Abstract

OVALLE BAZAN, Marcelo Ignacio. Human Dignity as a Limit to ius puniendi. The Case Law of the Constitutional Court of Chile. Díkaion [online]. 2019, vol.28, n.1, pp.35-68. ISSN 0120-8942.  https://doi.org/10.5294/dika.2019.28.1.2.

This article expounds the case law of the Constitutional Court of Chile on human dignity as a fundamental value of the Chilean Constitution and how it is instituted with a limit to the state ius puniendi. Doctrinal texts, both national and foreign, are presented around the notion of human dignity and its incorporation into constitutions, specifically the Chilean Constitution. The case law of the Court is also analyzed to look into its idea of human dignity and the manner and scope of its application. The Court considers human dignity as an intrinsic condition of the human being, resulting in a duty of respect and consideration, mainly by the state. The constitutional recognition of dignity involves regarding it as the basis of political and social order in the context of a democratic rule of law. This gives rise to and materializes in a series of principles of punitive law, such as the presumption of innocence, non bis in idem, culpability and proportional justice, which necessarily limit the subjective criminal law of the state.

Keywords : Human dignity as constitutional notion; fundamental constitutional value; Chilean constitutional law; Chilean criminal law; limits the state Ius puniendi.

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