OSCE, Alm.del - 2010-11 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: OSCE PA - Supplementary Item 1-25

DRAFT RESOLUTIONCombating Crimes Causing Serious Social AlarmPrincipal Sponsor: Mr. Claudio D’Amico (Italy)1. Noting that in 1764 in his workOn Crimes and Punishmentsthe Italian jurist CesareBeccaria considered the death penalty an ineffective means of crime prevention andstrenuously proposed its abolition. His work had a crucial influence on criminal lawreform movements, even outside Italy, after the 19thcentury in a number of WesternEuropean countries and little by little in many others, demanding the abolition ofcapital punishment and replacing it with other forms of punishment, includingimprisonment,2. Noting also that in the Council of Europe Member States, the death penalty has beenprohibited even in peacetime under Protocol no. 6, which came into force on 1March, 1985, completing the European Convention on Human Rights, and that itwas precisely thanks to this protocol that Europe totally reversed its position fromthe situation of tolerating legal death to banning it. Or better still, Europe made theabolition of the death penalty one of its cardinal values under Protocol no. 13, whichcame into force in July 2003, abolishing the death penalty under all circumstances,even for acts committed in wartime or with the imminent threat of war,3. Considering, however, that even without the death penalty, the OSCE participatingStates guarantee the peaceful coexistence of their citizens in a completely secureenvironment by implementing adequate instruments to combat crimes which causethe greatest social alarm,4. Emphasizing the importance to the OSCE Member States of ensuring effectivepunishment and the certainty of punishment for the most heinous crimes which giverise to serious alarm in public opinion, in particular sex crimes against children andmurder, also by making it mandatory to remand suspects in custody while awaitinga fair trial when seriousprima facieevidence exists of their guilt,5. Considering that some OSCE Member States use alternative measures toimprisonment, such as house arrest or other less restrictive measures, even forparticularly serious crimes, and give wide margins of discretion to the courts todecide on which restrictive measures to apply to individual cases,6. Recognizing that in a judgment issued on 6 November 2003 the European Court ofHuman Rights ruled that for crimes causing particularly serious social alarm, suchas Mafia-related crimes, preventive detention in prison is perfectly justifiable as thesole means of meeting the need for security while awaiting trial,7. Considering that the European Court of Human Rights itself has ruled,mutatismutandis,in the Messina v. Italy (no. 2) case no. 25498 of 1994 in relation to theapplication of article 8 of the Convention, that the state may also impose restrictionson personal freedom, and hence make preventive detention mandatory, when certain1

crimes might "undermine" "public order, security and the public interest", so that itcan be deemed “the only form of crime prevention”,8. Considering that there is nothing to prevent the OSCE Member States fromimposing preventive detention in prison in the case of sex crimes against childrenand murder, as the only measure adopted, when there is serious evidence of guilt, tosafeguard law and order, security and the public interest, and as a preventivemeasure when there is the danger of repeat offences;The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly:9. Invites the participating States to cooperate in order to implement positive actions tointroduce rules into their judicial systems making preventive detention the solepreventive measure adopted against persons awaiting trial charged with sex crimesagainst children and with murder, where serious evidence exists of their guilt, whileproviding adequate guarantees to the accused, thus excluding any other alternativesto preventive detention;10. Urges the OSCE Council of Ministers take all appropriate measures until thecooperation referred to in the previous clause is established, to effectively preventthe commission of the crimes which cause serious social alarm indicated above.

“COMBATING