scholarly journals Opening a Path towards Sustainable Corporate Behaviour: Public Participation in Criminal Environmental Proceedings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7886
Author(s):  
Pavel Kotlán ◽  
Alena Kozlová ◽  
Zuzana Machová

Establishing criminal liability for environmental offences remains daunting, particularly with regard to the ‘no plaintiff—no judge’ element as a result of which the public seems to be ultimately deprived of the possibility to participate in criminal environmental proceedings. While there is arguably a lack of specific instruments at the European Union (EU) level which would prescribe such legal obligation on the part of the State, there has been a shift in understanding the role of the public and its participation in criminal liability cases, namely under the auspices of the so-called effective investigation and the concept of rights of victims in general. Using the example of the Czech Republic as a point of reference, this article aims to assess the relevant legal developments at both EU and Czech levels to illustrate why the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), essentially acting as public agents, should be granted an active role in environmental criminal proceedings. After examining the applicable legal framework and case law development, the article concludes that effective investigation indeed stands as a valid legal basis for human rights protection which incorporates an entitlement to public participation. Despite that, this pro-active shift is far from being applied in practice, implying that the legislation remains silent where it should be the loudest, and causing unsustainable behaviour of companies.

Author(s):  
Liga Mirlina

Nowadays, many public administrations are facing the low level of public trust in state authorities. It is largely due to public dissatisfaction with the activities of public administration and beliefs that public administration does not serve to the public interest. Participation in decision-making processes is one of the ways to reduce public dissatisfaction and mistrust in public administration. In order to understand the importance of public participation in public administration processes, the aim of the paper is to study trends in the transformation of public administration and society at different stages of the development of the state reform in Latvia and its impact on public trust in public administration. The following methods have been used in the research study: analysis of normative documents, an expert survey with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government representatives, as well as analysis of statistics on the implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the government and NGOs. An analysis of the normative documents adopted by the Latvian government shows that the legal framework provides for wide opportunities for NGO involvement in public administration. The statistical data and opinions of NGOs and public administration experts show that there are a variety of mechanisms for increasing NGOs participation. However, the opportunities for developed participation are not conducive to public trust in the public administration, since in most cases information about the opportunities and results of participation is not reachable to the general public. Thus, it is vitally important to create an optimal model of NGOs and public administration relations for the activation of Latvian society in order to reduce the low participation and public trust in public administration.


Author(s):  
Marten Zwanenburg

Abstract This article discusses the ‘Safe Schools Declaration’ and the ‘Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military use during Armed Conflict’. The latter are set of non-binding guidelines that aim to improve the protection of schools and universities during armed conflict. The former is a political declaration through which States can endorse the Guidelines. The article looks at the drafting process of the two documents, which involved non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations and States. The article argues that the involvement of NGOs can be seen as reflective of a trend in which NGOs are increasingly involved in normative International Humanitarian Law (IHL) development. The role of international organizations was less pronounced, but nevertheless notable because international organizations traditionally do not have an active role in the field of IHL. The article contains an analysis of the Declaration and Guidelines, against the background of the applicable legal framework to the protection of schools and universities during armed conflict. It concludes that the principal focus of the Guidelines is the prevention of the use of schools and universities by armed forces in support of the military effort. IHL does not contain a rule prohibiting such use, but it can have far-reaching negative consequences for education. Other guidelines relate to, inter alia (limitations to), destroying or attacking schools and universities. These guidelines, while sometimes using phraseology from provisions of IHL treaty law, also largely go beyond existing obligations under IHL.


2021 ◽  
pp. 438-451
Author(s):  
A. Kofanov ◽  
N. Pavlovska ◽  
M. Kulyk ◽  
Yu. Tereshchenko ◽  
H. Strilets

The article deals with a number of issues of investigation and prevention of corruption crimes in the field of public administration. The purpose of this paper is to analyze challenges in investigating and preventing corruption crimes in the field of public administration. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that the variety of forms of bribery, its penetration into various spheres of activity: economic, financial, entrepreneurial, educational, requires new ways to prevent and counteract these criminal manifestations, the creation of pragmatic recommendations aimed at improving their prevention and investigation. The study was carried out based on the method of system analysis and generalization of information obtained in the course of the study, questionnaires of different categories of law enforcement officers. They conduct pre-trial investigation of these crimes, as well as reports of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and Forensic Science Institutes of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine for 2016-2019, the legal framework on liability for corruption offenses. The most relevant motives and methods of committing corruption crimes have been analyzed and it has been established that bribery and corruption rank first among economic crimes, and the high level of corruption of state bodies in various spheres of public life contributes to the increase in the number of such crimes. The study found that civil servants through abuse of office, as well as obtaining undue benefits predominantly commit corruption crimes. The ways of improving the forms of combating corruption in public authorities are proposed, which will reduce the level of corruption in the public administration system, in particular, the implementation of measures aimed at enhancing information exchange between non-governmental organizations, the media, the public and local authorities, and public authorities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devrimi Kaya ◽  
Robert J. Kirsch ◽  
Klaus Henselmann

This paper analyzes the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediaries in encouraging the European Union (EU) to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS). Our analysis begins with the 1973 founding of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), and ends with 2002 when the binding EU regulation was approved. We document the many pathways of interaction between European supranational, governmental bodies and the IASC/IASB, as well as important regional NGOs, such as the Union Européenne des Experts Comptables, Économiques et Financiers (UEC), the Groupe d'Etudes des Experts Comptables de la Communauté Économique Européenne (Groupe d'Etudes), and their successor, the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens (FEE). This study investigates, through personal interviews of key individuals involved in making the history of the organizations studied, and an extensive set of primary sources, how NGOs filled key roles in the process of harmonization of international accounting standards.


1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Neil MacFarlane

FOR SOME YEARS NOW, WESTERN ACADEMICS AND POLICY-MAKERS HAVE embraced the cause of democratic reform in Central and Eastern Europe. To take but one well-known example, President Clinton in the 1994 State of the Union Address cited the absence of war among democracies as a reason for promotion of democracy around the world. Assistance to former Warsaw Pact and newly independent states has been made conditional to varying degrees on the acceptance of democratic change. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development and associated non-governmental organizations have unleashed armies of promoters of democracy throughout the region to: observe elections; monitor human rights; draft new constitutions and laws defending civil and political rights; train judges and police personnel; and organize and assist political parties, media and non-governmental pressure groups. In short, they have sought to transplant the fabric of civil society and democratic institutions. These armies have landed on terrain often quite foreign to them and have often displayed little sensitivity to the social, economic and political context in which they are operating. This may have contributed to results other than those intended.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Marlen Vesper-Gräske

There is an undeniable, growing trend in the current Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) discussions: the responsibility of corporations to abide by and to protect human rights. This discussion includes potential criminal liability for corporations as well as their management for human rights violations. This article will survey the legal status quo of corporate responsibility in the context of human rights protection in Germany. It will then outline two drafts of legislation: a first draft leaked to the press in February 2019 that did not result in further legislative action, and a second draft recently leaked to the public that included key points for such a legislation to become the new German Human Rights Supply Chain Due Diligence Law.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Vossen ◽  
Lau Schulpen

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between media frames and public perceptions of global poverty. Building on a frame analysis, the paper reconstructs prevailing poverty narratives in British news articles and non-governmental organizations’ (NGO’s) advertisements between 2011 and 2013. Following this, these narratives are compared with the narratives that emerge from public opinion studies. The findings suggest that there is a strong connection between media frames and public knowledge and perceptions of global poverty. Both the media and the public define poverty in developing countries’ terms of destitute victims, lack of development and bad governance. Both suggest that the causes of poverty are internal to developing countries and imply that there has been little progress in reducing global poverty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-359
Author(s):  
Oleg Onopko ◽  

An important condition for the effective protection and implementation by Russia of its national interests in Ukraine is an understanding of the circle of actors that influence the development of Ukrainian foreign policy. Among them, there are expert institutions that provide analytical and scientific support for foreign policy decisions made by the highest bodies of state power. For- eign policy expertise in Ukraine is a grey area for Russian political science. The article opens a series of publications whose purpose is to solve this problem. It systematizes information about Ukrainian institutes of foreign policy expertise, those whose activities are directly or indirectly financed by the state. It was revealed that during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych (2010– 2014), the public sector suffered significant structural damage, and its consequences have not yet been overcome. Today, Ukrainian public institutions of foreign policy expertise include: the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Institute of World History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and university think tanks. The author considers these organizations through the prism of constructivism and institutionalism — as political structures (institutions) whose activities affect the context of Ukrainian foreign policy and the behavior of its actors. It has been established that their main scientific and applied research interests are related to problems of national, regional and international security, Russian domestic politics, problems of information, as well as military and political confrontation with Russia. All these issues are considered by institutions exclusively through the prism of Euro-Atlanticism and anti-Russian political mythology. Since at least 2014, they have been transmitting ideas hostile to Russia to the Ukrainian political and academic elite. In the same vein, the political socialization of students is carried out, in which university think tanks actively work in close collaboration with state and non-governmental organizations of NATO member countries. Today, the public sector of foreign policy expertise in Ukraine is not in the best condition, but it invariably retains its analytical and scientific potential, as well as its tough anti-Russian position.


Author(s):  
Kateryna Danchenko ◽  
Olga Taran

The purpose of this article is to study the criminal liability of medical professionals in cases of suspension, in accordance with jurisprudence in Ukraine, the European Union and the United States of America (USA). He made the comparative method. According to the investigation, the number of criminal proceedings in Ukraine by the authority and misconduct of medical doctors is about 2% per population, my figure that rises to 30% in Europe and is the stable yes in the US and is 28%. 32%. The main objective of the article is often area identify specializations in the medical office occurs with the mayor based on Ukrainian jurisprudence (data from Ukraine’s only state judicial decision register from 2016 to 2019). In addition, the study analyses the impact of the main influences on the ability of medical professionals for their professional functions. From counting the results show that surgeons, gynecologists, paramedics, and anesthesiologists are the most prone to deviation and medical error. Key proposed criteria have been proposed as medical errors differ from medical writing.


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