Fundamental Rights Of Citizens Research Articles

Freedom of Expression/Right of Information in Relation to the Protection of Personal Data in the Framework of Globalism in Albania

Freedom of expression and the right to information are fundamental rights of citizens everywhere in the world, including our country Albania, where these rights are sanctioned both in the Constitution and in other international acts, such as the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which are an inseparable part of our legal system. Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 February 2024 / Published: 23 April 2024

Balancing Justice in Pixels: Legal and Constitutional Implications of Virtual Court Sessions in Ghana

The legal sector is experiencing a transformative shift towards the adoption of virtual court sessions to enhance efficiency, accessibility, and transparency within judicial systems. However, this paradigm shift is not without its challenges. This research examined the implementation of virtual court sessions in Ghana, focusing on the legal and constitutional implications of the Practice Direction issued by the Chief Justice. While digitalization of court proceedings holds promise, concerns regarding privacy, technological disparities, and the preservation of due process rights loom large. The research drew on a recent case of Law to affirm that administrative/practice directives fall outside the purview of Laws of Ghana. The study employed the Innovation Diffusion Theory as the lens for analyzing and proposing a solution framework to sustain virtual court systems in Ghana. The findings of the study included the implementation strategy incompatibility of virtual court hearing with the existing legal framework for observing due process and the fundamental rights of citizens. The solutions require a balanced approach that acknowledges the strengths of both the traditional court system and technology. To sustain virtual court hearing, strategies for addressing implementation and legitimacy concerns, enhancing the compatibility of virtual court technology security with existing legal framework and practices, and ensuring long-term adherence to constitutional requirements should be paramount. Substantive law and regulation including relevant constitutional amendments may be necessary to ensure smooth implementation. Keywords: e-Justice system, Implementation, Virtual Court Sessions, Practice Direction, Due Process, Proceedings, Ghana.

Social and economic implications of restrictions on individual rights and freedoms

Restrictions on individual rights and freedoms may be justified by governments by the need to protect public safety and security. However, such restrictions can have negative implications for individual liberty and can restrict the fundamental rights of citizens, with a negative impact on social, economic and mental health. Governments must consider the impact of restrictions on society and individuals and strike a balance between protecting individual rights and freedoms and protecting public safety.

Realization of the right to civil service at war: the search for a normative model (based on the experience of Ukraine)

Under the conditions of introduction in the country of legal regime of martial law in connection with an external armed aggression against Ukraine, conditions for the implementation of fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to public service, the basis of the implementation of which is regulated by numerous normative legal acts, have changed significantly. The ,,basic” normative model, which regulates bases of realization of the person’s right to public service, formed in Ukraine, including taking into account positive normative experience of foreign countries, orientation on provision of practical implementation of innovative functions of the state in the context of ,,global” European integration vector of its development, is relevant to peaceful conditions and in the context of appearance of ,,external negative factor” for existence of the state has not appeared in full measure capable of providing a possibility for a person to perform the right to public service. Under the conditions of the introduction of the legal regime of martial law, quite appropriate to ensure the relevant foundations of the functioning of public service as a whole, the implementation of a person’s right to public service is normative activity of the state, focused on fixing, in parallel with the existing ,,basic” model for peacetime conditions, ,,alternative” normative model as forced, temporary, justified. The peculiarity of this model lies in the fact that it fixes the possibility of simultaneous implementation of both ,,basic” (for peacetime) and temporary legal prescriptions, the possibility of ,,pause” in the application of ,,basic” legal prescriptions and temporary operation of innovative rules, focused specifically on the period of legal regime of martial law.

Virtual emotions and Criminal Law.

This article examines the role that Criminal Law should play in regulating the non-therapeutic use of immersive Virtual Reality (VR), specifically its massive use by consumers. The starting point has been to consider VR as an intermediate risk scenario, for the purposes of Criminal Law, between the criminality entirely generated in the physical world and that developed in the 2D digital environments [cybercrimes and criminality linked to social networks and persuasive Artificial Intelligence (AI)]. Firstly, specialize literature has been analyzed to establish the nature of virtual reality. From a technical standpoint, virtual reality is a neurotechnology infused with high-risk artificial intelligence; an inseparable synthesis of non-invasive neurotechnology and a set of AI systems, considered high-risk for the fundamental rights of citizens. From the perspective of its functioning, VR is a "transformative" neurotechnology capable of altering what people perceive as reality. This is possible, because its realism lies in the emotional immersion of the user in the virtual experience, similarly to how our brain functions. Therefore, the key idea in the immersive functioning of virtual reality is its capacity to evoke and modify human emotions, which results its greater harmful potential compared to the 2D environment. From there, three central and specific areas of (legally unaddressed) risk arise: (1) the special comprehensive nature of the data collected and stored during its use; (2) its ability to mentally reproduce the "physical" experience of the avatar in the user; and (3) its significant capacity to manipulate individuals. Secondly, the paper examines both the reported cases and the foreseeable criminality in virtual worlds or "proto-metaverse," focusing on the three risk areas, and exemplifying them with attacks on mental privacy, sexual freedom, and consumer manipulation. Finally, it is proposed that Criminal Law should also intervene (as soon as possible) to define the "red lines" of massive virtual reality use by citizens. With a democratic and human-centered approach, a basic legal framework is outlined for the criminalization of specific harms and risks associated with virtual reality, adapting the existing legal framework as necessary.

Extrajudicial Killings by Security Agencies in Nigeria: An Infringement of the Fundamental Rights of Citizens

The state of Nigeria vis-à-vis extra-judicial killings is the basis of this paper. The recent evolution of Fulani herdsmen kidnapping citizens for ransom that has led to the loss of lives of so many citizens no doubts needs the apt attention of our government to profound lasting solution to the menace of this daredevils. Democracy is one of the core values and principle of the United Nations. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy. Thus, the above having been said, if democratic rule must meet up with western standards, the current problem facing Nigeria especially the incessant killings of citizens, which is a gross violation of human rights, must be solved. This paper emphasis is on extra-judicial killings carried out by men of the Nigeria police force, men of the armed forces of Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen and armed bandits across the country. The paper posits that extra-judicial killings is a breach of the right to life as entrenched in Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. The paper strongly recommends that the police should be sensitized on the need to use rubber bullets in dispersing rioters instead of live ammunitions. The men of the Nigeria police force should also aim at the leg of an alleged criminal instead of the head. This paper also recommends that the judiciary be independent, members of the media should be allowed to do their work without any form of intimidation and human rights education should be promoted at all level and not restricted to be studied by Law students alone. Keywords: Extra-judicial killings, fanaticism, human rights, democracy, suffrage DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/131-03 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

SoulBound E-Voting System

Abstract: The right to vote is a fundamental right of citizens of democratic countries around the world. This is necessary so that citizens have a say in the choice of who represents them or in matters affecting them. The aspects of security and transparency are still threats from widespread elections with traditional systems. For years, democracies around the world have moved from sticking to paper ballots to electronic voting machines. These machines are not tamper-proof despite system checks, security procedures and election protocols. However, hacking and tampering with these machines is becoming more frequent as the number and methods of attackers increase. Physical access to the EVM, even for a few minutes, is enough to crack it. To ensure a fair and reliable election process, safety and security must be ensured throughout the process. A single organization still exists to administer the centralized system used for general elections. When organizations have complete control over their databases and systems, they can disrupt the database of important opportunities, which can cause a lot of problems in traditional election systems. Because networked software devices are vulnerable, the proposed work applies security concepts based on popular blockchain technology. It is currently being implemented with the goal of securing online money transactions in the digital economy. Blockchain has paved the way for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. A blockchain is a distributed and non-translatable ledger in which data is added and updated in real time based on the consensus of nodes running software on the network. However, once data is added to the registry, you cannot delete or edit the data from the database. Therefore, counterfeit voting is impossible, increasing the reliability of the electronic voting system. As a result, governments around the world are exploring blockchain as a means to make general elections tamper-proof and transparent, with the goal of enabling a system where everyone trusts data and is tamper-proof. Using blockchain for database distribution of electronic voting systems can reduce one of the sources of fraud in database manipulation.

Constitutional Amendment Procedures in the World and Suggestions for Vietnam

The Constitution, which has the highest legal effect, stipulates the most important and fundamental principles of the political regime, the organization of state power, human rights and fundamental rights of citizens. Therefore, amending the constitution is not only a serious legal event, which significantly affects the legal system in general, but also affects many aspects of social life. The constitutional amendment procedure shall be difficult and complex to avoid arbitrary change as well as be applicable and feasible to process. Guaranteeing this balance is not easy, and vary in different historical circumstances. This explains why the constitutional amendment procedure is still an important and preferred subject in legal studies though it is not a new issue. This article focuses on studying some basic theoretical issues about the constitutional amendment and constitutional amendment procedures in the world; on this basis, this article makes some recommendations for constitutional amendment procedures in Vietnam.
 Keywords: Amending constitutions, making constitutions, constitutional review.
 

Critical thoughts about the concept of public service

The concept of public service is ambiguous. However, if it is examined from a historical point of view and concerning the fundamental rights of citizens, it is possible to specify its concept. Therefore, resuming the dialogue on the concept of public service is essential, as it constitutes an instrument that can even affect freedoms; for example, when, to justify the monopoly of vehicle technical inspection, that character is artificially assigned to the activity. Therefore, in this article we ask if it is possible, under the prism of legal science, to define a concept of public service.

Building the case for restricted use of predictive policing tools in India


 
 
 The use of predictive policing by law enforcement agencies has lately proliferated across several states in India. Predictive policing uses machine learning models to analyse substantial amounts of crime data to map and predict crimes, offenders, identities of the perpetrators and victims of crime. The aim is to enable the efficient allocation of limited resources at the disposal of law enforcement agencies for crime prevention. However, evidence suggests that predictive policing, in its current form, suffers from serious limitations. Inferior quality datasets are being used to train algorithms and citizens are unable to contest inaccurate algorithmic outcomes that could lead to their preventive detentions, often to the detriment of criminal justice norms and constitutional fundamental rights of citizens. More importantly, in the absence of oversight mechanisms restricting its use, the use of predictive policing has ended up reinforcing and amplifying police biases in law enforcement. This paper focuses, in particular, on the many ways in which predictive policing increases the risk of preventive detentions under section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and proposes recommendations to preclude possibilities of unlawful preventive detentions using predictive policing tools. In part 1, the paper reviews the practice of preventive detention of potential offenders by the police in India—under section 151 of the CrPC. In part 2, I build the case for restricted use of predictive policing tools to only predict the location, type and time of the crime and not potential offenders or victims. In the last part, I recommend substantive measures and procedural safeguards to secure the reliable and accountable use of place-based predictive policing tools in India.
 
 

A reflection on the effects and consequences of the regulatory government on the fundamental rights of citizens

A reflection on the effects and consequences of the regulatory government on the fundamental rights of citizens

Legal Policy on the Protection of the Right to Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic in France

<div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p class="AbstractText">France has regulated the health system in great detail in some laws and regulations, but these regulations are insufficient to face the pandemic of Covid-19. This study aims to describe and analyze legal policies to protect health rights during the COVID-19 pandemic in France. It employs a normative legal research method with data sources such as the Declaration of human and citizen’s rights of 1789, the French Constitution of 1958, and laws and decisions of the French Constitutional Council. Since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted, French legislators have implemented adequate measures to prevent its spread.. The study results indicate that since the Covid-19 pandemic spread, French legislators have implemented adequate measures to prevent the spread of the virus through the appointment of the French Constitutional Council as the protector and guarantor of the fundamental rights of citizens through a system of judicial review. The control of proportionality in the system of judicial review is essential to strike a balance between the public interest of society and the rights of individuals to implement the adaptations necessary to protect public health, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

Fair and effective public administration

Administrative procedure is classically the area of law where public administration has direct contact with citizens. Consequently, these cases entail a risk of violating the fundamental rights of citizens, which is certainly not desirable in a constitutional state. In today's administrative systems, administrative procedural law is becoming increasingly important. In practice, the main trends are limiting the executive power of the state to constitutional limits, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of citizens, and creating "good public administration". For many, the question may arise: are good administrative procedures merely a desirable moral objective, without any legal effect, or are there legal elements that make it both binding and effective?

A State as a Subject of Environmental Terrorism: Case Study of an Intrastate Armed Conflict in Ukraine

The essence of the phenomenon of «environmental terrorism» is investigated. Environmental terrorism is a specific deliberate action aimed indirectly, through the environment, to the deterioration of its quality characteristics, which creates a threat to human security and the environment itself. It is shown that domestic environmental terrorism has now found its application as an instrument of civil war. In its confrontation with the republics, Ukraine at the state level widely uses terrorist acts, the purpose of which is to create environmental threats for the citizens of these republics. The paper presents the facts of environmental terrorism by the state of Ukraine, as a result of which the fundamental right of citizens of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic to a healthy environment and sustainable development is violated. It is shown that almost no environmental terrorist acts carried out against citizens of the republics have found adequate condemnation at the international level, which indicates the inefficiency of the system for protecting fundamental human rights.

Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship by Christopher James Bonner

Reviewed by: Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship by Christopher James Bonner Andrew Diemer (bio) Citizenship, Slavery, African Americans, Freedom, Civil rights Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship. By Christopher James Bonner. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020. Pp. 272. Cloth $34.95.) The U.S. Constitution, Christopher Bonner reminds us in the opening to this essential book, mentions the word "citizen" or "citizens" eleven times (4), and yet, just what it means by those terms and who is to be considered a [End Page 291] "citizen" was frustratingly ambiguous and would remain so for decades after the nation's founding. While this ambiguity provided reason to deny the rights of citizenship to free African Americans, it also presented opportunity, an opportunity seized upon by free Black writers and orators who, in the early decades of the republic capitalized on this ambiguity in order to stake their claim on American citizenship. Recent years have seen an outpouring of scholarship on this struggle for Black citizenship rights in the antebellum United States, which has taught us a great deal about how African Americans fought, and sometimes succeeded, in securing specific rights they broadly envisioned as the rights of citizens. Bonner's book is an essential contribution to this growing scholarship. To capture the sweep of Black politics in this era, Bonner looks to the abundant printed record of the public discourse of Black citizenship. He makes excellent use of printed accounts of speeches, meetings, and conventions and draws on the rich Black and abolitionist newspapers of the early nineteenth century. In contrast to other scholars who have focused in on a particular place in order to consider the granular details of the struggle for Black citizenship rights, Bonner pulls back the lens in order to provide the larger picture of the free Black activists of the North. What emerges is a vast network of men and women, contesting the status of free Black people, pushing to be considered as citizens in the land of their birth. The book takes up the story in the 1820s with the debate over African colonization and proceeds through six thematic but loosely chronological chapters, concluding with the legal transformations of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The first chapter considers the struggle for suffrage, which Black activists argued was an essential right owed them as American citizens. At the same time, these same activists challenged the claims of colonizationists that free Black people did not belong in the United States at all. From here the book moves on to consider the connections between Black politics and the debates over the westward expansion of the United States. Bonner offers a particularly insightful chapter on the engagement of Black activists with the European revolutions of 1848. At a time when many Black abolitionists felt alienated from the land of their birth, the revolutionary struggles unfolding across the Atlantic allowed them to imagine "new kinds of communities with new criteria for belonging," communities "defined by an individual's work toward human liberation" (75). Ultimately, though, most Black activists continued to see the land of their birth as their true home and fought for the American citizenship they believed they were owed. From here, Bonner moves on to a [End Page 292] persuasive consideration of the importance of claims of citizenship for the protection of fugitive slaves. Black abolitionists saw security as a fundamental right of citizens, and argued that jury trials and other legal protections for accused fugitive slaves were therefore guaranteed by the Constitution. Next, Bonner shows us how Roger Taney's Dred Scott decision was a response to the protest tactics of African Americans which in turn spurred Black activists to renew their struggle for the very rights that Taney claimed they could never possess. Finally, the book carries the story through the tumultuous years of the Civil War, when Black service in the Union armed forces, and the pivotal contribution of that service to the defeat of the Confederacy, left African Americans with perhaps their most persuasive argument for the citizenship rights they had long claimed. Central to Bonner's picture of this struggle for Black...

PERCEPCIJA GRAĐANA O UHIĆENJU KAO MJERI ZA OSIGURANJE PRISUTNOSTI OKRIVLJENIKA

PERCEPTION OF CITIZENS ON ARREST AS A MEASURE TO ENSURE THE DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE ABSTRACT Arrest is a specific and necessary measure to ensure the defendant’s presence which is made by the police before the beginning of a criminal procedure. Arrest is an “institute” determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the most important supranational sources on human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and other sources because it restricts the right to movement as a fundamental right of citizens. Considering the importance of the institutes such as arrest, a research dealing with attitudes on and knowledge of citizens about arrest was conducted. 114 respondents (N = 114) participated in the research and a pure factor structure was given for four factors overall, and the results obtained by testing the hypotheses indicate the existence of a statistically significant correlation between general attitudes on arrest and the attitudes on the arrest of a person that the respondents know. In other words, the respondents who know an arrested person and who have a positive attitude on that concrete arrest will also have a positive attitude on arrests in general. Key words: arrest; attitudes on arrest; perception of citizens

The Right to Reasons for Administrative Action in Zimbabwe

The so-called ‘third wave’ of democratisation in Africa has witnessed a transition from a culture of impunity in the exercise of public power to more emphasis on a culture based on legality and the protection of fundamental rights of citizens. Important strides have been made in enhancing accountability by those who wield public power through judicial review mechanisms. The right to reasons for any administrative action that has an impact on citizens becomes even more paramount in light of these shifts in democratic ethos. This article focuses on the right to reasons for adverse administrative action in Zimbabwe against the backdrop of the 2013 Constitution, which ushered in the dawn of a new era in so far as the scope of the right to just administrative action is concerned. A critical examination of the nature and scope of the right to reasons is undertaken. Insightful recommendations are then proffered to further enhance the practical meaning of the right in the context of the constitutionally entrenched right to just administrative action in Zimbabwe.

MEMAHAMI DAN MENDESKRIPSIKAN HUBUNGAN NEGARA HUKUM DENGAN HAM

Human rights on the one hand by the concept of natural law is an inherent right of every individual human being since birth, but on the other hand the legality of human rights must be shaped by the flow of positivism. The debate over whether human rights should be stipulated in the constitution also influence the discussion of the UUD 1945. Finally, the UUD 1945 amendments regulate the basic rights of citizens more fully starts from the premise that human rights protection is an important element in the concept of a constitutional state. Incorporated therein also setting mechanism of "judicial review" in the Constitutional Court as a means to avoid any legislation contrary to the fundamental rights of citizens as guaranteed in the constitution.
 

Succession Rights under Esan Customary Law in Nigeria: The Problems of Applicability of Esan Customs and the Challenges of Fundamental Rights

Esan Native Law and Customs like any other customary laws in Nigeria is recognised as law that regulated the customary aspect of the people subject to its jurisdiction. One of such aspect, is succession and inheritance rights. Although, Esan customary law has from time immemorial made adequate and sufficient rules that regulate and govern succession rights, recently these rules have come under vigorous legal scrutiny concerning their applicability vis-à-vis the enforcement of fundamental rights of citizens that are constitutionally guaranteed. This article therefore seeks to examine critically the application of Esan Native Law and Customs regulating succession and inheritance rights in general, identify its deficiencies and advocate for sustainable ways to harmonise them by making them to conform with the current state of the law dealing with the enforcement of fundamental rights of citizens. This approach has become imperative in other to prevent certain aspect of Esan Native law and customs dealing with succession rights from being adjudged repugnant to natural justice equity and good conscience. Keywords: Succession Rights, Esan Customary Law, and Fundamental Rights DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/117-09 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

PERSONAL SAFETY IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE REGULATIONS OF THE ROMANIAN PENAL CODE

Guaranteeing liberty and security rights is a fundamental principle of law state and its legal regulation is a priority in the legal systems of the countries of the European Union.
 The rapid development, of technology information and its applicability, in the last decades, have ensured its access in all sectors of life, from economic to social and cultural. With these premises, cybercrime has become a field of maximum and acute actuality.
 By promoting and protecting the fundamental rights of citizens and the state law, the right to liberty and security of person and in the cyber environment must be guaranteed.
 The Romanian legislator shows an active and constant interest in the field, by substantiating and updating the internal normative framework that regulates information systems, as well as by ratifying the legal documents issued by the Council of Europe.