INTRODUCTION

• 1. Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the Convention sets forth the right of all persons to have their lives respected. After this extensive assertion, the Convention limits it by stating that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” “Arbitrarily” qualifies the deprivation of life; the right is not absolute, as situations exist in which it is permissible to take the life of a person without violating Article 4(1) of the Convention. A possible way to do so is through the imposition of the death penalty by a court. Another possibility would include a private individual taking a life in legitimate self-defense or in legitimate defense of a third party. A third possibility would be the undesired taking of a life by law enforcement personnel as the result of licit use of force in pursuit of a legitimate aim. There is the question of whether the right to life exclusively covers the protection from arbitrary deprivation of life through the imposition of the death penalty by the State or through the abuse of force by a State agent, as the reading of the five subsequent clauses might insinuate; or if it protects from the arbitrary deprivation of life whatever the manner in which it is carried out. If the latter, does the right to life allow a person to demand a certain minimum quality of life from the State or does the Convention’s protection stop short of this idea? Put in different words, do social, economic or cultural rights play a role in the interpretation of the right to life? This and other queries will be addressed in this chapter. According to Article 4(1), States must also ensure life and the scope of this obligation must be determined. Like every other right, Article 4 generates for the State negative and positive obligations. It must prevent its violations, investigate them, repair the victims, and guarantee their non-repetition. The measures the State takes will vary according to the situation. They will be different for an isolated killing from those needed in case of a massacre, or a disappearance.