Evropský soud ve své judikatuře přikládá zvláštní význam výrazu „trestní věci“, a proto články 2, 3 a 4 Protokolu č. 7 aplikuje také na správní a disciplinární řízení. Analýza praxe Soudu ukázala, že nevydal ještě žádný rozsudek, ve kterém by členský stát byl odsouzen za porušení záruk v trestním řízení podle Protoko- lu č. 7, pokud jde o nevládní organizace. Taková situace se dá vysvětlit, za prvé, 1 I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Donald Adams and Eva Hubálková for their assistance with revision of the manuscript. Alla Tymofeyeva 1