Money Laundering and Tax Crimes in Spain: Doctrine and Jurisprudence

As regulated in Spanish law, money laundering requires a prior illicit activity that has generated the assets that are the subject of laundering. One of the subjects that has been deeply discussed in recent years by certain doctrinal sectors, even with support in various jurisprudential rulings, has been the suitability of crimes against the Public Treasury, especially tax fraud, as the prior offence underlying money laundering. Thus, it has been debated whether the tax offender carrying out one of the activities typified in the Criminal Code (acquiring, possessing, using, converting or transmitting assets) automatically commits a type of money laundering. In that case, it would become an automatic and inevitable consequence of the tax crime itself. If, on the contrary, some other component must be required (essentially through the subjective elements of the unjust) to determine the existence of a second crime, that of money laundering, the prohibition of non-bis in idem confronts us, to a greater or lesser extent. Furthermore, doctrinal approaches and some judgements of the Spanish highest courts have generated a reinterpretation of the criminal law that fits badly with the principles of criminality. Nor is it easy to delineate the assets that are the object of the tax offence that may be subject to laundering, since, by definition, they are assets that were originally in possession of the offending subject and, besides, they are pecuniary obligations. To that extent, the presumption of innocence could, in many cases, determine the exoneration of the suspect.

Drug Policy in India: An Analysis

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, or NDPS Act, was enacted to control addictive drugs and prohibit their possession, dispersion, sale, import, and trade in India. Psychotropic agents have the potential to change an individual’s consciousness, while narcotic drugs relieve anxiety. The Indian Parliament passed the NDPS Act on November 14, 1985. Nonetheless, these types of drugs are important in the practice of medicine. Consequently, the Act contains provisions for the cultivation of cannabis, poppy, and coca seeds and the production of certain psychotropic medicines used for medical purposes. The Act’s primary objective is to regulate the manufacturing, ownership, selling, and transportation of narcotics and psychotropic drugs. The Act forbids the selling of nearly 200 psychotropic medications, resulting in these drugs being inaccessible over the counter to the general public. These medications are only available for use with a prescription. Violations of this law can result in a sentence of incarceration or a fine, or both, depending on the offense’s severity, which is determined by the severity of the situation at hand. If the drugs are being used for personal benefit, the penalty can be minimized. Furthermore, the legislation has been revised several times since its inception.

Protecting Victims of Terrorism in the Light of Global Criminology: International Experiences and Developments in the Early Third Millennium

The relationship between terrorism and criminology illustrates the global feature of crime. Terrorism is presently at the top of the fields of interest of global criminology. However, the issue of victims of terrorism has been neglected in its research agenda. This article seeks to redefine global criminology and victimology by incorporating that issue into their fields of interest. It attempts to answer key questions like: What is the typical model for protecting the victims of terrorism? How could a more operative and effective system be created for that purpose? The European and the United Nations systems are two models that provide international experiences, developments and efforts. Since they generally form a soft law-based system, the author concludes that a protection-oriented system for victims of terrorism will be more operative and effective when it is transformed into one based on hard law.

Facial Action Coding System Applied to Criminal Investigations: The Analysis of a Homicide Case in Southern Italy

Recent criminal psychology research has raised critical questions about applying non-verbal communication methods for lie detection purposes in forensic settings. Research has shown low correlations between non-verbal communication and deception. However, non-verbal communication methods are still widely applied and suggested by police manuals. Results obtained by experimental and field research are biased by the following factors: (i) attention is given only to quantitative aspects of non-verbal behavior; (ii) there is a lack of research of qualitative aspects related to non-verbal behavior analysis; (iii) lack of connections between non-verbal indicators and verbal content; (iv) lack of attention on timing of non-verbal behavior; (v) most research is performed on psychology students in experimental contexts. This article proposes a new methodology for applying the Facial Action Coding System as investigative support and not as a lie detection method. The Facial Action Coding System will be introduced to integrate with verbal content analysis and a new framework to interpret non-verbal signs discussed. The aid of standardized non-verbal methods will be discussed through an in-depth psychological analysis of a case of homicide perpetrated in 2010 in Southern Italy by discussing a video analysis of the suspects’ statements.

Money Laundering and Deprivation of Illegally Obtained Assets in Brazil: An Overview of the Current National Legislation

The present paper aims to provide a comprehensive yet critical overview of current Brazilian legislation on money-laundering prevention and control. Given that stripping criminals of their illegal profits has for a long time been considered one of the most important measures in the fight against international and organized crime, a part of this paper explores the legal mechanisms that allow for this to take place as a consequence of crime and, especially, in connection with money laundering in the context of the Brazilian criminal justice system.

Money Laundering, Political Corruption and Asset Recovery in the Spanish Criminal Code

This article analyzes the relationship between corruption offenses and money laundering with reference to the Spanish Penal Code. These two criminal categories lack a certain definition, as there is no such univocal concept of “political corruption” and “money laundering.” The reasons for the denaturation of these criminal figures will be addressed. Then, the paper will expose how these criminal figures relate to each other. We argue that a real concurrence between both figures is possible, although it may lead, in certain cases, to double incrimination and its consequent punitive excess. Therefore, we will propose some criteria for a restrictive interpretation of “money laundering” to avoid confusion with other legal figures such as “confiscation.” The paper will end with reference to the Spanish Criminal Code’s regulation on “confiscation” and a brief review of the main critics.

Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Brazilian Justice

Artificial intelligence can bring benefits to legal practice, providing agility and precision. It can allow judicial decisions to be the result of the combination of algorithms, enabling the development of a system based on machine learning. This article seeks to demonstrate the current state of the use of artificial intelligence in the Brazilian justice system with the impact of the development of a deep learning system, merely the result of the automation of textual analyses of legal cases, which now serve as models. Reflection is more than necessary given the ethical issues that can arise in view of the inherent precepts that are usually impregnated in the judicial function. Civil servants, lawyers, prosecutors and judges should be guided by a pertinent regulation of new technologies and reflect on whether judicial decisions would be the result of human thinking or not, in addition to the risk that they can carry when the models are biased, in good or bad faith, due to erroneous classification or misinformation in the system.

The Legal Characterization of Facts During the Red Terror in Ethiopia: Genocide, War Crimes, or Crimes Against Humanity?

Multiple countries have investigated and prosecuted the perpetrators of crimes committed during the Red Terror in Ethiopia. In bringing the perpetrators to account, each country adopted a unique approach, resulting in a variation in the situation’s legal characterization. The charges against the Red Terror perpetrators in the U.S. were based on violations of immigration laws, while the perpetrators in Ethiopia were charged and convicted of the crime of genocide. In contrast, one suspect, who had already been convicted of genocide by the Ethiopian High Court, has recently been convicted of war crimes by the Hague District Court, the Netherlands. The article investigates whether the Red Terror crimes constitute war crimes, genocide, or crimes against humanity. Accordingly, this analysis shows that while countries have used genocide or war crimes when prosecuting crimes perpetrated during the Red Terror, the best fit to the situation’s legal characterization would be crimes against humanity.