‘The Law of the Instrument’: Examining the Nexus Between Safety and the Routine Arming of Police Officers

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-109
Author(s):  
Richard Evans ◽  
Clare Farmer
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
The Law

The Constitutional Principle of Accountability: A Study of Contemporary South African Case Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuks Okpaluba
Keyword(s):  
Judicial Review ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Law ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Many

‘Accountability’ is one of the democratic values entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa, 1996. It is a value recognised throughout the Constitution and imposed upon the law-making organs of state, the Executive, the Judiciary and all public functionaries. This constitutional imperative is given pride of place among the other founding values: equality before the law, the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution. This study therefore sets out to investigate how the courts have grappled with the interpretation and application of the principle of accountability, the starting point being the relationship between accountability and judicial review. Therefore, in the exercise of its judicial review power, a court may enquire whether the failure of a public functionary to comply with a constitutional duty of accountability renders the decision made illegal, irrational or unreasonable. One of the many facets of the principle of accountability upon which this article dwells is to ascertain how the courts have deployed that expression in making the state and its agencies liable for the delictual wrongs committed against an individual in vindication of a breach of the individual’s constitutional right in the course of performing a public duty. Here, accountability and breach of public duty; the liability of the state for detaining illegal immigrants contrary to the prescripts of the law; the vicarious liability of the state for the criminal acts of the police and other law-enforcement officers (as in police rape cases and misuse of official firearms by police officers), and the liability of the state for delictual conduct in the context of public procurement are discussed. Having carefully analysed the available case law, this article concludes that no public functionary can brush aside the duty of accountability wherever it is imposed without being in breach of a vital constitutional mandate. Further, it is the constitutional duty of the courts, when called upon, to declare such act or conduct an infringement of the Constitution.

scholarly journals Street triage services in England: service models, national provision and the opinions of police

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abirami Kirubarajan ◽  
Stephen Puntis ◽  
Devon Perfect ◽  
Marc Tarbit ◽  
Mary Buckman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Modes Of Operation ◽  
Specialist Services ◽  
Service Models ◽  
The Law ◽  
Core Part

Aims and methodStreet triage services are increasingly common and part of standard responses to mental health crises in the community, but little is understood about them. We conducted a national survey of mental health trusts to gather detailed information regarding street triage services alongside a survey of Thames Valley police officers to ascertain their views and experiences.ResultsTriage services are available in most areas of the country and are growing in scope. There is wide variation in levels of funding and modes of operation, including hours covered. Police officers from our survey overwhelmingly support such services and would like to see them expanded.Clinical implicationsMental health crises now form a core part of policing and there are compelling reasons for the support of specialist services. Recent changes to the law have heightened this need, with a requirement for specialist input before a Section 136 is enacted. Those who have experienced triage services report it as less stigmatising and traumatic than a traditional approach, but there remains little evidence on which to base decisions.Declaration of interestNone.

An Ethicolegal Analysis of Involuntary Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-740
Author(s):  
Farhad R. Udwadia ◽  
Judy Illes
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Law ◽  
Court Mandated ◽  
Ethical Critique

Supply-side interventions such as prescription drug monitoring programs, “pill mill” laws, and dispensing limits have done little to quell the burgeoning opioid crisis. An increasingly popular demand-side alternative to these measures – now adopted by 38 jurisdictions in the USA and 7 provinces in Canada — is court-mandated involuntary commitment and treatment. In Massachusetts, for example, Part I, Chapter 123, Section 35 of the state's General Laws allows physicians, spouses, relatives, and police officers to petition a court to involuntarily commit and treat a person whose alcohol or drug abuse poses a likelihood of serious harm. This paper explores the ethical underpinnings of this law as a case study for others. First, we highlight the procedural and substantive standards of Section 35 and evaluate the application of the law in practice, including the frequency with which it has been invoked and outcomes. We then use this background to inform an ethical critique of the law. Specifically, we argue that the infringement of autonomy and privacy associated with involuntary intervention under Section 35 is not currently justified on the grounds of a lack of evidenced benefits and a risk of significant of harm. Further ethical concerns also arise from a lack of standard of care provided under the Section 35 pathway. Based on this analysis, we advance four recommendations for change to mitigate these ethical shortcomings.

scholarly journals F v MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Vicarious liability and state accountability for the criminal acts of police officers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Vicarious Liability ◽  
State Accountability ◽  
Normative Basis ◽  
The Law

The Constitutional Court judgement in F v Minister of Safety and Securityis a ground-breaking judgement in two important respects: firstly, it finally does away with the fiction that an employee acts within the course and scope of her employment in the so-called deviation cases in the law of vicarious liability, and secondly it clarifies the normative basis for holding the state vicariously liable for the criminal acts of police officers. In this latter respect it significantly promotes state accountability for the criminal acts of police officers.

Ethics, justice and policing

Good Policing ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 73-86
Author(s):  
Mike Hough
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Structural Inequality ◽  
Normative Foundation ◽  
Low Visibility ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
The Law ◽  
Compliance With The Law

This chapter explores ethical issues that are raised by procedural justice approaches to policing. Both in individual contacts between police and public and at a societal level, problems can result from the use of low-visibility techniques for securing compliance. There is a risk that people’s choices about compliance with the law are being reshaped by stealth: their autonomy as citizens may be eroded when police officers manage them into compliance through a display of civility and respect. At a societal level, the appearance of the police as an even-handed and fair institution can serve as an ‘ideological cloak’ that hides from public view structural inequality and unfairness. The chapter argues that these risks can be mitigated if police commit to the normative foundation of procedural justice, and do not simply focus on the instrumental benefits of the approach. They need to recognise their duty to treat citizens fairly and with respect.

Court Advocacy for Police Officers

1981 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66
Author(s):  
Cyril H. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Important Task ◽  
The Law

Police officers often find themselves as prosecuting advocates in courts of summary jurisdiction. Despite calls from the Law Society and others for all prosecuting to be carried out by solicitors, there is little doubt much court work will continue to be done by police officers — in fact with recent economy cuts, we have seen some police authorities cutting the number of solicitors employed by them and not employing solicitors in areas where there is a real need. Also more forces are setting up process units to carry out their accident and process enquiries and where Sergeants and above are acting as prosecutors. I hope that the information contained in the following pages will be of some help to police officers charged with the important task of representing their police force in court.

Pedagogical aspects of managing professional conflicts in the activities of the head of the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Semchenko
Keyword(s):  
Police Officer ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
The Law ◽  
Internal Affairs ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Professional Conflicts

The reform carried out in recent years in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is aimed, among other things, at focused work on the establishment and development of a professional worldview of a police officer in departmental universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The conflict in the activities of the police officers is active and professional in nature, i.e. associated with the features of professional tasks. The characteristic features for decisions made by employees in conflict situations are lack of time, often the finality of a decision, since a decision cannot be clarified later, verification of decisions by interested opponents and management, the need to make decisions based on incomplete, sometimes deliberately distorted information. With regard to the activities of the internal affairs bodies, the main reason causing conflict situations in communication is the commission of a crime, entering into conflict with society, with the law.

scholarly journals Ακούσια εισαγωγή σε ψυχιατρική μονάδα: Από το πνεύμα του νόμου στην καθημερινότητα της εφαρμογής του

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Ειρήνη Γρηγοριάδου ◽  
Ευαγγελία Αμπατζή ◽  
Ευγενία Γεωργάκα
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Professional Group ◽  
Involuntary Commitment ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Psychiatric Ward ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Law

The present study investigates the divergence between the law 2071/92 regarding involuntary commitment of persons with mental disorders to a psychiatric ward and its practical implementation, through information drawn from psychiatrists, attorneys and police officers, who are directly involved in the process, as well as from involuntarily committedpersons. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four participants from each professional group, and four persons with experience of involuntary commitment. The material wassystematically analysed and organised in categories according to the principles of Grounded Theory. The analysis reveals an adequate picture of the process of involuntary commitment, the aspects of the law thatare implemented and correspondingly those which are not implemented, the difficulties in the implementation of the law, as well as broader issues concerning involuntary commitment. Amongst the central issues highlighted in this study are the distinctiveness of the participants’ roles and the lack of collaboration between them, the importance of dangerousness, which coalesces all the professional participants and overshadows the aim of care, and finally the lack of a prescribed framework for the implementation of the law, which results in significant differences in its implementation depending on the personal stance and knowledge of each professional involved.

scholarly journals The right of Police officers and the Criminal-executive system to use firearms: some issues of theory and practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 136-143
Author(s):  
A. А. Alimov ◽  
◽  
S. A. Yunusov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Penal System ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Executive System ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Federal Law «On the Police» and the law of the Russian Federation «On Institutions and Bodies Executing Criminal Sentences in the Form of Imprisonment», which empowers the police and the penal system with the right to use firearms. Possible problems of the implementation of the provisions of the legislation are identified, specific measures are proposed to improve the efficiency of legal regulation of the use of firearms by police officers and the penal system

scholarly journals PANDEMIC, LAW, AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN PAKISTAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hassan Abbasi ◽  
Maya David
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
National Language ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Speech Communities ◽  
The Law ◽  
Local Languages

Pakistan is a multilingual state with 74 languages (Siddiqui, 2019), with Urdu being its national language while English is its official language (Article 251 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan). However, the linguistic diversity, as per the law, has not been given proper status in Pakistan (Rahman, 2002). In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the role of medical health professionals, local police officers, media persons and educationists to create an awareness about the precautionary measures to fight Covid-19 among the indigenous communities in different regions of Pakistan is important. However, there is no practice prescribed in the law, to disseminate awareness in the local languages. Moreover, as most of the lexical items regarding the pandemic have been borrowed, the shift to local languages is more than challenging. In urban areas, indigenous communities are aware of the precautions to be taken during this pandemic as they use the mainstream languages (Ali, 2017 & Abbasi, 2019.) However, in the rural and northern areas of Pakistan this is not so prevalent. Some language activists and concerned members of the community in different parts of the state took this opportunity to educate the masses and started an awareness campaign about coronavirus pandemic in local languages (posters in local languages and short video messages on social media and YouTube). Yet, linguists and community members have not been able to work with many indigenous languages, which Rahman (2004) lists in his study, and these speech communities urgently need the required information in their respective heritage languages. Such small steps by community members and NGOs in providing necessary information in local languages suggest that proper education in the mother tongue can protect communities in times like this. The government has to protect endangered and indigenous languages by an effective law-making process that actively encourages the use of local languages and helps provide information in their respective languages in such situations as this pandemic.

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