Qualification of child sexting, sextorsion and online grooming

Some characteristics of actus reus of Art. 3011 and of Art. 1561 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are analyzed. The characteristics of sexting and sextorsion, the subject matter of which is child pornography, and online grooming are revealed. If the participant in the child sexting is an adult who received from the child through a means of communication its image in a sexually explicit manner, his actions must be assessed as the production of child pornography (part 3 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code) and its storage (part 1 or 2 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code depending on the absence or presence of the purpose of selling or distribution). In this case, the adult participant in the sexting uses a child who photographs or shoots himself in a sexually explicit manner as a «tool» for the production of child pornography. If the participant in the child sexting is a minor (who has reached the age of 16), the responsibility for such acts arises only if he has the purpose of selling or distribution child pornography. If an adult participant in sexting has the purpose to obtain an image of a child in a sexually explicit manner and then threatens to sell or distribute it in order to obtain new such images, then there is a sextorsion that should be qualified as the production of child pornography (part 3 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code), the storage of child pornography with the purpose of selling or distribution (part 2 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code) and forcing a minor under-18s or under-14s to participate in the creation of child pornography (part 3 or 4 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code). If the purpose of the sextorsion is to meet with the child online or in real life to commit any sexual or lewd acts with him or to involve the child in the production of child pornography, such sextorsion should be qualified as the production of child pornography (part 3 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code), the storage of child pornography with the purpose of selling or distribution (part 2 of Art. 3011 of the Criminal Code) and depending on the stage of the sextorsion: or as preparation for harassment of a child for sexual purposes, or as an attempt to commit a criminal offense, or as a completed harassment (Art. 1561 of the Criminal Code). Building a trusting relationship by adult with a child on the Internet for a future meeting with the purpose to committing any sexual or lewd acts against him or involving him in the production of child pornography constitutes online grooming and should qualify as preparation for harassment of a child for sexual purposes. Key words: child pornography, sexting, sextorsion, online grooming.

PROBLEMS OF APPLYING OBJECTIVE SIGNS OF THE CORPUS DELICTI PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 242 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The article comments on the criminal legislation of Russia, which provides for liability for the illegal production and trafficking of pornographic materials or objects and the practice of its application. Recently, illegal production and trafficking of pornographic materials and objects (Obscene Publications), as a type of criminal activity, have acquired a qualitatively new look. It can be explained by the trend towards an annual increase in registered IT crimes (committed using information and telecommunications networks (including Internet)). The use of such means significantly complicates law enforcement, primarily in connection with the criminal legal assessment and qualification of such acts. In article there are analyzes the objective features (actus reus) of the corpus delicti that determines the basis of criminal liability for the illegal production and trafficking of pornographic materials or objects. One of the problematic situations, according to the authors, is considered, related to the practice of applying Article 242 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The authors' conclusions are based on the analysis of the provisions of the current criminal legislation of the Russian Federation and the practice of its application. The rules of international treaties were considered, as well as the practice of applying the rules of civil and administrative law, including those related to the concepts of “publicity” and “indefinite range of persons”, were considered.

Nuremberg Revisited in Burma? An Assessment of the Potential Liability of Transnational Corporations and Their Officials in Burma under International Criminal Law

<p>This dissertation focuses on the role played by officials of transnational corporations and transnational corporations themselves in the situation in Burma. The main aim of this dissertation is to assess the liability of officials of transnational corporations in Burma and transnational corporations in Burma for crimes against humanity such as slave labour and for war crimes such as plunder under International Criminal Law. However at present transnational corporations cannot be prosecuted under International Criminal Law as the International Criminal Court only has jurisdiction to try natural persons and not legal persons. In doing this analysis the theory of complicity, actus reus of aiding and abetting and the mens rea of aiding and abetting in relation to officials of transnational corporations will be explored and analysed to assess the liability of these officials in Burma. In doing this analysis the jurisprudence of inter alia the Nuremberg cases, the cases decided by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will be used. This dissertation also examines the problems associated with suing or prosecuting transnational corporations due to the legal personality of transnational corporations and the structure of transnational corporations. At the end of the dissertation some recommendations are made so as to enable transnational corporations to be more transparent and accountable under the law.</p>

Nuremberg Revisited in Burma? An Assessment of the Potential Liability of Transnational Corporations and Their Officials in Burma under International Criminal Law

<p>This dissertation focuses on the role played by officials of transnational corporations and transnational corporations themselves in the situation in Burma. The main aim of this dissertation is to assess the liability of officials of transnational corporations in Burma and transnational corporations in Burma for crimes against humanity such as slave labour and for war crimes such as plunder under International Criminal Law. However at present transnational corporations cannot be prosecuted under International Criminal Law as the International Criminal Court only has jurisdiction to try natural persons and not legal persons. In doing this analysis the theory of complicity, actus reus of aiding and abetting and the mens rea of aiding and abetting in relation to officials of transnational corporations will be explored and analysed to assess the liability of these officials in Burma. In doing this analysis the jurisprudence of inter alia the Nuremberg cases, the cases decided by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will be used. This dissertation also examines the problems associated with suing or prosecuting transnational corporations due to the legal personality of transnational corporations and the structure of transnational corporations. At the end of the dissertation some recommendations are made so as to enable transnational corporations to be more transparent and accountable under the law.</p>

The Concepts of Aggressive Information Impact through the Lens of Internet Users’ Worldview Security

This article is devoted to the forensic analysis of the factors (cyberthreats) determining a negative information impact on recipients’ worldview in the Internet environment (changes in values, emotional perceptions, and expressions of will, etc.). Findings are founded on the concepts of deviant and delinquent speech behavior, the authors also outline definitions of criminogenic, aggressive, destructive, harmful, conflictogenic, and discrediting (defamatory) information and define the semantic field ‘destructiveness of information impact’. The research is based on an interdisciplinary legal and linguistic approach and uses methodology of information law (cyberlaw) and forensic speech science (forensic linguistics) for integral examination of aggressive information products (that are threatening worldview security of Internet communication) in several ways: 1) as speech actions related to law violations (verbal components that reflect actus reus of crimes, administrative offences, and civil torts); 2) as a result of communication activity; 3) as a source of forensically valuable information. The article covers such worldview security threats as defamation; libel; insult; propaganda of drugs, pornography, gambling, violence and cruelty, murder, autodestructiveness (including suicide), extremism (including terrorism); cyberbullicide; cybersuicide; cybergrooming; sexting; sex blackmail; doxing; outing; faking; astroturfing; cybertrolling; flaming; cyberbullying; cybermobbing; harassment; impersonation; exclusion (ostracism); stigmatization; cyberstalking; threats; hating; ‘happy slapping’, etc. The authors formulated the list of offenses, entailing the commitment of criminogenic and conflictogenic speech actions (in accordance with the current Russian civil, administrative and criminal legislation), as well as the list of types of information prohibited or restricted in distribution as harmful to the health and development of children (according to the current Russian legislation) are of urgent applied significance

Richhpal Singh Meena v. Ghasi: Past Eclipse of India’s Substantive Criminal Law in Contemporary Operation

The Indian Supreme Court’s verdict in Richhpal Singh Meena v. Ghasi is a marked peripeteia in the legal position on the applicability of offences under the two sub-chapters of Chapter XVI of the IPC in the heads of sections dealing with ‘Offences Affecting Life’ and ‘Hurt’. In essence, this ruling declared that scenarios that end with death of the victim will mandatorily have to be only covered by the sub-chapter ‘Offences Affecting Life’, making ‘actus reus of fatal results’ the determinant for choosing the offence for which the accused is to be convicted. After providing a factual frame of reference, this paper recapitulates the key elements of the Court’s reasoning in arriving at this principle. The main thrust of the paper lies in its analysis of the Court’s faulty neologisms and legally inconsistent alterations in the yardsticks that govern which cases fall under either of the two heads. This paper argues that the Court’s ratio decidendi and the principles it has evolved represent nothing short of insouciance towards decades of clarificatory precedent and that they are ex facie since Richhpal’s ruling engenders injustice in situations where the intention is to only cause hurt, but death results regardless of the intention transpired. As a judgment made in 2014, this ruling continues to breed iniquitous convictions even to this day. It is this examination of the judgment’s myopia for the past and its eclipse on the present delivery of justice that represents the central thesis of this paper.