A dog and his man

In 1634 the chief judicial officer of Leiden’s strict Counter-Remonstrant government, Willem de Bont, held an extravagant funeral for his pet dog Tyter. News of the event produced a flurry of satirical songs (by the persecuted Remonstrants) and poems (by Vondel and others), castigating the childless Bont for giving his dog a funeral normally reserved for a child of the elite. These satires illuminate aspects of the human-dog relationship amidst the theological-political turmoil of early seventeenth-century Leiden. The popular assumption that the Remonstrants hanged Tyter leads to a study of contemporary criminal prosecution of animals and humans alike, and a look at contradictions in the treatment of Leiden’s dogs. Visually, the serenity of Jan Miense Molenaer’s pendant paintings of the event belie the satires. Ironically, Bont thought of his dog as a fellow human but treated the Leiden Remonstrants like dogs, while many regarded Bont himself as a beast.

The Attorney General, Politics, and the Public Interest. Contributions to an Evolving Constitutional Convention

The prosecutorial independence of the Attorney General (AG) is a firmly established constitutional convention in Canada, but it is also an evolving convention, subject to ongoing contestation and debate. This article is a contribution to that debate. It defends a normative constitutional framework wherein the AG’s authority to make final decisions in matters of criminal prosecution is balanced against a corresponding duty to consult with cabinet and the prime minister on the public interest implications of prosecutorial decisions when the circumstances warrant. Within this normative framework, respectful contestation and debate amongst ministers, the prime minister, and the AG in determining the public interest merits of prosecution is welcomed, even encouraged, and if conducted with the requisite integrity, objectivity, and transparency, it is regarded not as a threat but as a valuable check and balance on AG independence and an indispensable form of quality control on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

The Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) as a financial control body that performs functions to counteract the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime

Restrictive measures related to the coronavirus pandemic have contributed to the spread of new types of crimes committed using «high» technologies in Russia. The risks of the spread of the criminal situation are aggravated against the background of the spread of coronavirus infection. The most important factor in countering high-tech crime is the work of Rosfinmonitoring, which is targeted at identifying suspicious financial transactions. This article presents the results of a study of the activities of Rosfinmonitoring in the direction of countering the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime using «high» technologies. The authors set a goal to formulate the problems and possible options for overcoming them in the context of the activities of Rosfinmonitoring with the designation of further prospects for improving its activities. The primary task is to set up the mechanism of interaction of Rosfinmonitoring with law enforcement agencies engaged in criminal prosecution. The conclusion is made about the urgent need to achieve certainty in the issue of accounting for cryptocurrencies, the limits of their use in the economic sphere. The results of the study can be useful for employees of financial control bodies, law enforcement agencies.

Object of complaints to the investigating judge regarding the judicial control of acts, actions / inactions to the criminal investigation body

The examination of complaints by the investigating judge, filed by the parties to the proceedings and other persons claiming the violation of their rights in criminal proceedings, is an important form of control for detecting and preventing violations of law and errors committed by criminal prosecution bodies and which carries out the operative activity of investigations.

On the problems of application of customary law in the criminal prosecution of persons of small indigenous peoples of the north

The subject of the study is the problems of application of the norms of criminal law stipulating responsibility for environmental crimes against representatives of persons of small indigenous minorities of the North, the essence of which is the conflict between the positive law and the customary law of these peoples. The purpose of the study is to analyze the causes of this conflict, as well as to substantiate the necessity of applying the norms of customary law of indigenous peoples of the North in their criminal prosecution for environmental crimes. As a result of the study, the assumption is made that knowledge of the norms of customary law by law enforcement officials will allow to relieve social tension between the indigenous peoples of the North and the law enforcement agencies. That is why it is necessary to begin work on the formation of a code of customary law, as well as recommendations for its application, which could become a document to be used as a recommendation for law enforcement bodies in their decision-making.

A Stochastic Model of the Repressive-Preventive Impact on Crime: from Intuition to Calculations

The authors analyze the use of new digital technologies for automated collection, analysis and assessment of large volumes of data on crime, its key factors and the effects of crime countraction efforts with the goal of a gradual transition from the intuitive method of crime counteraction to the calculations-based one. The hypothesis of the study is that a continuous multi-source monitoring of quantitative crime indices, factors and the effects of crime counteraction efforts will make it possible not only to optimize budgetary expenditure on fighting crime, but also to find effective solutions for other practical problems of crime counteraction efforts (specifically, problems of evaluating and compensating the inflicted damage, problems of reducing the number of ungrounded changes in criminal, criminal procedure and penitentiary legislation). A specific modern feature of the state policy of combating crime is that digital technologies make it possible to develop and implement a stochastic model of repressive-preventive impact on crime with the use of criminal law, criminal procedure and penitentiary measures. It is suggested that the use of the stochastic model of repressive-preventive impact on crime should be viewed as a necessary condition for the development and adoption of national and regional programs of crime counteraction financed by the federal and regional budgets. The authors believe that the introduction of the stochastic model of the repressive-preventive impact in the practice of crime counteraction should be conducted in several stages. At the first stage, the federal law and the Act of the RF Government shoud determine the conditions of a mid-term experiment on the territories of some subjects of the Russian Federation, which will ensure a continuous monitoring, including the collection, processing and analysis of statistical data, results of population and experts’ surveys on the condition and dynamics of grave and especially grave crime, its factors and the effects of state efforts to counteract such crimes. At the final stage of the introduction of a stochastic model of the repressive-preventive impact on crime in the practice of state governance, the authors suggest creating an automated federal system of multi-source monitoring of indexed crimes (these are the crimes most «sensitive» for achieving the goals of national security and ensuring public order, which require non-stop monitoring), their key factors and the results of counteracting them. Key expected results from the introduction of this stochastic model and a continuous mlti-source monitoring into the practice of crime counteraction should be the optimization of budgetary expenses on criminal prosecution, the reduction of the number of inmates, the reduction of the number of changes introduced into the Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Codes of the Russian Federation.

German Experience of Terminating Criminal Prosecution with the Imposition of Duties and Regulations on the Accused in the Context of the Russian Draft Law on Criminal Offence

The second attempt of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to introduce the concept of a criminal offence into Russian criminal and criminal procedure legislation widens the non-rehabilitating grounds for the termination of a criminal case or prosecution with the imposition of other criminal law measures: it is suggested that, in addition to a court fine, community work and partially paid work should also be introduced. This leads to certain problems, including problems with the presumption of innocence and the observance of the principle of justice. The authors turn to the German experience for a better understanding of the situation. Germany faced similar problems much earlier, when § 153а was introduced in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Federal Republic of Germany (CPC of the FRG); it provided for an opportunity to terminate criminal prosecution for criminal offences on the grounds of expediency with the imposition of duties and regulations on the accused, which are akin to criminal law measures under draft law № 1112019-7. Taking into consideration the theoretical approaches developed in Germany, the practice of the Constitutional Court of the FRG and the Supreme Court of the FRG, the authors examine the goals of introducing § 153а in the CPC of the FRG, the practice of its implementation, as well as the problem of terminating criminal prosecution on the grounds of expediency with the imposition of duties and regulations on the accused connected with the observance of the Constitution of the FRG, the presumption of innocence, the principles of justice, certainty, equality before law; they analyze the controversial legal nature of duties and regulations under § 153а in the CPC of the FRG. According to German criminal procedure law, the termination of criminal prosecution on the grounds of expediency with the imposition of duties and regulations on the accused is a right, and not a duty of the corresponding officers and agencies as it is, in fact, an alternative to criminal prosecution which makes it possible to terminate it at a certain stage when there are all the necessary legal grounds for criminal prosecution.

Criminal Liability of Legal Entities for Environmental Crimes: Problems of Law Enforcement Practice

The aim of the article was to conduct a comparative legal analysis of the features and problems of criminal prosecution of legal entities for environmental crimes. The research objectives were fulfilled through modern methods of cognition. The leading practical method was the method of observation. The study allowed to form a conceptual understanding of theoretical ideas about environmental crimes of legal entities in Ukraine. Currently, Ukraine is trying to focus in its legislative innovations on the implementation of progressive approaches to the introduction of a comprehensive institution of criminal law measures regarding the liability of these entities. Relevant legal mechanisms and comments identified in the practice of the European Union and substantiated by scholars, can be implemented in the legislation of Ukraine. Amendments to the rules governing the procedure for effective prevention of environmental crimes by legal entities are proposed. It seems reasonable to introduce an active monitoring analysis of anthropogenic activities of companies, and the creation of special units to identify relevant violations. The mechanisms for implementing the set of preventive and monitoring measures outlined in the article, set the background for further scientific research.

Specific Tactics of Obtaining Criminalistically Significant Information at the Initial Stage of Investigating Thefts of Oil and Petroleum Products During Their Storage and Transportation

Under the current legislation, the investigator is responsible for investigating and solving all cases in progress. A high-quality comprehensive investigation of criminal cases connected with theft of oil and petroleum products makes it possible to fulfil these duties successfully. The establishment of the guilt of a person in the process of proving during the investigation of theft of oil and petroleum products, which belong to the category of grave crimes, presents certain difficulties connected with the specific features of such crimes. If a tactically correct sequence of investigative actions is chosen at the initial stage of investigation, the investigator may get a considerable amount of relevant criminalistic information, that will further make it possible to achieve the goal of the investigation in the form of criminal prosecution against the guilty person. The author examines some specific features of the tactics of investigative actions at the initial stage of investigating thefts of oil and petroleum products during their storage and transportation at the fuel and energy enterprises. The author also presents recommendations on improving the tactics of investigative actions in the investigation of thefts of oil and petroleum products.

The institution of suspicion and the initial stage of the criminal process: interrelated prospects of development

The article considers the question of the interdependence of the improvement of the institution of suspicion and the transformation of the initial stage of the Russian criminal process. The article highlights the problem of the legislative limitation of the period of the procedural status of a person as a suspect in the event of a criminal case being initiated not against him, but upon the commission of a crime and insufficient evidence of the involvement/non-involvement of such a person in a criminal offence committed at the initial stage of the investigation, which often does not allow avoiding unreasonable restrictions on the constitutional rights and freedoms of this participant in criminal proceedings. The relevant experience of some post-Soviet states that followed the path of a radical change in the criminal procedure model after the collapse of the USSR is analysed. The article compares the provisions of the criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic directly related to the institution of suspicion, including the moment of triggering criminal prosecution and the duration of a suspect’s keeping the specified procedural status. The arguments given in the article substantiate the need to reform the initial moment of the emergence of the procedural status of a suspect in Russian criminal proceedings and the associated expediency of abolishing the stage of initiation of a criminal case in order to increase the guarantee of the rights and legitimate interests of the person introduced into the procedural status we are analysing.