The Fifth amendment to the US Constitution as one of the fundamental norms for the protection of human and citizen rights

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the legal norms contained in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America and their significant importance for a number of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The author analyzed the genesis of the formation of constitutionalism in the USA, starting from the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the US Constitution in 1787 until now. Since the original version of the Constitution had a number of shortcomings, in particular, it emphasized the separation of powers, the formation and functioning of state institutions, but described the rights and freedoms of citizens in a somewhat general way, 27 amendments were introduced to the Constitution, 26 of which are still in effect today. In 1791, the first 10 amendments were adopted, which later became known as the Bill of Rights, which was actually mainly devoted to human rights.
 The author focused on a more detailed analysis of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution. It is indicated that, first of all, this amendment regulates the procedure for bringing a person to justice for serious crimes, namely with the participation of the Grand Jury. It has been established that the Grand Jury requirement applies only to criminal indictments in the federal court system. The author highlights that the next provision of this amendment is devoted to the prohibition of double prosecution of a person for the same crime. The article proves that it is very significant, given the two-tiered system of American legislation, according to which a person's actions can be subject to the legislation of several states, federal legislation, etc. at the same time. The author substantiates that the ban on forcing to testify against oneself, which is declared in the studied amendment, is of great importance in the protection of the rights of suspects and the inadmissibility of illegal actions by the police. And, finally, the author defined the concept of «due legal procedure», without which state authorities have no right to deprive anyone of life, liberty or property.