THE MINORS IN PENAL SYSTEMS IN SELECTED COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Author(s):  
Sylwia Gwoździewicz

In foreign jurisdictions, various models of responsibility for juvenile offenses are adopted. In many countries, like Poland, entirely separate regulations in this field are adopted (England and Wales, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden). In other countries like (Slovakia, Belarus, Estonia, Greece to 2003, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine), there are specific rules of responsibility of minors included in criminal codes and codes of criminal proceedings. Different solutions in this regard are partly due to the different traditions of legal systems, and partly due to various axiomatic justifications formulated in these matters. Review of legislation on minority in selected European countries: Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic shows that in terms of the approach to the problem of minority in all legal systems, specific interaction of children and young people who come into conflict with the criminal law are included, as well as those that show signs of corruption, making their proper personal and social development threatened. Adoption of selected concepts of minors legislation, however, does not mean more or less severe approach to the liability of minors.Both discussed issues the theoretical and practical ones, are the subject of the deliberations beneath, their structure includes: <br/>1. Problems of minors in the European countries <br/>2. Minors in Polish criminal justice system <br/>3. Minors’ responsibility in Slovakian criminal justice system <br/> 4. Czech criminal justice system in relation to a minor

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 107-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi

Private prosecutions are one of the ways through which crime victims in many European countries participate in the criminal justice system. However, there seems to be a reluctance at the Council of Europe level to strengthen a victim’s right to institute a private prosecution. In a 1985 Recommendation, the Committee of Ministers stated that ‘[t]he victim should have the right to ask for a review by a competent authority of a decision not to prosecute, or the right to institute private proceeding.’ Later in 2000 in the Recommendation Rec (2000)19 on the role of public prosecution in the criminal justice system, the Committee of Ministers calls upon Member States to ‘authorise’ victims to institute private prosecutions. Directive 2012/29/eu of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 is silent on private prosecutions. The dg Justice Guidance Document related to the transposition and implementation of Directive 2012/29/eu of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 discourages private prosecutions. However, private prosecutions take part in many European countries. It is thus important to highlight some of the issues that have emerged from different European countries on the issue of private prosecutions. Case law from the European Court of Human Rights shows that private prosecutions take place in many European countries. This article, based on case law of the European Court of Human Rights, highlights the following issues with regards to private prosecutions: the right to institute a private prosecution; who may institute a private prosecution? private prosecution after state declines to prosecute; state intervention in a private prosecution; and private prosecution as a domestic remedy which has to be exhausted before a victim of crime approaches the European Court of Human Rights. The author argues that there is a need to recognise the right to private prosecution at the European Union level.


Author(s):  
Sophy Baird

Children are afforded a number of protections when they encounter the criminal justice system. The need for special protection stems from the vulnerable position children occupy in society. When children form part of the criminal justice system, either by being an offender, victim, or witness, they may be subjected to harm. To mitigate against the potential harm that may be caused, our law provides that criminal proceedings involving children should not be open to the public, subject to the discretion of the court. This protection naturally seems at odds with the principle of open justice. However, the courts have reconciled the limitation with the legal purpose it serves. For all the protection and the lengths that the law goes to protect the identity of children in this regard, it appears there is an unofficial timer dictating when this protection should end. The media have been at the forefront of this conundrum to the extent that they believe that once a child (offender, victim, or witness) turns 18 years old, they are free to reveal the child's identity. This belief, grounded in the right to freedom of expression and the principle of open justice, is at odds with the principle of child's best interests, right to dignity and the right to privacy. It also stares incredulously in the face of the aims of the Child Justice Act and the principles of restorative justice. Measured against the detrimental psychological effects experienced by child victims, witnesses, and offenders, this article aims to critically analyse the legal and practical implications of revealing the identity of child victims, witnesses, and offenders after they turn 18 years old.


2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Vogel

This article discusses the concept of the integrated European criminal justice system and its constitutional framework (as it stands now and as laid down in the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe signed in Rome on 29 October 2004). It argues that European integration does not stop short of criminal justice. Integration does not mean that Member States and their legal systems, including their criminal justice systems, are being abolished or centralised or unified. Rather, they are being integrated through co-operation, co-ordination and harmonisation; centralisation, respectively unification, is a means of integration only in specific sectors such as the protection of the European Communities' financial interests. The article further argues that the integrated European criminal justice system is in need of a constitutional framework. The present framework suffers from major deficiencies. However, the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe will introduce a far better, all in all satisfactory, ‘criminal law constitution’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kovalova Svitlana ◽  

The article analyzes the feasibility of introducing the institution of criminal offense. The focus is on reforming the criminal justice system. It was found out that one of the directions of reforming the criminal justice of Ukraine is the introduction of the institute of criminal misdemeanor in the criminal legislation. According to the results of the study, different approaches to the expediency of establishing liability for misconduct in the criminal legislation of Ukraine have been identified. It is reasonable that changing the understanding of the concept of crime and the criteria for its evaluation is not an easy path, but in today's conditions the introduction of criminal offenses is a progressive, timely and unalterable step, as no scientific developments can solve law enforcement problems. Keywords: criminal proceedings, institute of criminal offense, crime, reforming, criminal legislation, Concept of reforms, criminal justice


Author(s):  
V. I. Przhilenskiy ◽  
I. B. Przhilenskaya

The interaction of individuals, structures and collectives in the course of digitalization of the criminal process is analyzed. The goals of various participants in the process of introducing digital technologies into criminal proceedings are considered. It is concluded that it is necessary to timely identify all the stakeholders of digitalization and other actors involved in this process, the thesis is substantiated that it is expedient to take into account and agree on strategies in order to give consistency, predictability and controllability to the digitalization process of the criminal procedural sphere of law enforcement. Thus, the readiness of the criminal justice system for the planned and actually ongoing digitalization is being tested.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ton Liefaard

Child-friendly justice has its focus on on the effective participation of children in justice systems. During the past decade the concept, grounded in international children’s rights, has become meaningful for justice systems in Europe and beyond. Despite its flaws and gaps, it has the potential of making justice systems more accessible for children, including the (juvenile) criminal justice system with its particular complexity. However, in order to understand its true potential more research is needed. This article elaborates on the concept of child-friendly justice and sheds light on a research agenda around its core elements.  


Author(s):  
Thomas L. Hafemeister

High-profile cases have drawn considerable attention to society’s ongoing struggle with how to approach and manage cases involving criminal offenders with a mental disorder. In these cases questions arise whether it is fair and just a) to conduct criminal proceedings while a defendant is experiencing a mental disorder and b) to hold individuals who were experiencing a mental disorder at the time of the crime fully accountable for their actions and punish them accordingly. What, if any, special rules and procedures should be employed? No set of issues poses a greater challenge to the criminal justice system than how to respond to individuals whose criminal actions can be attributed to a mental disorder or are experiencing a mental disorder during the course of their trial. Indeed, these cases illuminate who we are as a society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-267
Author(s):  
Ludmila Ribeiro ◽  
Alexandre M. A. Diniz

The flow of homicide cases in Brazil can be described as a funnel, as numerous events are reported to the police but only a few are convicted. This article aims to identify the variables influencing time to clearance and time to conviction for murder cases in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) by examining a sample of police investigations (uncleared cases) and criminal proceedings (cleared cases) closed between 2003 and 2013. Using Cox proportional hazard model, we found that time to clearance is affected by crime attributes and police procedures although time to conviction is affected only by arrest in flagrante delicto.


Russian judge ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 62-64
Author(s):  
Elena V. Selina ◽  

Once again, it is time to talk about moral principles. This concept is clearly established in the law. But its content-content remains in the circle of discrepancies. The countdown of its history is usually considered when referring to the essay by A.F. Kony ‘Moral principles in criminal proceedings (General features of judicial ethics)’. This article is based on the author’s previous research, which showed that the idea of moral principles as a corresponding category was suggested by A.F. Kony and F.M. Dostoevsky. The article is devoted to the further goal-to extract the missing (according to the essay by A.F. Kony) information about moral principles from the artistic and publicistic works of F.M. Dostoevsky. The works of F.M. Dostoevsky are considered from the point of view of searching for the mechanism of the criminal justice system taking into account the moral principles. A.F. Kony’s essay on moral principles is filled with the history of the criminal process, and only a small part of it has become considered as a mission statement and widely.


Author(s):  
Adrian Keane ◽  
Paul McKeown

This chapter discusses the circumstances in which relevant evidence can be excluded, as a matter of law or discretion, on the grounds that it was obtained illegally, improperly, or unfairly. The principles for exclusion of evidence are considered, and exclusion in both civil and criminal cases discussed. In respect of civil cases, discretionary exclusion under the civil procedure rules is discussed. In respect of criminal cases, discretionary exclusion at common law and under statute is discussed. The chapter also considers the circumstances in which criminal proceedings should be stayed as an abuse of the court’s process, where a trial would undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system and bring it into disrepute.


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