Abstract:

The main objective of this study is to analyse the perceptions of the law students on the human rights, specifically their knowledge and sensitivity regarding to the purposes of penalties.

The application of criminal sanctions aims the protection of juridical assets and the reintegration of the agent into the society, with useful purposes, to safeguard legal peace in society and to avoid in the future the committing of other crimes by the condemned. In this sense, the execution of penalties should be oriented to promote that the condemned, after serving the sentence, be prepared to live responsibly in the community. Considering the constitutional principle of human dignity, it should be left to the condemned, as far as possible, during the execution of the sentence, his self-determination for his future resocialization. The application of penalties for purely retributive purposes is excluded and whenever possible, because of short prison sentences have been viewed negatively for having a stigmatizing character and criminogenic effects, it is planned to replace them with other non-custodial alternative sentences (such as fines penalties and community work consented by the condemned).

Due to the constitutional principle of human dignity, the death penalty, the penalty of life imprisonment, the forced labor and corporal punishment are prohibited. Contrary to the humanist characteristic of the Portuguese Penal Code there is a popular tendency that defends heavier penalties, criminal sentences that are less respectful to the human dignity and the punishment of the condemned justified only by the punishment itself.

In this research it was intended in particular to know how the students of the 2nd year of the Law Course from Oporto Portucalense University, in the academic year 2018-19, face the function of criminal penalties, after having learned Political Science and Constitutional Law in the 1st year and before being taught the program content of the curricular unit of Criminal Law.

To achieve this goal, surveys were developed and then answered by 90 students. The results show that students need to be sensitized to the human rights dimension, since they have a vision that does not coincide with the one that is legally established and far from constitutional rights and guarantees. It was concluded that the majority adheres to the populist tendencies of the Criminal Law, being essential and necessary in the Academy an education more accentuated and effective for the human rights dimension.

Keywords:

Education for human rights, purposes of penalties, principle of human dignity, criminal law.