Political Crime and Its Effects on Declared Rights and Freedoms Analyzing Arab Constitutions, Legislations and International Agreements

The study dealt with the subject of political crime and its effects on declared rights and freedoms, analyzing Arab constitutions, legislations and international agreements. The problem of the study was in clarifying the nature of the standard that defines the concept of political crime and distinguishes it from other ordinary crimes, and how Arab positive legislations and international agreements dealt with political crime, and what are the possible effects that may result from that. To address this problem, the study was divided into four main axes. The first axis studied the historical development of political crime, the second defined political crime in jurisprudence and law, the third explained the types of political crime and distinguished it from other similar crimes, and the fourth and final discussed the impact of political crime on constitutional rights and freedoms. The researchers in the study followed the comparative analysis approach to reach the most successful results and recommendations. The study reached a conclusion that most Arab legislations did not define political crime and did not set a standard to distinguish it from ordinary crime and treated it as crimes against state security that cannot be spared and allocated the most severe penalties for it. The study recommended that Arab legislation and international agreements should establish a specific and clear definition of political crime that is consistent with international human rights standards and principles of justice and fairness and considers the supreme national interests of peoples. The study suggested that what is meant by political crime is “any peaceful, non-violent political act carried out by citizens with the aim of reforming the political, economic and social system of the state and that is not condemned by society.”