Respecting the dignity of the human person in the execution of sentences and freedom-depriving measures ruled by the judiciary bodies during a criminal trial

• Author: Izabela Bratiloveanu
• Position: Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Craiova, Craiova, România
• Pages: 25-33

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 4 (2015), pp.. 25-33

25

RESPECTING THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE

EXECUTION OF SENTENCES AND FREEDOM-DEPRIVING

MEASURES RULED BY THE JUDICIARY BODIES DURING A

CRIMINAL TRIAL

I. Bratiloveanu*

Izabela Bratiloveanu

Faculty of Law and Social Sciences,

University of Craiova, Craiova, România

*Correspondence: Bratiloveanu Izabela, Craiova, 8 Horia St., Bl. E2, sc.2, ap.2

Abstract

Through Law no. 254/2013 on the execution of punishments and custodial measures

ordered by the court in criminal proceedings, continue changing the approach of the

treatment of detainees. Transposition of human dignity in the prison environment involves a

radical change in conceptions about prison, inmate and his treatment.

Key-words: The dignity of the human person; punishments; conditions of detention.

Introduction

Ensuring the respect of the dignity of the human person in the prison environment

corresponds to all the which makes a person respect another one. This respect is not always

automated, and laws must ensure that it is guaranteed. Whereas dignity is and intrinsic and

unalienable quality of every human person, the respect thereof can be affected by the

exclusion of certain persons from the human family, by seeing them unfit to be accepted as

members of the society. Or, „as each man bears within himself the whole form of the human

condition”

1

, regardless of their deeds, characteristics and qualities, the detainee must be

treated as a human person, who is part of the humain family.

1. The dignity of the human person and the penal execution law

In 1945, the United Nations Organization was created in order to maintain

international peace and security, help nations develop friendly relationships, achieve

international cooperation and be a centre for the member nations to harmonize their efforts in

view of achieving their set objectives. The Charter of the United Nations was signed in San

Francisco on the 26th of June 1945 and it came into force as of the 24th of October 1945. In

its Preamble it is stated „the faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and value of

the human person”. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. General

Assembly on the 10th of September 1948, is the first global statement that dignity is ”inherent

to all members of the human family”. Dignity „ refers to the idea that no one can be excluded

from the human community. Respecting dignity is respecting each individual for that which

makes them a human, respectable being. Denying this part of humanity turns the individual

into a servile human being, it degrades them and integrates them into a lower class”

2

, as

mentioned by J.-M. Larralde.

*My contribution at this work was supported by the strategic grant POSDRU/159/1.5/S/141699, Project ID

141699, co-financed by the European Social Fund within the Sectorial Operational Pr ogram Human Resourses

Development 2007 – 2013.

1

M. De Montaigne, Essais, „P.U.F.” Publishing House, Paris, 1992 , p.804.

2

J.-M. Larralde, Placement sous écrou et dignité de la personne, séance inaugurale du séminaire de recherche

„Enfermement, Justice et Libertés”, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1 5 septembrie 2009.