scholarly journals Undermining Prima Facie Consent in the Criminal Law

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Dsouza
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Marek Suska

In the actual legislative processes, errors are often made: the legislator’s intentions are not always properly expressed in the legal provisions or there is insufficient clarity. The discrepancy between what the legislator said and what they meant to say poses a serious challenge to the theory and practice of legal interpretation. In this paper, the author analyses two possible reactions to a legislative error: correcting it or applying the provision in its literal meaning. The considerations are based on two decisions of the Criminal Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court, because in criminal law the protection of the prima facie understanding of the text is a very important value. In the final part of the paper, the author indicates factors which can affect the court’s attitude towards a legislative error in a specific case.


2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Ashford

The criminal law relating to sex work was last modified in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Three years later in January 2006 the UK government published a ‘prostitution strategy’ that set out four core aims: challenge the view that street prostitution is inevitable and here to stay; achieve an overall reduction in street prostitution; improve the safety and quality of life of communities affected by prostitution, including those directly involved in street sex markets, and finally, to reduce all forms of commercial sexual exploitation. This framework prima facie failed to take into account both the issue of male sex work and also the Internet effect upon sex work. This article seeks to examine the intersection of technology and male for male sex work and reviews both the criminal law and UK policy framework in that context.


Author(s):  
A P Simester

This chapter discusses criminal liability for omissions. The criminal law draws a basic distinction between things done and things not done. Its default rule is that one is not accountable for failing to prevent something that it would be a crime to bring about by a positive act. There are, of course, exceptions to the default rule, in as much as the law often imposes distinct duties to intervene and prevent harm. However, the concern in this chapter is with why the default rule itself should exist. One reason is that not-doings are typically less culpable, and the law has good reasons to acknowledge this by means of its default rule requiring a positive act. More importantly, though, the doing/not-doing distinction matters for reasons of ascriptive responsibility. Distinct duties are, first and foremost, conduits to holding the defendant accountable for an event or outcome. Absent such a duty, a not-doer is prima facie not accountable for the consequences of her deed: whereas a doer is. The chapter looks first at the nature of not-doings and omissions generally; considers whether not-doings really are less culpable; then investigates the argument from ascriptive responsibility for differentiating their treatment.


Author(s):  
Sourgens Frédéric Gilles ◽  
Duggal Kabir ◽  
Laird Ian A

This chapter highlights the three commonly identified standards of proof in investor-state arbitration. The first is the prima facie evidence standard, which involves an examination of the facts as alleged by the claimant to see whether such facts would amount to a breach of the treaty and otherwise fall within the jurisdiction of the tribunal. The second standard is the preponderance of evidence or the balance of probabilities. This standard requires an evaluation of all the evidence produced by both parties on a particular issue and this evaluation ultimately results in the tribunal determining which party’s evidence is more likely than not to be true. Finally, there is the heightened standard of proof. Here, the standard is higher than a balance of probabilities but lower than the criminal law standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.


Author(s):  
Christoph Burchard
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AbstractCriminal law exceptionalism, or so I suggest, has turned into an ideology in German and Continental criminal law theory. It rests on interrelated claims about the (ideal or real) extraordinary qualities and properties of the criminal law and has led to exceptional doctrines in constitutional criminal law and criminal law theory. It prima facie paradoxically perpetuates and conserves the criminal law, and all too often leads to ideological thoughtlessness, which may blind us to the dark sides of criminal laws in action.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Thunberg Schunke
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