Tokens: The
first
sentence
of
Article
7
§
1
of
the
Convention
states
that
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
it
was
committed
”
.
The
rule
laid
down
by
this
sentence
is
clear
:
it
prohibits
the
retroactive
application
of
criminal
laws
and
has
in
the
case
-
law
furthermore
been
interpreted
to
require
foreseeability
in
the
application
of
such
laws
,
as
described
above
(
see
§
25
above
)
.
Within
that
context
the
word
“
guilty
”
must
be
understood
as
referring
to
the
traditional
concept
used
to
describe
the
finding
of
a
criminal
conviction
under
domestic
laws
on
criminal
procedure
.
In
other
words
,
when
a
national
court
has
found
that
the
prosecution
has
proved
,
to
the
required
standard
of
proof
,
the
subjective
and
objective
elements
of
the
criminal
provision
referred
to
in
the
indictment
,
it
finds
the
accused
“
guilty
”
of
the
offence
.
By
contrast
,
this
concept
,
within
the
context
of
Article
7
of
the
Convention
,
does
not
entail
any
requirement
as
to
the
substance
of
domestic
criminal
laws
.
In
other
words
,
it
does
not
imply
that
such
laws
should
be
formulated
as
requiring
a
particular
type
of
subjective
(
mens
rea
)
or
objective
(
actus
reus
)
elements
for
imposing
criminal
liability
.
That
is
the
domain
of
the
national
authorities
and
not
for
the
Court
,
at
least
not
under
Article
7
of
the
Convention
.
Indeed
,
as
the
Court
held
in
its
landmark
judgment
in
Engel
and
Others
,
“
the
Convention
leaves
the
States
free
to
designate
as
a
criminal
offence
an
act
or
omission
not
constituting
the
normal
exercise
of
one
of
the
rights
that
it
protects
”
(
see
Engel
and
Others
v.
the
Netherlands
,
8
June
1976
,
§
81
,
Series
A
no
.
22
)
.
Therefore
,
although
other
substantive
provisions
of
the
Convention
may
set
limits
on
the
Contracting
States
’
ability
to
criminalise
certain
conduct
(
see
for
example
Dudgeon
v.
the
United
Kingdom
,
22
October
1981
,
Series
A
no
.
45
,
in
the
context
of
Article
8
of
the
Convention
and
the
criminalisation
of
certain
homosexual
acts
between
consenting
adults
)
,
Article
7
is
confined
to
prohibiting
,
in
general
terms
,
the
retroactive
application
of
criminal
laws
and
to
require
that
these
laws
be
foreseeable
and
accessible
.
It
does
not
regulate
the
substance
of
such
laws
.
Labels: O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O