Role-induced bias in criminal prosecutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Egli Anthonioz ◽  
Mark Schweizer ◽  
Joëlle Vuille ◽  
André Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Trial Court ◽  
Swiss Cantons

There are two main models of criminal prosecution in the western world. One tasks an independent magistrate (the examining judge) with the duty of conducting the investigation of a given case and transferring all evidence collected to the parties and the trial court. The other vests the prosecution with the task of conducting the investigation before representing the accusation in court. In 2011, a new code of criminal procedure entered into force in Switzerland, forcing most Swiss cantons to transition from the first model to the second. We investigate whether the change in the person conducting the investigation (from examining judge to prosecutor) could introduce or exacerbate bias against or in favor of the defendant. Through an empirical study carried out with students, we tried to determine whether this change might affect the fairness of the proceedings. We contend that the rights of the defense are better safeguarded in the first model than in the second, even if the contrast is not as stark as was initially predicted.

scholarly journals Referral to the Court After the Completion of Criminal Prosecution

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31
Author(s):  
Fănică Cercel
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Guilty Plea ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
Natural Person ◽  
Current Code

Abstract After the criminal prosecution is completed, the indictment is the act of referring the court (not the inculpation, as in the previous regulation, the prosecutor’s ordinance being the only procedural act in this respect), and when it also includes, in its contents, solutions for closing or waiving the prosecution, the court is not also referred for the judgment of those, even if they were described in the presentation of the case and are related to the deed brought before the court for judgment. This act of indictment is issued by the prosecutor only if he is convinced that three conditions are met cumulatively – the deed exists, it was committed by the defendant and he is criminally liable – otherwise, he has a solution of non-adjudication or can appreciate on the opportunity to abandon criminal prosecution. As a novelty in the current Code of Criminal Procedure, the Guilty Plea/Agreement on the Recognition of Guilt is an exception to the principles of truth and legality, being adopted in our judicial system for pragmatic reasons, being similar as an institution to that of other criminal procedural systems on the continent. The guilty party is the prosecutor and the defendant, the latter being both a natural person and a legal person, as procedural rules do not differ in this respect. The interpretation of Article 478 par. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code: “the defendant and the prosecutor may conclude an agreement” implies that neither of the two holders will be compelled to enter into an agreement initiated by the other.

Extending the Private Prosecution Provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 to Cover Private Prosecution in the Public Interest

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phindile Raymond Msaule
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Section 8 ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

Criminal prosecution is generally the preserve of the state. However, there are legislated exceptions that allow for private prosecution. For example, section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 entitles individuals who satisfy certain criteria to prosecute in their own names. Section 8 of the Act, on the other hand, provides for statutory private prosecution. Statutory private prosecutions are limited to certain bodies and certain types of offences. In this article, it is submitted that private prosecution must be extended beyond the realm of sections 7 and 8 of the Act or the currently statutory sanctioned private prosecution. It is contended that section 7 of the Act must be amended to include the prosecution of corruption and related offences, on the one hand, and money laundering and related offences, on the other, in the public interest. It is submitted that there are safeguards to avoid private prosecution being abused. Furthermore, the allowance of private prosecution in the private interest would not impinge on the status of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as the constitutional body mandated to institute prosecutions on behalf of the state. This is because a prospective private prosecutor may institute proceedings only in the event that the NPA declines to prosecute or on the basis of unreasonable delay on the part of the NPA to institute prosecutions.

Indonesian Literature’s Position in World Literature

TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dina Amelia
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Literature ◽  
Western World ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Voice

There are two most inevitable issues on national literature, in this case Indonesian literature. First is the translation and the second is the standard of world literature. Can one speak for the other as a representative? Why is this representation matter? Does translation embody the voice of the represented? Without translation Indonesian literature cannot gain its recognition in world literature, yet, translation conveys the voice of other. In the case of production, publication, or distribution of Indonesian Literature to the world, translation works can be very beneficial. The position of Indonesian literature is as a part of world literature. The concept that the Western world should be the one who represent the subaltern can be overcome as long as the subaltern performs as the active speaker. If the subaltern remains silent then it means it allows the “representation” by the Western.

Re-contextualizing the Framework of Scene for the Empirical Study of Post-institutional Religious Spaces in Practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Marcus Moberg ◽  
Tommy Ramstedt
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Actual Practice ◽  
Western World ◽  
General Decline

Following the continuing general decline of institutional religion across the Western world, scholars have increasingly turned their attention to the emergence of various types of, less conventionally organized, post-institutional forms of religion. Post-institutional religious spaces have, however, often proven difficult to pin down and grasp empirically through already available frameworks and concepts. This article aims to provide an impetus for further methodological discussion on the empirical study of post-institutional religious spaces through re-contextualizing the framework of scene for the study of post-institutional religious spaces in actual practice. The article outlines and explicates the methodological utility of the framework of scene through applying it on a particular geographically located post-institutional religious space: the present-day so-called “fringe-knowledge” scene in Finland.

Clinical Use of Toxic Proteins and Peptides from Tian Hua Fen and Scorpion Venom

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-295
Author(s):  
Chen Ling ◽  
Yuanhui Zhang ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Wenli Chen ◽  
Changquan Ling
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Scorpion Venom ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western World ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Clinical Use ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Proteins And Peptides ◽  
Toxic Proteins

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been practiced in China for thousands of years. As a complementary and alternative treatment, herbal medicines that are frequently used in the TCM are the most accepted in the Western world. However, animal materials, which are equally important in the TCM practice, are not well-known in other countries. On the other hand, the Chinese doctors had documented the toxic profiles of hundreds of animals and plants thousand years ago. Furthermore, they saw the potential benefits of these materials and used their toxic properties to treat a wide variety of diseases, such as heavy pain and cancer. Since the 50s of the last century, efforts of the Chinese government and societies to modernize TCM have achieved tremendous scientific results in both laboratory and clinic. A number of toxic proteins have been isolated and their functions identified. Although most of the literature was written in Chinese, this review provide a summary, in English, regarding our knowledge of the clinical use of the toxic proteins isolated from a plant, Tian Hua Fen, and an animal, scorpion, both of which are famous toxic prescriptions in TCM.

The Influence of the Established Links between University Courses on the Quality of Teaching

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Jiří Rybička ◽  
Petra Čačková
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Quality Of Teaching ◽  
Education Courses ◽  
Initial Knowledge

One of the tools to determine the recommended order of the courses to be taught is to set the prerequisites, that is, the conditions that have to be fulfilled before commencing the study of the course. The recommended sequence of courses is to follow logical links between their logical units, as the basic aim is to provide students with a coherent system according to the Comenius' principle of continuity. Declared continuity may, on the other hand, create organizational complications when passing through the study, as failure to complete one course may result in a whole sequence of forced deviations from the recommended curriculum and ultimately in the extension of the study period. This empirical study deals with the quantitative evaluation of the influence of the level of initial knowledge given by the previous study on the overall results in a certain follow-up course. In this evaluation, data were obtained that may slightly change the approach to determining prerequisites for higher education courses.

scholarly journals Evangelical and Catholic Timespace in Work: An Argument against a Homeless Eschatology

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Maria Ledstam
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
The Other ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Business As Mission ◽  
Achievable Goal ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

This article engages with how religion and economy relate to each other in faith-based businesses. It also elaborates on a recurrent idea in theological literature that reflections on different visions of time can advance theological analyses of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. More specifically, this article brings results from an ethnographic study of two faith-based businesses into conversation with the ethicist Luke Bretherton’s presentation of different understandings of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. Using Theodore Schatzki’s theory of timespace, the article examines how time and space are constituted in two small faith-based businesses that are part of the two networks Business as Mission (evangelical) and Economy of Communion (catholic) and how the different timespaces affect the religious-economic configurations in the two cases and with what moral implications. The overall findings suggest that the timespace in the Catholic business was characterized by struggling caused by a tension between certain ideals on how religion and economy should relate to each other on the one hand and how the practice evolved on the other hand. Furthermore, the timespace in the evangelical business was characterized by confidence, caused by the business having a rather distinct and achievable goal when it came to how they wanted to be different and how religion should relate to economy. There are, however, nuances and important resemblances between the cases that cannot be explained by the businesses’ confessional and theological affiliations. Rather, there seems to be something about the phenomenon of tension-filled and confident faith-based businesses that causes a drive in the practices towards the common good. After mapping the results of the empirical study, I discuss some contributions that I argue this study brings to Bretherton’s presentation of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism.

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