Forensic Linguistics function in Evidentiary and Investigative Contexts

Recently, forensic linguistics has been an arena of significance in many fields of study especially in judicial systems, legal and forensic matters, investigation, and open-source intelligence across the globe. The term typically refers to legal and professional analysis of recorded or written language by experts (forensic linguists) to provide expert and correct interpretation. It is particularly used in legal matters especially in the court and criminal justice systems. In the court system, forensic linguistics is heavily applied to examine language evidence – either recorded in voice or handwritten in civil matters or crimes. The analysis or examination is carried out for two major reasons. First, the analysis is utilized when relevant investigations are carried out with a focus to help in identifying witnesses or suspects in specific cases or scenes, or the determination of the significance of writing or utterance to a case. Secondly, forensic linguistics plays a pivotal role when written or spoken language samples are presented to a court as evidence. In such contexts, forensic linguists provide expert testimonies of correct interpretation of the samples. As such, language analysis is significant in any judicial matters and systems provided the questionable language constitutes crimes. In most cases, crimes such as threats, hate speech, bribery, hate literature, coercion among others necessitate the use of a linguist expert for correct and most importantly professional interpretation. Evidently, the concept of forensic linguistics is ascribed to provide the truth from recorded speeches or voices and written languages in the face of a crime or relevant legal investigation matters. This paper will posit on the different ways and methods that forensic linguistics is applied to investigate and provide professional interpretation of recorded and written languages in evidentiary and investigative contexts.

The Sentence is Only the Beginning: Hiccups in the Cross-Border Execution of Judgments in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine

The cross-border execution of judgments remains difficult in practice for European Member States. This article seeks to analyze why this may be the case with regard to four different modalities of sentences: (1) prison sentences and other measures involving deprivation of liberty, (2) conditional sentences and alternative measures, (3) financial penalties and (4) confiscation orders. Based on a comparative analysis, this article investigates the problems at stake regarding the cross-border execution of judgements in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands and identifies possible causes and explanations for these. The analysis shows that impediments to cooperation may inter alia stem from differences in national law and diverging national sentencing practices and cultures and may furthermore be related to a lack of possibilities for cooperation in the preliminary phase of a transfer. Moreover, some obstacles to cooperation may be country-specific and self-made, due to specific choices and approaches of national criminal justice systems.

He Whakamāramatanga mo te Taihara: A Cultural-Ecological Perspective of Agency and Offending Behaviour

<p>This thesis aims to outline the important role of culture in the development of the human mind and behaviour, and therefore argues that cultural information is a key part of forensic explanation. Differing cultural experiences, such as marginalisation, contribute to the differential representation of individuals and groups in criminal justice systems. Although there are multiple means through which this occurs, this thesis focuses on the role of the individual agentic process, nested within a historically-derived cultural context. Building on previous theoretical work, a preliminary model – the Cultural-Ecological Predictive Agency Model – is presented that might better assist comprehensive explanation of offending behaviour with reference to cultural processes and concepts. The model is then applied to an exemplar, compared to current approaches to rehabilitation and desistance, and some implications for forensic practice are suggested. The overall goal of this thesis is to explicate the potential cultural impacts on individuals who commit offences, and examine some of the causes of offending beyond ‘faulty individual psychology’.</p>

He Whakamāramatanga mo te Taihara: A Cultural-Ecological Perspective of Agency and Offending Behaviour

<p>This thesis aims to outline the important role of culture in the development of the human mind and behaviour, and therefore argues that cultural information is a key part of forensic explanation. Differing cultural experiences, such as marginalisation, contribute to the differential representation of individuals and groups in criminal justice systems. Although there are multiple means through which this occurs, this thesis focuses on the role of the individual agentic process, nested within a historically-derived cultural context. Building on previous theoretical work, a preliminary model – the Cultural-Ecological Predictive Agency Model – is presented that might better assist comprehensive explanation of offending behaviour with reference to cultural processes and concepts. The model is then applied to an exemplar, compared to current approaches to rehabilitation and desistance, and some implications for forensic practice are suggested. The overall goal of this thesis is to explicate the potential cultural impacts on individuals who commit offences, and examine some of the causes of offending beyond ‘faulty individual psychology’.</p>

Participatory Theater as Fieldwork in Chinese Prisons: A Research Note

This methodological reflection is based on the author's own experience taking part in participatory theater projects in mainland Chinese prisons over the past 5 years. This article demonstrates how the author's participation in prison theater projects secured otherwise unattainable research access by forming collaborations with various organizations. Participatory theater workshops also offered the space for sustaining long-term rapport. This research note discusses why trusting relationships are the most important guarantee to obtaining valid data in Chinese prison research. The findings contribute to understanding methodological challenges and innovations of conducting fieldwork in criminal justice systems with no formal research access channels.

International legal standards of organization and functioning of the prosecutor's office

The article considers the basic international legal standards of organization and functioning of the prosecutor’s office. It was determined that the prosecutor’s office, outside of criminal proceedings, began to play the role of ancillary appointments, while public authorities and local governments were given the right to go to court independently. It is noted that Ukraine is a party to the Statute and a member of the Council of Europe, and therefore has undertaken to recognize the principles of the rule of law and the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms (Article 3 of the Statute), is able and willing to fulfill such obligations 4 of the Statute). It is pointed out that the modernization of the constitutional and legal status of the prosecutor’s office is taking place in connection with the existence of a number of obligations of the Ukrainian state to the Council of Europe. Attention is drawn to the key acts of the international level, which relate to the organization and functioning of the prosecutor’s office, identified their main provisions in the context of the analysis. The expediency of optimal division of competence between the prosecutor (as an administrative agent of the executive or legislative power) and the judiciary is supported. It is pointed out that Europe is developing more and more, citizens are mobile, as a result of which different legal systems are inevitably affected, and therefore it is strategically important to achieve harmonization of criminal justice systems of Council of Europe members. Such harmonization is useful given the feasibility of maintaining the effectiveness of criminal justice systems in the light of the challenges of international organized crime. It is established that the reform of the constitutional and legal status of the prosecutor’s office in Ukraine in accordance with the commitments made to the Council of Europe should begin with a gradual solution of a set of issues of compliance of the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office with international standards. It is emphasized that in the Ukrainian state the prosecutor’s office occupies an important place in the system of public authorities, as its activities absorb two ambivalent components that implicitly complement each other - ensuring law and order.

Development of criminal jurisdiction of the European Union

The criminal jurisdictions of the European Community and subsequently the European Union began to develop as subsidiary competencies aimed at protecting economic and industry policies established by the founding treaties. Their development has pointed to the necessity of using forced measures for the preventing abuse and countering criminal activities in the area of the customs union and the common market. This paper presents the gradual transfer of limited criminal jurisdictions from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and communitarian law into the contractual competences of the European Union with an explicit legal basis after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Using the teleological method, the method of the content analysis (of the legal norms) and the comparative method the paper emphasizes examples of using criminal jurisdictions within the framework of communitarian law, the delimitation of competencies between the EU and the EC, and the changes made by the Treaty of Lisbon in relation to the EU Treaty of Amsterdam. Amendments to the founding treaties have set the foundations for developing criminal jurisdictions into the supranational criminal law that through its norms would supplement national criminal justice systems in the areas of substantive criminal law and the law of criminal procedure.