THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIAL EXPERTS AND THE MEDICAL EXPERTISES PREPARED BY THEM IN THE INVESTIGATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT

Abstract

The promotion and protection of human rights is one of the fundamental priorities of the United Nations, the European Union and every rule of law and democracy governed country. One of the most serious violations of human rights and human dignity is torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. For decades, the international community and the European Union take a number of actions aimed at preventing and limiting this type of negative manifestations. The main ones are the adoption of international universal and regional human rights instruments and the creation of specialized jurisdictions to monitor compliance with the established legal framework. Judicial experts and their expertise play an extremely important role in the proper and effective investigation of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The serious importance that the international community attaches to these medical professionals and their expertise is reaffirmed in the 2004 Istanbul Protocol drawn up by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This act establishes internationally recognized standards and principles for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, some of which relate specifically to the role of judicial experts and their medical expertise. These include: the principles of impartiality and independence of medical experts in identifying such types of offenses, the compliance of their activities with the highest ethical standards, the principle of obtaining informed consent from the person alleged to be a victim of torture before doing any research. The Istanbul Protocol also introduced standards for order in which any medical examination of victims of torture or other ill-treatment should take place, as well as on the form and structure of medical expertise.The particular emphasis placed on the role of judicial experts by the international community is completely understandable, as it is these medical professionals who make the physical and / or psychological evaluation of the victim, which is objectified in the medical expertise, medical psychiatric expertise, or medical psychological expertise. On the basis of these expertises, the investigating authorities have the opportunity to prove the causal link between the victim's bodily harm and the psycho-traumas with the alleged torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Medical expertise is a method of proof not only in the course of the investigation, but also in the judicial process, as the specialized knowledge of forensic experts assist the court in establishing the objective truth, as well as the victims and their lawyers in the exercise of their rights of defense.