Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights
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Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights sets limits on criminalisation, forbidding ex post facto criminalisation by signatory countries.
This requirement of foreseeability and protection against arbitrariness was further clarified by the Grand Chamber in Yasak v. Türkiye (2026), where it held that Article 7 requires that criminal offences be defined with sufficient accessibility and foreseeability so as to enable individuals to regulate their conduct. The Court found that the applicant's conviction resulted from an interpretation of domestic criminal law that did not meet the required “quality of law”, as it was not sufficiently precise and allowed for unforeseeable application. It therefore concluded that there had been a violation of Article 7 of the Convention.[1]
Text
No punishment without law
- No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national or international law at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the criminal offence was committed.
- This Article shall not prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law recognised by civilised nations.[2]
Case law
- Handyside v United Kingdom (1976; no violation found, 13–1)
- Kokkinakis v. Greece (1993; no violation found, 8:1)
- Nikola Jorgić (2007; application ruled partly inadmissible and no violation found, unanimously)
- Mykolas Burokevičius (2008; no violation found, unanimously)
- Vassili Kononov (2010; no violation found, 14:3)
- Maktouf and Damjanović v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2013; violation found, unanimously)
- Nikolay Tess (2014; application ruled inadmissible, unanimously)
- Yasak v. Türkiye (2026)
Other judgements involving Article 7
- Ines Del Rio: case of the Parot doctrine[3]
Literature
- Harris, David; O'Boyle, Michael; Warbrick, Colin (2009). Law of the European Convention on Human Rights (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 331–339. ISBN 978-0-406-90594-9.