scholarly journals Improving access to justice for older victims of crime by reimagining conceptions of vulnerability

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Brown ◽  
Faith Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Union Directive

Abstract This article investigates the implications of recent research findings that establish that older victims of crime are less likely to obtain procedural justice than other age groups. It explores original empirical data from the United Kingdom that finds evidence of a systemic failure amongst agencies to identify vulnerability in the older population and to put in place appropriate support mechanisms to allow older victims to participate fully in the justice system. The article discusses how the legally defined gateways to additional support, which are currently relied upon by many common law jurisdictions, disadvantage older victims and require reimagining. It argues that international protocols, especially the current European Union Directive on victims’ rights, are valuable guides in this process of re-conceptualisation. To reduce further the inequitable treatment of older victims, the article advocates for jurisdictions to introduce a presumption in favour of special assistance for older people participating in the justice system.

scholarly journals Older victims of crime: Vulnerability, resilience and access to procedural justice

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J Brown ◽  
Faith Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Comprehensive Examination ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Unequal Access

This article provides the first comprehensive examination of the phenomenon of unequal access to procedural justice for older victims of crime. It analyses quantitative and qualitative data exploring the interactions of older people with the criminal justice system of Northern Ireland. It identifies that older victims of crime are less likely to have a successful crime outcome (known as ‘detection’ or ‘clear-up’ in other jurisdictions) to their case when compared to other adults. The results provide evidence of a system failing to adequately take into account additional vulnerabilities that disproportionately impact on older victims’ ability to engage with the justice process. There is an analysis of the relationships between vulnerability, resilience and access to justice. The current conceptual understanding of vulnerability as applied to older people within the justice system is challenged. The findings are relevant for researchers and policy-makers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and further afield concerned with the treatment of older and vulnerable victims by the justice system.

“Visible” and “Invisible” Victims in the Criminal Justice System

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Armando Saponaro
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Common Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Prosecutor ◽  
Law System ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Victim Impact Statement

This chapter outlines the “conflict” and “peace-keeping” victim-oriented justice paradigms. The latter empowers the victims of crime, putting them at the center of an encounter and using interindividual mediation or collective circles to address conflict resolution. Two models are critically discussed in the conflict victim-oriented justice paradigm. The European continental “visible victim” model structures the role of the victim as a full-fledged processual party together with the public prosecutor and offender. In this model, the victim has the same rights and powers of the defendant. The “invisible victim” common law model views the victim as a trial witness, participating, for example, through a victim impact statement (in the United States) or victim personal statement (in the United Kingdom) at the sentencing stage. The visible victim conflict paradigm model enhances a victim's role and involvement in the criminal justice system, offering a solution to existing controversial and critical common law system issues.

scholarly journals Victims of crime

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khắc Hải Nguyễn
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Fair Treatment ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Core Issues

Research clarifies basic issues related to victims of crime as a social and legal phenomenon. Study gives definition of victims of crime, analyses victimization and its causes developed rely on theories as lifestyle model, routine activity approach and opportunity. Besides, the article studies international standard and the rights of victims like access to justice and fair treatment, restitution, compensation, and assistance. The role of victims of crime in criminal justice system and government’s responsibility are also core issues mentioned in the research. 

Victim Participation in Parole Proceedings in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
South African ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Prison Inmate ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
The Right

South African law provides for circumstances in which victims of crime may participate in the criminal justice system at the investigation, prosecution (trial), sentencing and parole stages. In South Africa, a prison inmate has no right to parole although the courts have held that they have a right to be considered for parole. In some cases, the victims of crime have a right to make submissions to the Parole Board about whether the offender should be released on parole. Section 299A of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 provides for the right of victims of crime to participate in parole proceedings. The purpose of this article is to discuss section 299A and illustrate ways in which victims of crime participate in the parole process. The author also recommends ways in which victims’ rights in section 299A of the Criminal Procedure Act could be strengthened.

Contemporary Developments Relating to the Inviolability of Mission Premises

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan E Falconi Puig
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
National Security ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Domestic Legislation

This chapter addresses some of the controversial issues relating to the inviolability of mission premises. The Yvonne Fletcher incident of 1984 led to debates about the need to upgrade or reform the VCDR in that regard; and the United Kingdom, as a direct consequence of the incident, adopted the ‘Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987’ to be able to adopt unilateral measures to remove premises immunity where threats to national security, to public integrity and/or the need of urban planning exist. Domestic legislation of this kind, however, also provides ground for conflicts with the VCDR. This chapter explores conflicts between property immunity and issues such as access to justice, human rights, and terrorism and examines ways of overcoming such difficulties through mechanisms which safeguard diplomatic privileges and immunity to allow the pursuit of diplomatic functions.

scholarly journals From Norms to Facts: The Realization of Rights in Common and Civil Private Law

2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Dedek
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Deep Structure ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Common ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
The Ideal

Every legal system that ties judicial decision making to a body of preconceived norms has to face the tension between the normative formulation of the ideal and its approximation in social reality. In the parlance of the common law, it is, more concretely, the remedy that bridges the gap between the ideal and the real, or, rather, between norms and facts. In the common law world—particularly in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth—a lively discourse has developed around the question of how rights relate to remedies. To the civilian legal scholar—used to thinking within a framework that strictly categorizes terms like substance and procedure, subjective right, action, and execution—the concept of remedy remains a mystery. The lack of “remedy” in the vocabulary of the civil law is more than just a matter of attaching different labels to functional equivalents, it is the expression of a different way of thinking about law. Only if a legal system is capable of satisfactorily transposing the abstract discourse of the law into social reality does the legal machinery fulfill its purpose: due to the pivotal importance of this translational process, the way it is cast in legal concepts thus allows for an insight into the deep structure of a legal culture, and, convergence notwithstanding, the remaining epistemological differences between the legal traditions of the West. A mixed jurisdiction must reflect upon these differences in order to understand its own condition and to define its future course.

Racializing Mercy: Capital Punishment and Race in Twentieth-Century England and Wales

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 883-910
Author(s):  
Lizzie Seal ◽  
Alexa Neale
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Racial Difference ◽  
Institutional Racism ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Men Of Color ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
To Receive

Fifty-seven men of color were sentenced to death by the courts of England and Wales in the twentieth century and were less likely to receive mercy than white contemporaries. Though shocking, the data is perhaps unsurprising considering institutional racism and unequal access to justice widely highlighted by criminologists since the 1970s. We find discourses of racial difference were frequently mobilized tactically in nineteenth- and twentieth-century England and Wales: to support arguments for mercy and attempt to save prisoners from the gallows. Scholars have identified historically and culturally contingent narratives traditionally deployed to speak to notions of lesser culpability. These mercy narratives reveal contemporary ideals and attitudes to gender or class. This article is original in identifying strategic mercy narratives told in twentieth-century England and Wales that called on contemporary tropes about defendants' race. The narratives and cases we explore suggest contemporary racism in the criminal justice system of England and Wales has a longer history than previously acknowledged.

scholarly journals Doctors’ maintenance of professional competence: a qualitative study informed by the theory of planned behaviour

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anél Wiese ◽  
Emer Galvin ◽  
Janet O’Farrell ◽  
Jantze Cotter ◽  
Deirdre Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Theory Of Planned Behaviour ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Planned Behaviour ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Meaningful Engagement

Abstract Background Medical regulators worldwide have implemented programmes of maintenance of professional competence (MPC) to ensure that doctors, throughout their careers, are up to date and fit to practice. The introduction of MPC required doctors to adopt a range of new behaviours. Despite high enrolment rates on these programmes, it remains uncertain whether doctors engage in the process because they perceive benefits like improvements in their practice and professional development or if they solely meet the requirements to retain medical registration. In this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between doctors’ beliefs, intention and behaviour regarding MPC through the lens of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to make explicit the factors that drive meaningful engagement with the process. Methods We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. From a pool of 1258 potential participants, we purposively selected doctors from multiple specialities, age groups, and locations across Ireland. We used thematic analysis, and the TPB informed the analytic coding process. Results Forty-one doctors participated in the study. The data analysis revealed doctors’ intention and behaviour and the factors that shape their engagement with MPC. We found that attitudes and beliefs about the benefits and impact of MPC mediated the nature of doctors’ engagement with the process. Some participants perceived positive changes in practice and other gains from participating in MPC, which facilitated committed engagement with the process. Others believed MPC was unfair, unnecessary, and lacking any benefit, which negatively influenced their intention and behaviour, and that was demonstrated by formalistic engagement with the process. Although participants with positive and negative attitudes shared perceptions about barriers to participation, such perceptions did not over-ride strongly positive beliefs about the benefits of MPC. While the requirements of the regulator strongly motivated doctors to participate in MPC, beliefs about patient expectations appear to have had less impact on intention and behaviour. Conclusions The findings of this study broaden our understanding of the determinants of doctors’ intention and behaviour regarding MPC, which offers a basis for designing targeted interventions. While the barriers to engagement with MPC resonate with previous research findings, our findings challenge critical assumptions about enhancing doctors’ engagement with the process. Overall, our results suggest that focused policy initiatives aimed at strengthening the factors that underpin the intention and behaviour related to committed engagement with MPC are warranted.

scholarly journals Auditors, Underwriters, and Firm Owners’ Interaction in an IPO Environment: The Case of OECD Nations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6281
Author(s):  
Sheela Sundarasen ◽  
Kamilah Kamaludin ◽  
Izani Ibrahim ◽  
Usha Rajagopalan ◽  
Nevi Danila
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Firm Owners ◽  
The Relationship

This study explores the effects of interactions among key stakeholders, i.e., auditors, underwriters, and firm owners on IPOs’ first-day returns in selected OECD nations. It also examines the alteration effects of legal origin (Common law and Civil law) on the relationship between the interacted key stakeholders and IPOs’ first-day returns. A total of four thousand one hundred and sixty-four IPOs from twenty-eight OECD nations are included in this study. Since it is cross-sectional data, a two-stage least square regression is applied. The empirical outcomes indicate that, in general, the interacted reputable underwriters and auditors have a positive impact on IPOs’ first-day return. The relationship is modified between common law and civil law nations, whereby in civil law nations, no significance is demonstrated except for the interaction between the reputable auditors and underwriters. In the common law nation, interactions between reputable auditors and ownership retention have an impact on IPOs’ first-day return. The research findings provide outlooks into an IPO framework for issuers, investors, and regulators. Issuers may want to weigh carefully the costs and benefits of hiring credible auditors and underwriters when going public as they act as signaling agents. As for the investors, they should take into consideration the involvement of reputable underwriters and auditors and the degree to which the IPO firms retain ownership, as the interactive effects give clear signals on firm valuation and IPOs’ first-day returns. Regulators may find the findings informative concerning the creation of a more organized regulatory and financial system that could lead to a deeper and more open financial market.

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