On the protection against ill-treatment under the Amendment VIII to the United States Constitution in relation to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

The article focuses on the protection against ill-treatment, as stipulated in the Amendment VIII to the United States Constitution in relation to the similar guarantee provided by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Using the case-law of the U.S. courts, the author analyses the meaning of words used in the Amendment VIII ("cruel and unusual punishment") in relation to their counterpart in the Convention ("torture" and "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment"). The use of particular words in the Amendment VIII causes a limitation of the protection against ill-treatment in the U.S. to criminal proceedings. In the subsequent part the author discusses two typical instances of use of the Amendment VIII: disproportional punishment and overstepping limits of criminalisation. The problem of compensation for ill-treatment is also described. The analysis of the aforementioned issues leads to the conclusion that the U.S. legal system offers a lower standard of protection against ill-treatment than its European counterpart.