COUNTERACTING MOBBING IN THE PROBATION SERVICE

This article discusses the issues related to the possible causes of mobbing in the professional group of probation officers and the issues of tasks and activities of the probation officer employer in situations related to the phenomenon of mobbing in the probation officer service. Due to the special position of probation in the administration of justice, the author focuses on the tasks of presidents of regional and district courts aimed at counteracting the phenomenon of mobbing. It refers to activities that seem advisable in the event of the initiation of appropriate proceedings and remedial actions in the event of confirmation of mobbing. The issue of mobbing in the probation service has not been covered by a broader analysis so far. The aim of this study was to indicate the tasks incumbent on the presidents of courts as persons performing the tasks of the employer towards the probation officer, related to counteracting the phenomenon of mobbing. It cannot be ruled out that the variety and specificity of tasks entrusted to probation officers, the nature of these tasks and the structure of the location of this group in the structure of the judiciary may cause doubts as to the implementation of tasks related to counteracting mobbing.

Statistical Analysis on Dowry Cases in India

It has been seen from the last decade that the misuse of un-exempted provisions of dowry law been increasing and in result the other party is facing the world with great loss. A long delayed case of dowry has been pending in district courts just due to clashes of hard provisions of law and lack of evidences. Even just after the complaint a woman can claim and complaint of other additional things as a right of wife like maintenance which leads to makeable financial burden on man irrespective of his financial and social position. Women use the weapons called Section 498A and Dowry Act to file a false complaint so as to attack their husband. Section 498A of Indian Penal Code is a provision under which a husband, his parents, and relatives can be booked for subjecting a woman to cruelty to meet their unlawful demands (dowry). Generally, the husband, his parents, and relatives are immediately arrested without sufficient investigation and put behind bars on non-bailable terms. The NCRB’s ‘Crime in India’ report categorizes crimes various heads of the IPC. If one looks at the respective conviction rates of all the categories, cases registered under Sec 498-A (Cruelty by Husband & Relatives) have one of the lowest conviction rates. In 9 out of these 10 years, the conviction rate of Sec 498-A cases was in the bottom three. This study concentrates on the effects of misuse of dowry law on man which has always been neglected. In India the trial courts are just filling their duty by giving dates of hearing and due to this delay the husband and his family members are paying which deteriorates their life without any fault. This research aims to count the loss of man and his family on monitory and social term specially the cases pending long before the trial courts.

Company Ownership Structure, Legal Compliance and the Probability of Winning an Employment Lawsuit in China

This paper investigates empirically whether firm ownership structures contribute to varying levels of legal compliance, which ultimately influence the likelihood of winning a lawsuit. I hypothesize that private companies are more likely to lose employment lawsuits because the rule of law within the company is rarely established. Using collected 2756 employment judgments decided by district courts in Beijing between 2014 and 2018, I test this hypothesis against three other types of ownership structures in China: state-owned enterprises, wholly foreign-funded companies, and partly foreign-funded companies. The statistical result confirms that private companies are more likely to lose cases, thus supporting the proposed hypothesis. In addition, the company’s scale and the company’s life span also have a significant influence on the employment lawsuit result.

Economics of Criminal Proceedings in View of Procedural Principles

This article was written as part of the Costs of a Criminal Trial in View of an Economic Analysis of Law research project. Part one contains deliberations on the impact of economic factors on the regulations concerning the criminal procedure. One needs to answer the question of whether such factors should be considered as affecting the principles on the basis of which the model of the criminal trial is being developed and whether there are any solutions that have been introduced specifically because of the profit and loss account related to the prosecution of a perpetrator. Part two focuses on the fundamental results and the conclusions of empirical studies carried out with respect to the expenses incurred by the State Treasury in criminal proceedings, considering the expenses incurred in serious cases, i.e., those examined in the first instance by regional courts, and in minor cases, which in the first instance are handled by district courts. Results and Conclusions: The article points out three fundamental factors determining the amount of the expenses, i.e., the fact of the accused being imprisoned during the proceedings, the use of scientific evidence (opinions produced by expert witnesses), and the participation of a public defender remunerated by the State Treasury.

ON THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL ORIGINS OF THE PROSECUTOR's OFFICE OF UDMURTIA: PROSECUTOR'S OFFICES IN VYATKA PROVINCE IN XIX - EARLY XX CENT

The article deals with the problem of the emergence and formation of prosecutor's offices in Glazovsky, Sarapulsky, Yelabuga and Malmyzhsky uyezds of Vyatka province, which later formed the territorial basis of the Udmurt Republic. The relevance of the issue is connected both with its poorly studied nature and with the continuing dubious practice of considering 1922 as the starting point in the history of the Udmurt prosecutor's office. The purpose of the article is an attempt of historical reconstruction of the organizational and legal origins and subsequent development of the prosecutor's offices in these uyezds, and also the justification of the establishment in 1874 of prosecutorial supervision bodies at the district courts in Vyatka and Sarapul as the starting point in the history under consideration. In the process of research, a wide range of general scientific and historical-legal methods were applied, based on a dialectical approach and using pre-revolutionary sources, including archival materials. The author substantiates the idea that the prosecutor's office long before the revolution of 1917 was an important element of the system of regional state-legal management, and the Soviet Prosecutor's Office of the 1920s emerged as an updated institution, restored on the basis of extensive pre-revolutionary experience and with the assistance of old specialists.

Sentencing consistency in the New Zealand District Courts

<p>This thesis examines the consistency of sentencing between the circuits of the New Zealand District Courts. Four predictions based on a sequence or chain of theories incorporating the concept of bounded rationality from decision making theory, the influence of formal and substantive rationalities on sentencing decisions, court community theory, and personal construct psychology were tested. The circuit in which sentencing took place was expected to affect the likelihood of incarceration and to affect the length of incarceration. If these predictions were met, it was further predicted that the weight applied to some or all of the sentencing factors would vary between circuits. It is understood to be the first study controlling for a wide range of sentencing factors examining the consistency of sentencing between locations in New Zealand and one of the first from anywhere outside of the United States. The four predictions were tested using sentencing data from the two years 2008-2009 for three high volume offences (aggravated drink driving, male assaults female and burglary). Sentencing was treated as a two part decision process, with the selection of a sentence type followed by the determination of the sentence amount. Each prediction was separately modelled for each offence. Different types of model were chosen as being more suitable for the specific predictions: logistic regression for the likelihood of incarceration; linear regression for the length of incarceration; multi-level generalised linear regression with random co-efficients to determine if the weight applied to specific factors varied by circuit in the determination of whether or not to incarcerate; and multi-level linear regression with random co-efficients to determine if the weight applied to specific factors varied by circuit in the determination of sentence length. The logistic regression and linear regression models demonstrated that there were statistically significant and substantively significant differences between circuits in the likelihood and length of incarceration. The extent of inconsistency varied by offence type with the most marked differences occurring for aggravated drink driving and burglary. Offence seriousness and criminal history factors were found to be the principal influences on both sentence decisions for all three offences. The multi-level models for aggravated drink driving and burglary revealed a core of seriousness and criminal history factors whose influence varied across the circuits. The models for male assaults female were less informative, highlighting the likelihood that these models were limited by the omission of key sentencing variables and the narrow scope of this particular assault type within the wider spectrum of assaults. The findings should not be interpreted as if they are a critique of the sentence imposed in any individual case or of the sentencing by any judge or in any circuit. It is a critique of sentencing guidance in New Zealand and its ability to achieve a fundamental tenet of justice: the similar treatment of similar offenders being sentenced in similar circumstances. In addition to testing the predictions the multi-level models were extended to address whether the observed variation in sentencing was associated with variations in circuit context. Due to the limited number of circuits (17) and multi-collinearity between the contextual variables, bivariate analyses had to be employed. The modelling revealed a consistent difference between provincial and metropolitan circuits; the two categories of circuit were distinguished from one another by many of the other more specific variables that had a significant association with sentencing approaches. The provincial circuits were more likely to incarcerate and to impose longer sentences. However, the small number of circuits and multi-collinearity between the variables precluded more detailed analysis to identify which of the contextual variables distinguishing metropolitan and provincial circuits had the greatest influence. These findings have significant implications for the judiciary and for sentencing policy makers. Urgent attention should be given to addressing opportunities to increase the availability of sentencing guidance to reduce the degree of inconsistency. More detailed offence based sentencing guidance is required; in the current context there are two options that could be used. The Court of Appeal could issue a broader range of guideline judgments or the legislation for the Sentencing Council and the process for developing and promulgating guidelines could be implemented. For logistical and public policy reasons the Sentencing Council approach is preferred. There is a risk that failure to address the levels of inconsistency will result in the sentencing system falling into disrepute.</p>

Sentencing consistency in the New Zealand District Courts

<p>This thesis examines the consistency of sentencing between the circuits of the New Zealand District Courts. Four predictions based on a sequence or chain of theories incorporating the concept of bounded rationality from decision making theory, the influence of formal and substantive rationalities on sentencing decisions, court community theory, and personal construct psychology were tested. The circuit in which sentencing took place was expected to affect the likelihood of incarceration and to affect the length of incarceration. If these predictions were met, it was further predicted that the weight applied to some or all of the sentencing factors would vary between circuits. It is understood to be the first study controlling for a wide range of sentencing factors examining the consistency of sentencing between locations in New Zealand and one of the first from anywhere outside of the United States. The four predictions were tested using sentencing data from the two years 2008-2009 for three high volume offences (aggravated drink driving, male assaults female and burglary). Sentencing was treated as a two part decision process, with the selection of a sentence type followed by the determination of the sentence amount. Each prediction was separately modelled for each offence. Different types of model were chosen as being more suitable for the specific predictions: logistic regression for the likelihood of incarceration; linear regression for the length of incarceration; multi-level generalised linear regression with random co-efficients to determine if the weight applied to specific factors varied by circuit in the determination of whether or not to incarcerate; and multi-level linear regression with random co-efficients to determine if the weight applied to specific factors varied by circuit in the determination of sentence length. The logistic regression and linear regression models demonstrated that there were statistically significant and substantively significant differences between circuits in the likelihood and length of incarceration. The extent of inconsistency varied by offence type with the most marked differences occurring for aggravated drink driving and burglary. Offence seriousness and criminal history factors were found to be the principal influences on both sentence decisions for all three offences. The multi-level models for aggravated drink driving and burglary revealed a core of seriousness and criminal history factors whose influence varied across the circuits. The models for male assaults female were less informative, highlighting the likelihood that these models were limited by the omission of key sentencing variables and the narrow scope of this particular assault type within the wider spectrum of assaults. The findings should not be interpreted as if they are a critique of the sentence imposed in any individual case or of the sentencing by any judge or in any circuit. It is a critique of sentencing guidance in New Zealand and its ability to achieve a fundamental tenet of justice: the similar treatment of similar offenders being sentenced in similar circumstances. In addition to testing the predictions the multi-level models were extended to address whether the observed variation in sentencing was associated with variations in circuit context. Due to the limited number of circuits (17) and multi-collinearity between the contextual variables, bivariate analyses had to be employed. The modelling revealed a consistent difference between provincial and metropolitan circuits; the two categories of circuit were distinguished from one another by many of the other more specific variables that had a significant association with sentencing approaches. The provincial circuits were more likely to incarcerate and to impose longer sentences. However, the small number of circuits and multi-collinearity between the variables precluded more detailed analysis to identify which of the contextual variables distinguishing metropolitan and provincial circuits had the greatest influence. These findings have significant implications for the judiciary and for sentencing policy makers. Urgent attention should be given to addressing opportunities to increase the availability of sentencing guidance to reduce the degree of inconsistency. More detailed offence based sentencing guidance is required; in the current context there are two options that could be used. The Court of Appeal could issue a broader range of guideline judgments or the legislation for the Sentencing Council and the process for developing and promulgating guidelines could be implemented. For logistical and public policy reasons the Sentencing Council approach is preferred. There is a risk that failure to address the levels of inconsistency will result in the sentencing system falling into disrepute.</p>

Psychiatric court reports and diversion outcomes in a remand prison over three years

Objectives: There has been a notable increase in requests for psychiatric reports from District Courts for persons remanded to Ireland’s main remand prison, Cloverhill. We aimed to identify if reports were prepared for persons with severe mental illness and if they led to therapeutic benefits such as diversion to healthcare. Measures of equitability between Cloverhill and other District Courts were explored. Methods: For District Court-requested reports completed by the Prison Inreach and Court Liaison Service (PICLS) at Cloverhill Prison from 2015 to 2017, we recorded clinical variables and therapeutic outcomes such as diversion to inpatient psychiatric settings. Results: Of 236 cases, over half were diverted to inpatient or outpatient psychiatric care. One-third of remand episodes were admitted to a psychiatric hospital, mainly in non-forensic settings. Nearly two-thirds had major mental illness, mainly schizophrenia and related conditions. Almost half had active psychosis. Cases in Cloverhill District Court and other District Courts were similarly likely to have active psychosis (47% overall) and hospital admission (33% overall). Voluntary reports were more likely to identify active psychosis, with over 90% diverted to inpatient or outpatient community treatment settings. Conclusions: This is the first large scale study of diversion outcomes following requests for psychiatric advice from District Courts in Ireland. Requests were mainly appropriate. Over half led to diversion from the criminal justice system to healthcare settings. There is a need for a complementary network of diversion initiatives at every stage of the criminal justice system to effectively divert mentally ill individuals to appropriate settings at the earliest possible stage.

Pendidikan Profesi dan Pengabdian Masyarakat di Indonesia

This paper presents for the first time the results of research related to the professional training of judges. The research method presented in this paper is a case study. Thirty-one judges, in the City and District Courts, were included to obtain various perspectives through interviews. The results of the study show that the influence of training can shape judicial interpretations of justice. We found that trainee judges studied the three most important forms of justice: legal justice, moral justice, and social justice. Judges will also learn from the training that judges will be asked to harmonize various dimensions of justice in the context of public service.