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Guide on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights

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Guide on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights Guide on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights Right to life Updated on 31 August 2021 This Guide has been prepared by the Registry and does not bind the Court. Guide on Article 2 of the Convention – Right to life Publishers or organisations wishing to translate and/or reproduce all or part of this report in the form of a printed or electronic publication are invited to contact [email protected] for information on the authorisation procedure. If you wish to know which translations of the Case-Law Guides are currently under way, please see Pending translations. This Guide was originally drafted in English. It is updated regularly and, most recently, on 31 August 2021. It may be subject to editorial revision. The Case-Law Guides are available for downloading at www.echr.coe.int (Case-law – Case-law analysis – Case- law guides). For publication updates please follow the Court’s Twitter account at https://twitter.com/ECHR_CEDH. © Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights, 2021 European Court of Human Rights 2/54 Last update: 31.08.2021 Guide on Article 2 of the Convention – Right to life Table of contents Note to readers .............................................................................................. 5 I. General considerations ............................................................................. 6 A. Interpretation of Article 2 ........................................................................................................... 6 B. State obligations under Article 2 ................................................................................................ 6 C. Applicability of Article 2 in near death situations ....................................................................... 6 II. Protection of life ...................................................................................... 8 A. The nature of the positive obligations of the State .................................................................... 8 B. The scope of the positive obligations of the State ..................................................................... 8 C. Protection of life in context ........................................................................................................ 9 1. Protection of persons from lethal use of force by non-State actors .................................... 9 2. Protection of persons from self-harm ................................................................................ 11 3. Protection of persons from environmental or industrial disasters .................................... 12 4. Protection of persons in the context of healthcare ............................................................ 13 a. General population ....................................................................................................... 13 b. Persons deprived of their liberty and vulnerable persons under the care of the State ....................................................................................................................... 15 5. Protection of persons in the context of accidents .............................................................. 16 D. Temporal limitations................................................................................................................. 17 1. Beginning of life .................................................................................................................. 17 2. Issues related to end of life ................................................................................................. 18 a. Euthanasia ..................................................................................................................... 18 b. Withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment ...................................................................... 18 III. Prohibition of intentional deprivation of life ......................................... 19 A. The death penalty ..................................................................................................................... 19 1. Interpretation of Article 2 § 1 of the Convention in light of Protocols Nos. 6 and 13 of the Convention ................................................................................................................... 19 2. State responsibility under Article 2 in extradition and expulsion cases ............................. 19 B. Use of lethal force by State agents ........................................................................................... 20 1. Assessment of evidence ...................................................................................................... 20 a. Standard of proof .......................................................................................................... 20 b. Burden of proof ............................................................................................................ 20 2. Protection of persons from lethal use of force by State agents ......................................... 22 a. Legal framework ........................................................................................................... 22 b. Training and vetting of State agents ............................................................................. 22 c. Illustrations ................................................................................................................... 22 3. Permitted exceptions to use force ...................................................................................... 23 a. Standard of scrutiny to be applied ............................................................................... 23 b. General approach ......................................................................................................... 24 i. The actions of the State agents ............................................................................... 24 ii. The planning and control of the operation ............................................................ 25 iii. Illustrations ............................................................................................................ 25 C. Specific contexts ....................................................................................................................... 26 1. Death hastened by use of specific arrest techniques ......................................................... 26 European Court of Human Rights 3/54 Last update: 31.08.2021 Guide on Article 2 of the Convention – Right to life 2. Death in custody ................................................................................................................. 26 3. Extra-judicial killings ........................................................................................................... 27 4. Security or military operations ........................................................................................... 27 5. Disappearances ................................................................................................................... 28 a. Presumption of death ................................................................................................... 28 b. State liability for the presumed death .......................................................................... 29 c. State responsibility to protect the right to life ............................................................. 29 6. Killings committed by State agents in their private capacity .............................................. 29 IV. Procedural obligations .......................................................................... 31 A. The scope of the procedural obligations .................................................................................. 31 B. Relationship between the substantive and the procedural limb ............................................. 32 C. The purpose of the investigation .............................................................................................. 32 D. The form of the investigation ................................................................................................... 32 E. The nature and degree of scrutiny ............................................................................................ 33 F. The standards of the investigation ............................................................................................ 33 1. Independence ..................................................................................................................... 33 2. Adequacy ............................................................................................................................ 35 3. Promptness and reasonable expedition ............................................................................. 36 4. Public scrutiny and the participation of the next-of-kin ..................................................... 37 G. Issues related to prosecution, sanction and compensation ..................................................... 38 H. The revival of procedural obligations ....................................................................................... 39 I. Investigation of gender-based violence and hate crimes .......................................................... 40 J. Procedural obligations in trans-border contexts ....................................................................... 40 K. Procedural obligations in the context of armed conflict .........................................................
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