Abstract
Police forces in European countries face more and more diverse challenges in their work, including fighting ordinary crime, organized crime, human trafficking, terrorism, and other problem areas. In another vain, they encounter protest movements, demonstrations, and sometimes violent action, which need to be managed. At the same time, in many countries, high expectations in the population about proper conduct and responsible action by police officers prevail, notably respect for human rights. Therefore, transparency, accountability, and action against illegal action by police officers is paramount for creating and strengthening trust in a police force, and a state, respectful of the rule of law. The European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) of the Council of Europe visits for 28 years, among other institutions, establishments of Ministries of the Interior. The contribution offers a brief overview on legal standards and working methods used by the CPT. It looks at issues of CPT’s practical work regarding the police. Another section tentatively addresses the impact of the Committee’s work, a particular challenging issue since there exists very little of what could be called an evaluation of the impact of its work on the European or national level. A concluding section brings together some key issues.
Dr. phil. habil. Wolfgang S. Heinz is a Senior Policy Adviser at the German Institute for Human Rights, the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) in Germany, and a Senior Lecturer for Political Science at the Free University Berlin (Privatdozent). From 2005 to 2017 he was a member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe (CPT) in respect of Germany. Until March 2017 he served as a Vice-President of the Committee. The contribution reflects the personal opinion of the author.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (ECPT, 1987).
- 3.
http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/states.htm. Permission is necessary under the ECPT, article 11, para 2.
- 4.
CPT (2015).
- 5.
- 6.
CPT (2015), para 40.
- 7.
APT (2013).
- 8.
APT/UNHCR (2014).
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
National Prevention Mechanism under the UN Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, police complaint bodies, Ombudsman institution(s) etc.
- 12.
CPT (2015), p. 6, para 38.
- 13.
Ibid., p. 7, para 39.
- 14.
Ibid., p. 7, paras 40–41.
- 15.
Ibid., p. 10, para 37.
- 16.
Ibid., p. 10, para 38.
- 17.
CPT (2015), para 67.
- 18.
See note 16, para 68.
- 19.
See note 16, para 69.
- 20.
See note 16, para 70.
- 21.
See note 17, para 71.
- 22.
For CPT General Reports, see http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/docsannual.htm.
- 23.
I am very grateful to Patrick Müller at the CPT Secretariat (Research, information strategies and media contacts) for the information that follows.
- 24.
See for example regarding the prison system in Germany, Cernko (2014).
- 25.
Visit 2005, CPT/Inf (2006) 24, par. 68. Government response CPT/Inf (2006) 25, p. 9.
- 26.
Visit 2008, CPT/Inf (2009) 6, par. 32.
- 27.
Visit 2008, CPT/Inf (2010) 29, par. 50, Government response CPT/inf (2010) 30, p. 17.
- 28.
Visit 2008, CPT/Inf (2012) 34, par. 25.
- 29.
Circulaire du 11 mars 2003 du ministre de l'intérieur relative à la garantie de la dignité des personnes placées en garde à vue. See “M. Sarkozy veut une garde à vue conforme à la “dignité humaine”, Le Monde, 12 March 2003, http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2003/03/12/m-sarkozy-veut-une-garde-a-vue-conforme-a-la-dignite-humaine_312672_3224.html.
- 30.
Visit 2012, CPT/Inf (2013) 32, paras 21, 22, 29.
- 31.
Visit 2007, CPT/Inf (2008) 20, para 19.
- 32.
Visit 2011, CPT/Inf (2013) 12, para 55.
- 33.
Visit 2009, CPT/Inf (2009) 37, para 67.
- 34.
Visit 2007, CPT/Inf (2008) 2, para 58, Government response CPT/Inf (2009)7, p. 18., Visit 2011, CPT/Inf (2012) 21, para 55.
- 35.
See the report of the CPT on its 2001 visit to the United Kingdom (CPT/Inf (2002) 6), para 19–22 and 1997 visit (CPT/Inf (2000) 1), para 28.
- 36.
Visit 2008, CPT/Inf (2009) 30, para 19.
- 37.
Redress/European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Torture in Europe (2012), p. 43.
- 38.
APT (1999), p. 53, referring to Kover, Agnes Dr : CPT Standards in Action – A Critical Review of the CPT’s Visit to Hungary, paper presented at the joint APT/COLPI “Central European Seminar on Prevention of Torture”, 18–19 June 1998.
- 39.
Danisi (2009), p. 115.
- 40.
Morentin et al. (2008), pp. 88, 94.
- 41.
See Carver and Handley (2016).
- 42.
An older example is the Independent Police Complaints Commission in the United Kingdom. More recent developments concern for example Germany, where over the last years in 6 out of 16 states police complaint commissions or bodies have started to work. See Töpfer and von Norman (2014). A recently published study looks at police complaint bodies in Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. (cf. Töpfer and Peter 2017).
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Heinz, W.S. (2018). The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Its Work with the Police. In: Alleweldt, R., Fickenscher, G. (eds) The Police and International Human Rights Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71339-7_14
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