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The purpose of this paper is to cover the theoretical component of the mediation mechanism, to determine its place in the criminal procedure, as well as to conduct a comparative analysis based on the practices of its functioning in various countries, namely the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, France. The theoretical methodological approach, the formal legal methodological approach, the dogmatic methodological approach, the method of legal hermeneutics and others were used to conduct this study. The results of the study showed that at this stage the institution of mediation is quite young, but it is a fairly effective way of alternative dispute resolution; the study analysed the world practices of advanced states in the functioning of mediation, as well as their legislative norms that regulate this institution, considering the specific features of each of the legal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify the main international standards for the application of the principle of independence in the judicial process and the specifics of its implementation in Ukraine. The main methods used for scientific cognition included analysis and synthesis, formal-logical, historical-formal, induction and deduction, specification and generalisation, comparison. The study identified the principal international standards for the implementation of the principle of independence of participants in criminal proceedings, including judges and prosecutors, which include proper legal regulation of the status of judges and prosecutors, direct prohibition of influence from other branches of power. The study found certain differences between the independence of judges and prosecutors, which include the following features: the independence of a judge means being subject to the law and impartiality in relation to any party to the trial, while a prosecutor cannot be independent in this sense, since they represent the prosecution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Derecho Penal y Criminologia is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia, Departamento de Derecho Penal y Criminologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Derecho Penal y Criminologia is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia, Departamento de Derecho Penal y Criminologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Belügyi Szemle / Academic Journal of Internal Affairs is the property of Ministry of Interior of Hungary and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper aims to identify impediments, discuss impediments and make recommendations for the impediments during the execution of a search and seizure warrant for digital evidence in South African criminal cases. Design/methodology/approach: The discussion of this article, the second article of two, focuses on a literature review of international and local impediments identified in case law and published research literature and how it is approached in various jurisdictions. Findings: This study found that impediments identified and addressed internationally during the execution of a search and seizure warrant for digital evidence are relevant to South African criminal cases and still need to be addressed during the execution of a search and seizure warrant for digital evidence in South African criminal cases. Research limitations/implications: Although searches and seizures for digital evidence are relevant to civil, regulatory and criminal investigations, this study focuses on the search and seizure for digital evidence in criminal matters with an emphasis on the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 and the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the procedures followed during the physical search and seizure of digital information during the execution of search and seizure warrants for digital information in South Africa. If the South African Police Service follows the recommended procedures, it will contribute to the success of the South African Police Service, which would result in the improved quality of investigations and successful prosecution of crime in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is a continuation of the presentation of some practical hypotheses for sending the criminal cases for retrial in consideration of the principle of the double degree of jurisdiction in criminal matters, as they were retained in the relevant jurisprudence consulted, in this matter. Thus, the following main situations are analyzed: the omission of the court to rule on some claims (other than those concerning the civil action) or applications, raised even ex officio, possibly following the omission of the correct (re)qualification of the object of the application in law; the wrong admission by the first court of the defendant's application for trial in the simplified procedure of the recognition of guilt or the absence of the judicial investigation in general; the non-compliance with the provisions of Article 406 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the drafting of the decision at the time of the pronouncement, following the Decision of the Constitutional Court of Romania No 233/2021; the existence of some irreconcilable contradictions between different parts of the judgment or its pronouncement prior to the finalization of the procedural phase of the preliminary chamber; the non-inclusion in the case of some interested persons, in order to ensure the opposability of the jurisdictional act; the settlement of the case in the absence of the file or in the absence of any means of evidence subsequently referred to in the considerations of the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting with July 2023 up until 1st of January 2024, a series of legislative changes were adopted regarding the Romanian Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, as well as other laws, bringing changes to the entire criminal investigation process as a result. The changes come as a consequence of numerous events that have propagated a strong social impact at the level of Romanian society in the recent period, but they also result from the need for criminal investigative bodies to keep pace with crime development, in all its forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been established that the participation of the people in the administration of justice on Ukrainian lands during their time within the Russian and Austrian Empires is a complex topic for research. To date, questions related to the mechanisms of public participation in the judiciary, particularly the functioning of the jury system, the election of justices of the peace, and the influence of public opinion on judicial processes, remain insufficiently studied. The lack of detailed analysis of these aspects in doctrinal sources complicates the understanding of the overall picture of the legal culture of that time. It is noted that Ukrainian lands were part of the Russian and Austrian Empires from the late 18th to the early 20th century, and the judiciary during this period differed from the judicial system of previous eras. In many respects, this was an era of centralized and imperial governance. It has been observed that public participation in the administration of justice during this period is seen through the activities of justices of the peace, approved by the governor, who were the lowest tier of the judicial system. The appointment of justices of the peace ensured a certain level of control and compliance with the requirements of the state administration. On Ukrainian lands, justices of the peace handled criminal and civil cases in rural and urban communities from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It has been emphasized that later, an important form of public participation in the administration of justice became the jury system (in district courts), which began functioning in 1864 according to the Judicial Statutes. It has been highlighted that the Austrian Empire introduced its own specifics into the legal system of Western Ukraine, establishing the structure of courts, the competence of judges, judicial procedures, and other aspects of judicial activity. This legal framework reflected the imperial norms and standards of justice that existed in the territories under its control. Therefore, judges in Western Ukrainian lands performed their duties according to Austrian legislation, which included norms regarding their status, powers, procedures for conducting court sessions, and the resolution of cases. Within the Austrian Empire, the jury system was introduced in 1867. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After gaining independence, Ukraine took an active pro-European position, also in the development of legislation. Turning to the historical aspects of the development of the legal system of our state, we know that it belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal family, which determines the fact that domestic legislation has a number of common features with European legal systems, namely: among the main sources of law - normative - legal act, codification of legislation. Studies of foreign law were carried out by a number of scientists, however, the specifics of secret investigative (research) actions in the context of a comparative analysis of foreign and domestic experience require a more thorough study. The article analyzed the main features of the organization and conduct of undercover investigative (search) actions in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Federal Republic of Germany. Having studied the separate provisions of the Federal Criminal Code of Germany, we can note that the main functions during the investigation, including secret measures, are assigned to the prosecutor and the court, while the Criminal Code of Ukraine clearly defines the authorities that carry out pre-trial investigations, the first of which is the National Police of Ukraine, and the prosecutor's office, as a body of pre-trial investigation, is absent. At the same time, the authorized person who can make a decision on the NSRD is the investigator, who has the right to apply to the investigating judge with a request, approved by the prosecutor, for permission to conduct secret investigative (search) actions and the prosecutor. Thus, as a result of a comparative analysis of certain secret measures under the Federal Criminal Code of Germany and the NSDR under the Criminal Code of Ukraine, we found that the procedure for their implementation in Germany is not detailed, unlike domestic legislation, in addition, among the features that deserve attention, we can highlight in the paragraphs of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Federal Republic of Germany on specific crimes, in the course of the investigation of which the legislator allows one or another secret measure to be carried out, in the Ukrainian criminal procedural law, such an approach is absent, in Art. 246 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine states only that NSRD may be conducted during the investigation of serious or particularly serious crimes. We think it expedient to consider such specification for implementation in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine in order to prevent possible abuses in obtaining information that goes beyond the scope of the investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the definition of the concept and system of criminal prosecution remedies. The author emphasizes that the issue of the concept and system of criminal prosecution remedies remains highly controversial and requires further research and substantiation. It is stated that the implementation of activities related to exposing a person and establishing his/her involvement in a criminal offense does not depend on the availability of any procedural status. The author points out that imperfection of the regulatory framework for the system of criminal prosecution creates risks of violation of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a person who is exposed. It is noted that the system of criminal prosecution means is much broader and should include all procedural actions (interim measures) aimed at obtaining evidentiary information regarding a person's involvement in a criminal offense. Undoubtedly, investigative (search) actions are the main means of collecting evidence, but other procedural actions also lead to the receipt of incriminating evidence. The author substantiates the criteria which determine whether a relevant procedural action (interim measures) belongs to the means of criminal prosecution. Firstly, it is necessary to take into account the focus of such measures which are aimed at obtaining information about a criminal offense. Secondly, means of criminal prosecution regulated and (or) not prohibited by the norms of the criminal procedural law should not lead to the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which may be significant or insignificant. Thirdly, under the general permissive type of legal regulation, criminal prosecution may be used that is not expressly prohibited by the rules of procedural law, but is legitimate in view of the absence of a risk of human rights restriction. At the same time, the specially permissive type of legal regulation of criminal prosecution means provides for the implementation of procedural activities only in the manner expressly permitted by the criminal procedural legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the issue of the prosecutor ensuring the legality of the grounds and conditions for stopping the pre-trial investigation. Problematic issues have been analyzed and ways to solve them have been proposed regarding the practical application of legislation regulating the suspension of pre-trial investigation. It has been established that, in general, the prosecutor's enforcement of legality during the suspension of the pre-trial investigation is manifested in the verification of the legality of the grounds and conditions of such suspension. It was established that the main legal consequence of the decision to stop the pre-trial investigation is the interruption of the calculation of the terms of the pre-trial investigation. It was concluded that the prosecutor's ensuring the legality of the grounds for stopping the pre-trial investigation is related to ensuring the principle of reasonableness of terms in the criminal process. It has been established that during the suspension of the pre-trial investigation, its actual term of two months specified by law can be significantly «stretched», which can lead to the violation of the right to a fair trial in terms of the violation of the right to a reasonable period of proceedings, as well as to the loss of the effectiveness of criminal proceedings. It was noted that the implementation of procedural actions and the use of measures to support investigators and inquirers during the suspension of the pre-trial investigation contradict the implementation of the principle of legality, and indicate the groundlessness of the suspension of the pre-trial investigation. Attention has been drawn to the fact that in the case of carrying out the specified actions and measures during the suspended proceedings, the defense party, in particular the suspect, during this period lose the opportunity to fully exercise their criminal procedural rights, that is, they cannot fully exercise their defense. It is proposed to supplement the national criminal procedural legislation with the rule that during the suspension of the pre-trial investigation after notification of the suspect, it is prohibited to carry out not only investigative (search) actions, but also measures to ensure criminal proceedings and other procedural actions aimed at demanding and obtaining evidence, i.e. all procedural methods of exposing the person who was notified of the suspicion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the praxeological aspect of the variability of proving domestic violence. The authors used a graphical method to visualize examples of variability in the combination of forms of violence, the use of sources of evidence, compliance with and violation of the non bis in idem principle, and the status of a child during domestic violence. It is concluded that domestic violence always consists of at least three episodes of violence, which may consist of physical, psychological, economic violence, or a combination of two or three of these forms at the same time. Based on the practice of the Supreme Court, it has been established that domestic violence is proved by various pieces of evidence. The preliminary facts of domestic violence may be reflected in various sources of evidence, including documents (administrative protocol, court order, restraining order, criminal proceedings, etc.) It is noted that the initiation of criminal proceedings on the fact of domestic violence under Article 126-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not have to be preceded by two cases of bringing a person to administrative liability under parts of Article 173-2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In cases where there are no previous appeals to law enforcement agencies or courts, audio and video recordings, screenshots and other evidence may be used to prove the systematic nature of domestic violence, which must meet the requirements of the CPC of Ukraine for evidence. The authors emphasize that simultaneously bringing a person to administrative and criminal liability for the same episode of domestic violence is a violation of the non bis in idem principle. Therefore, a person may be held criminally liable under Art. 126-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine if there is one (the last) or more episodes of violence for which the person has not previously been held administratively liable. The commission by a person of criminal offenses provided for in parts of the articles (articles) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and domestic violence is not a violation of the non bis in idem principle. It is noted that a child who has witnessed domestic violence is always a victim of this offense. The draft law on harmonization of the provisions of the CPC of Ukraine with the Istanbul Convention on the involvement of a child as a victim from the moment of entering information into the URPTI was approved, as a child who witnessed domestic violence suffers moral damage. A child who witnessed domestic violence and is not related to the persons between whom the domestic violence occurred is not a victim of domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author determines that the imperative instruction of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine provided for in Part 2 of Article 8 and Part 5 of Article 9 relating to the application of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, in certain cases, has necessitated a rethinking of the understanding of certain principles of criminal proceedings both individually and in their interconnection with each other, as well as in the compilation with the Court's case law. This is due not only to the use of autonomous definitions by the European Court of Human Rights, but also to the differences in criminal procedural systems, the peculiarities of professional translation of judgments and many other factors. In this article, the author analyzed the current criminal procedure legislation, decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and scientific articles. Based on the analysis, the author concludes that the main feature of the implementation of the principle of competitiveness of the parts and freedom to present their evidence to the court and to prove their convincing nature in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights is that it is considered a fundamental right in the concept of a fair trial, and equality of the parties is distinguished as a principle (basis) for the implementation of such a right. It is determined that this somewhat does not coincide with the legal regulation of such principles of criminal proceedings as equality before the law and the court and the competitiveness of the parties and the freedom to present their evidence to the court and to prove their convincing nature in the criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine. After all, equality before the law is seen as a prohibition of discrimination, and equality before the court can be seen as a prohibition of discrimination by the court, and as equal opportunities in procedural rights, which is a component of competition. With regard to competitiveness, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights identifies the following features of its implementation: it consists in providing an opportunity to familiarize oneself with the comments and evidence provided by the other party and respond to them; аimed at effective participation in criminal proceedings; equal opportunities should be compensated by judicial procedures in cases where equal opportunities have not been provided earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is indicated that in the early days of June 2024, the judges of the Supreme Court appealed to the members of the Scientific Advisory Council with a request to provide scientific conclusions regarding case No. 466/525/22 (the case concerned the application of the provisions of Part 3 of Article 233 of the Criminal Procedure Code). It emerged from the appeal that the criminal proceedings based on the cassation appeal of the prosecutor against the decision of the Lviv Court of Appeals dated Octobe 2, 2023 were referred to the joint chamber of the Criminal Court of Cassation as part of the Supreme Court. In this scientific publication, the authors attempted to examine the situation that arises during searches in emergency cases within the framework of the problem of prioritizing the protection of human rights. It is argued that given the legal nature and content of the above constitutional provisions, it should be concluded that part three of Article 30 of the Basic Law of Ukraine should be interpreted as a direct effect provision. This means that it prevents a participant in criminal proceedings on the side of the prosecution (prosecutor, investigator, inquirer) from making a decision to enter a person's home or other property unless the case is urgent and the purpose does not comply with the provisions of the said provision of the Constitution of Ukraine, taking into account an individual assessment of the circumstances of a particular case. It is summarized that in the absence of a clear definition of the term «urgent» in the criminal procedure legislation, it is advisable to apply the principle of in dubio pro tributario (priority with the most favorable interpretation of the rule of law)). Given that we are talking about an exceptional case of restriction of the constitutional right to inviolability of the home outside of judicial control, it is important to apply a literal (not extended) interpretation of the content of part three of Article 30 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Therefore, the authorized participants in criminal proceedings, when deciding on an urgent search, are obliged to find out whether the delay during the reasonably foreseeable time required to apply to the investigating judge, obtain a search warrant and conduct it in the normal course of events will inevitably lead to the consequences provided for in Article 30 of the Constitution of Ukraine; what specific circumstances of the case indicate the urgency of the entry into the home or other property, which must be in direct causal connection with the loss (destruction, etc.) of property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented article is made within the scope of the research subject of the science of the criminal process. It highlights the problematic issues of determining the content and mechanism of proper implementation of the principle of equality before the law and the court in criminal proceedings. The publication puts forward proposals for improving the conceptual apparatus regarding the issues under consideration and some provisions of the current legislation. The relevance of the publication is due to the need to improve scientific developments devoted to the general principles of criminal proceedings, bringing the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine into line with the requirements of international legal acts on the problem of combating discrimination. The purpose of preparing the article was to reveal the main issues of the socio-legal content of the principle of equality before the law, defined in Art. 10 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, as well as some relevant issues that are directly related to this. The prerequisites for the formation of this goal were the modern problems that arise during pre-trial investigation and trial in criminal proceedings. The author used general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge. Thus, from the general scientific methods, in particular, the system-structural method, the method of functional analysis, from the special ones - formallegal, logical-procedural methods, the method of comparative jurisprudence were used. The main legislative norms related to the topic of the publication have been analyzed. The publication proves that the requirements that determine the grounds and procedure for choosing some preventive measures have certain defects that can directly affect the behavior of participants in criminal proceedings, prompting them to violate the principle of equality before the law and the court. It is proposed to enshrine certain provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, thanks to which it would be possible to avoid violations of individual rights and freedoms. Further scientific research on the selected issue identified the following issues: guarantees of equality of rights and freedoms of citizens, introduction of legal expertise of the CPC of Ukraine and current regulatory and legal acts related to the field of criminal justice, with a view to identifying provisions in them that encourage discriminatory manifestations, normative -legal consolidation of ideas on optimizing the situation of materially indigent participants in criminal proceedings, developing an effective mechanism for bringing to legal responsibility subjects of criminal proceedings for non-compliance with the principle of equality before the law and the court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the issue of proving by the defense the absence of a necessity to extend the pre-trial investigation. The purpose of the article is to identify the possibilities of proving the absence of a need for the pre-trial investigation term extension by the defense and the applicable arguments (based on case law). The article deals with the following issues: general issues of proof; arguments for the defense to object to the pretrial investigation extension; ways of proving the absence of a necessity to extend the pre-trial investigation and violation of the conditions for filing a motion. All issues are covered based on the case law of investigating judges. It is noted that the absence of a rule on serving a copy of the motion reduces the defense's possibilities, since the defense does not always get acquainted with the materials of criminal proceedings in accordance with Article 221 of the CPC of Ukraine. The author proves that the defense can prove that there is no need to extend the pretrial investigation term by denying compliance with the standard of promptness and reasonable speed of investigation and, as a manifestation of this, its effectiveness. In practice, this is done by substantiating the following: proof of the crime event; proof of the suspect's involvement in this event; circumstances indicating the complexity of the proceedings (special complexity, exceptional complexity); the list of procedural actions which require additional time to conduct or complete and the significance of the results of these procedural actions for the trial; the inability to conduct these procedural actions earlier; the time required to conduct or complete procedural actions (in full or at the request of the defense). The author emphasizes that the CPC of Ukraine needs to be amended to enhance the defense's capabilities by providing a copy of the motion to the defense and by requiring investigating judges to indicate and assess the defense's position if it is submitted in the form of written objections or other documents or expressed in court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to identifying topical issues of collecting evidence by a defence counsel by requesting things, information and documents from various subjects. The article notes that in modern legal practice, the issue of requesting things, information and documents from various subjects is of particular relevance, since it affects not only the success of the evidence base, but also the observance of the principle of equality of parties in criminal proceedings. The article examines: the content of the request under Part 3 of Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine; common and distinctive features between the request under Part 3 of Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and temporary access to things and documents; forms of request for the provision of things, documents or information. It is proved that the assessment of evidence by a defence counsel in accordance with the requirements of criminal procedure law is a false statement. The author highlights the basics of forensic support for evidence and its component - evidence collection. The author describes the preparatory, working and final stages of the discovery process in accordance with Part 3 of Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. It is shown that technical and forensic support for the formation of requests or appeals in accordance with Part 3 of Article 93 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine is manifested in the fact that the defence counsel actively uses such technical means as a laptop, computer, mobile phone, and the global Internet. It is found that defence counsels form requests or appeals for the purpose of reclaiming things, documents and their copies in the following ways 1) exclusively in the form of an attorney's request pursuant to Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law"; 2) exclusively by referring to Article 93(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine; 3) by referring to both Article 93(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law" in one request or appeal; 4) depending on the situation and tactics of actions, all three previously mentioned methods are used. In particular, the author comes to the conclusion that the defence counsel's discovery of things, information and documents from various subjects includes both criminal procedure and forensic components. This procedural action consists of the following stages: preparatory, working, and final. All these stages are accompanied by technical and tactical forensic support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the legislative initiative to limit mediation in domestic violence and domestic violence cases in the context of complex contemporary debates about the nature of genderbased violence, which is rooted in significant power imbalances, and ensuring the «autonomy» of victims. The author examines the arguments of both supporters of the theory of «imbalance of power» and supporters of the view of victims as «autonomous subjects» who oppose protectionist interventions in their lives, and focuses attention on the concept of relational autonomy, which helps to create an acceptable model of response to gender-based violence, taking into account the structural social asymmetries underlying it. Referring to the «gold standard» of the Istanbul Convention, which provides the highest level of protection for victims of gender-based violence, the author supports the draft law on limiting mediation in cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence, based on Art. 48 of the Istanbul Convention and its interpretation in the Explanatory Report, the practice of GREVIO, the monitoring body of the Convention, and the gender-sensitive practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which establishes the standard of «special diligence» in cases of domestic violence. The author proposes clarifications to the draft law in terms of disclosure of the content and scope of the concepts of «cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence», forming a clear list of situations when mediation is impossible. This applies to cases of administrative and criminal offenses related to domestic violence and genderbased violence, as well as situations where special measures against domestic violence provided for by core laws were applied. In addition, the author draws attention to the importance of screening civil proceedings related to family disputes to identify cases of gender-based violence. Analyzing the qualification standards of mediators in Ukraine, the researcher draws attention to the potential risks of re-privatization of violence and secondary victimization of victims and emphasizes the importance of judicial protection in cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses legislative novelties in the part concerning criminal liability for undergoing terrorist training. Thus, the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine in Connection with the Ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, as well as to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving the Fight against Terrorism» of March 21, 2023, No. 2997-IX Art. 258-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has undergone significant changes. Based on the analysis of objective and subjective signs of the corpus delicti provided for in Art. 258-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine «Assistance to the commission of a terrorist act, training in terrorism», we have made the following conclusions regarding the training of terrorism as one of the forms of a socially dangerous act. First, terrorism training should be seen as a process, not an outcome. Such an approach will mean that the moment of the end of the criminal offense will be the very fact of the beginning of training. Terrorist training can only be done with direct intent. This means that the person is aware of the goals for which he or she has started his or her studies. In this context, terrorism training is greater in scope than related criminal offences. It is the subjective side that makes it possible to distinguish the training of terrorism from related socially dangerous acts. First of all, we are talking about preparing to commit a terrorist act. Thus, it is established that preparation for terrorist training includes not only preparation for the commission of a terrorist act, but also cases that are not related to a specific manifestation of a terrorist act. The authors disclosed other features that distinguish criminal acts related to terrorist training. This work also discloses the legislative shortcomings of the formulation of the conditions for exemption from criminal liability of a person who voluntarily refused further criminally illegal activity and reported it to a law enforcement agency. Ways to improve the legal norm in this part are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Belgium is one of very few countries that legally allow euthanasia for suffering caused by psychiatric illness. In the first criminal trial in Belgium of physicians involved in euthanasia, three physicians recently faced the accusation of "murder by poisoning," for allegedly having failed to comply with several requirements of the Belgian Euthanasia Law in granting the euthanasia request a woman suffering from psychiatric illness. Although all three physicians were acquitted, the case generated much debate among policy makers, medical professionals, and the general public. Method: We use this trial as the starting point for a critical analysis of the adequacy of the three-level control system established in the Euthanasia Law, as it is applied in the evaluation of euthanasia requests from persons who suffer unbearably from a psychiatric illness. This analysis is based on information presented during the criminal trial as well as information on the euthanasia that was published in the press. Results: Our analysis highlights substantial problems in the assessment and granting of the euthanasia request. The patient was euthanized without it having been substantiated that her psychiatric illness had no prospect of improvement and that her suffering could not be alleviated. The threestep control system enshrined in the Law and promoted by the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission for Euthanasia appears to have failed at each level. Conclusion: To evaluate requests for euthanasia for mental suffering caused by psychiatric illness, the requirements of the Belgian Euthanasia Law should be complemented by mandating the advice of two psychiatrists, and face-to-face discussions between all physicians involved. In parallel with the process of evaluating the euthanasia request, a treatment track should be guaranteed where reasonable evidence-based treatments and recovery-oriented options are tried. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights the importance of emojis as evidence in courts of law. The article outlines the history of emojis from a global perspective, and how they have come to be used as a form of implicit and explicit communication. The global inconsistency of the interpretation of emojis is explored against the backdrop of multilingualism and multiculturalism. This creates complications when emojis are presented as evidence in both criminal and civil cases. All of the above is explored in relation to South African courts, and emojis are examined as part of the discipline of forensic linguistics. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002 (ECT Act) provides guidelines on the rules of admissibility pertaining to data messages and other electronic communications, and is used for the interpretation of emojis as evidence in courts. Recommendations are made regarding the use of emojis as evidence in courts of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the evolution of antitrust laws in the United States and their application to labor markets. It discusses the history of antitrust laws in labor markets and the recent focus on regulating competition in labor markets. The Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have been actively enforcing antitrust laws in labor markets, challenging anti-competitive conduct and issuing new guidelines. The article also highlights recent developments, such as the ban on non-compete agreements by the FTC and ongoing antitrust cases. It advises companies to review their practices in light of these developments. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Monatsschrift fuer Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The act of criminalising conduct has been understood by many theorists as a form of communication. This paper proposes a model, based on speech-act theory, for understanding how that act of communication works. In particular, it focuses on analysing how and where wrongfulness can appear in this speech-act, if one were to argue, as many theorists do, that part of what is being communicated through criminalisation is the wrongfulness of the target conduct. I argue that the act of criminalisation is best understood as an indirect speech-act, which both asserts and declares normative facts, the utterance of which makes it the case that a conduct is now criminalised. Within this speech-act, wrongfulness can appear as an implicit assertion of the wrongness of the conduct, which has to be inferred by hearers from the context of utterance. The paper then briefly discusses the upshots of this model, mainly that it allows a clearer picture of how criminalisation conveys meanings, as well as leaving open the question as to whether it makes sense to think that the wrongfulness being conveyed is specifically of a moral kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflections on the various articles which will be published in the criminal law and philosophy dedicated to my retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courts and commentators do not differentiate between defendants who perpetrate crimes by means of inanimate weapons or trained animals and those who perpetrate crimes by means of other human beings used as innocent agents. I argue that this widely accepted comparability is grossly insensitive to the violation of the human dignity of the person whom the perpetrator has turned into an instrument to an offence. Identifying the innocent agent as a possible second victim of the offence alongside the intended victim raises several issues of both morality and law. First, the question of moral pertinence: do the scenarios that the law recognises as cases of innocent agency involve a violation of the dignity of the innocent agent? Second, the question of criminalisation: is it appropriate to invoke criminal law to protect the dignity of the innocent agent? Third, the question of the protected interest: assuming that both the dignity of the innocent agent and their autonomy are compromised, which of these violations is graver? I argue that there is a strong connection between the doctrine of innocent agency and the violation of the dignity of the innocent agent; that the violation of the innocent agent's dignity is severe enough to warrant criminalisation and that this is simple enough to enforce; and that the injury to the innocent agent's dignity is more significant than the injury to their autonomy. The operative proposal of this article is that the law should recognise perpetration by means of innocent agents as an aggravated mode of commission or an aggravating factor in punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as its starting point Miri Gur-Arye's critical discussion of a legal duty to report crime, this paper sketches an idealising conception of a democratic republic whose citizens could be expected to recognise a civic responsibility to report crime, in order to assist the enterprise of a criminal law that is their common law. After explaining why they should recognise such a responsibility, what its scope should be, and how it should be exercised, and noting that that civic responsibility must include a responsibility to report one's own crimes; it discusses whether that civic responsibility could ground at least a limited legal duty to report certain types of crime. It then turns to the question of whether a civic responsibility to assist the criminal law's enterprise of bringing wrongdoers to account could include a responsibility to arrest suspected or known offenders if the police cannot or will not do so—a responsibility to make a citizen's arrest, and the legal power to discharge that responsibility: how far should citizens feel entitled, or duty-bound, thus to 'take the law into their own hands'? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In articles published ten years apart in 2011 and 2021, Gur-Arye argues that when considering an agent's explanation for doing something that looks, prima facie, like a criminal offence, we should distinguish between a plea of justification, and an assertion that one acted within one's power. The former explains an agent's reasons for having committed a pro tanto offence (i.e., actus reus + mens rea). The latter is a denial that the agent committed any pro tanto offence at all. In this piece, I build on Gur-Arye's argument, suggesting that her claim about powers can be extended to all instances in which rights are displaced. I argue that in its expanded form, the practical significance of Gur-Arye's claim goes well beyond what she identifies. It points to important and underappreciated points about the structure and classification of defensive claims in the criminal law, and helps identify errors in some arguments commonly made to support claims about disputed features of justifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to a common view, criminal law should be structured in a way that allocates the conditions of criminal liability to different types of legal rules, given the content of the condition and the nature of the rule. This view classifies some conditions as elements of offenses and others as (part of) justificatory defenses or of excusatory defenses. While this view is attractive, I argue that it should be rejected, since it is incompatible with two plausible propositions about legal rules. The first is that foundational reasons are not concerned with the structure of the law as such. The second is that legal rules should be constructed in a way that reflects (the balance of) all the applicable reasons and not just some of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In whose voice does the criminal law speak, and why does it matter? Miriam Gur-Arye argues that the answer to the first question depends on the kind of duty violated by the crime at issue. In some cases (say, election fraud or tax evasion), the criminal law speaks in the voice of the polity—but in other cases (say, murder or rape), it speaks in the voice of human beings. Or so argues Gur-Ayre. Not surprisingly, perhaps, a lot depends on what one means by the voice of the criminal law. In this paper, I defend two related arguments. First, the criminal law typically claims to speak in the voice of the polity, even if, in practice, it often fails to do so. Second, where the criminal law does speak in the voice of the polity, its doing so can contribute to its own justification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing justifications for exclusionary rules and stays of proceedings in response to pre-trial wrongdoing by police officers and prosecutors are often thought to be counter-productive or disproportionate in their consequences. This article begins to explore whether the concept of standing to blame can provide a fresh justification for such responses. It focuses on a vice related to standing—hypocrisy—and a related vice concerning inconsistent blame. It takes seriously the point that criminal justice agencies, although all part of the State, are in real terms separated from each other, and analyses the so-called separation thesis (or theses). It concludes that hypocrisy and inconsistent blame arguments could plausibly justify exclusion and stays only in relation to lower-level offending, and even there only indirectly. This is in the sense that exclusion and stays are expressions of judicial frustration with other bodies for their failure to take pre-trial wrongdoing seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinction between the criminal fault elements of recklessness and negligence is one of Anglo-American criminal law's key distinctions. It is a distinction with practical significance, as many serious crimes require at least recklessness and cannot be committed negligently. The distinction is standardly marked by awareness. Recklessness requires awareness that one's conduct carries a risk of harm. Negligence only requires that one ought to have been aware that one's conduct carried such a risk, even if one was in fact unaware of this. But should the recklessness/negligence distinction be marked by awareness of risk, or by something else? Does a defendant's awareness of risk really have the normative significance to mark such a distinction? In this paper, I answer these questions by discussing a challenge to this 'standard account' of the recklessness/negligence distinction raised by the work of Antony Duff, who defends an alternative, non-awareness-based model of the recklessness/negligence distinction. I will argue that, although Duff's alternative model fails, seeing how it goes wrong helps us see how awareness genuinely does have the right kind of normative significance to mark the distinction between recklessness and negligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most legal evidence scholars agree that proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt requires the belief that the defendant probably committed the alleged acts. However, they also agree that this is not a sufficient condition, as this belief may be unreasonable. I focus on two popular proposals for additional conditions: (i) that the degree of belief should be robust and (ii) that it should be reasonable given the available evidence (should be an evidential probability). Both criteria face difficulties regarding their meaning and utility. I propose an interpretation which overcomes these difficulties and which combines the two conditions into a single criterion on which both conditions are about the possibility of overlooked, exculpatory information. Proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt requires that we are sufficiently certain that we did not miss such information for the sake of achieving accurate beliefs and a just error distribution. How certain we can be that we did not miss anything relevant depends on our higher-order evidence. One important type of higher-order evidence is whether the hypotheses under consideration are sufficiently detailed. This point leads to a novel way of combining the Bayesian and explanation-based accounts of rational legal proof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an introduction to the special issue on criminal law theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of a defendant submitting a false guilty plea due to the penal incentive offered is not an uncommon phenomenon. While the practice has been legitimised based on the defendant's voluntary informed consent, it has often been argued that the structure of the plea-bargaining practice is coercive. Such can be the case whenever the plea offer entails a significant sentence differential, discrepancy in the form of punishment (a non-custodial sentence relative to a custodial one), or when the alternative of pleading guilty includes the risk of capital punishment. Having said that, plea-bargains have often been classified as a "non-coercive offer", whether due to their advantageous mutual character according to a baseline conception of coercion or being an offer that one can overcome according to an irresistible psychological account. While many scholars have struggled with the ambiguous notion of "coercive offers," the paper offers an alternative approach, arguing that it is the type of reasons to be considered within the offer that renders the bargain less than fully autonomous. It will be argued that the plea-bargain proposition infuses irrelevant (guilt-uncorrelated) penal considerations unrelated to the question of guilt. Such considerations are the wrong kind of reason for the guilty-plea decision, and due to the defendant's dependency on the plea offer, they distort the defendant's intentional character of her autonomous decision. It is part of the conception of the guilty plea. Though a defendant may autonomously intend to consider irrelevant penal considerations, such a decision cannot be genuinely considered a decision regarding the admission of guilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article presents a theory whereby criminal punishments are routinely distributed in proportion to the weight of the evidence mounted against the defendant. According to this theory, the law relaxes the stringent decision threshold in criminal trials—beyond a reasonable doubt—by creating easy-to-prove evidentiary offenses. These offenses, in turn, are associated with less severe sanctions, thus creating a de-facto proportional liability regime. Against that backdrop, the Article examines the legal duty to report criminal activity to the authorities. As the analysis shows, while legal scholars analyzing such duties have focused on the paradigmatic case in which an innocent bystander, friend or family member is unwittingly exposed to information about a crime, in practice these duties are rarely used in such cases. Rather, reporting duties are used to prosecute suspected accomplices whose involvement in the commission of the actual crime is difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, offenses imposing a reporting duty on criminal activity turn out to be part of the general framework of accomplice liability, and are used to apply less severe sanctions in cases of evidentiary uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I address the theory of excuse, or more precisely, exculpatory excuse, and the question of what it is that justifies the category of excuse. I address different potential grounds for the law of excuse, which are often run together in ways that confound rather than clarify, focusing on the role of blamelessness and unfairness of expectations in the theory of excuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security agencies collect evidence from whistleblowers to take action against criminals. Moreover, security agencies provide rewards to encourage whistleblowers for their services. However, sometimes, security agencies may have individuals who are not trustworthy. Such insider adversaries disclose the identities of whistleblowers and modify the order of evidence submission to provide rewards to specific whistleblowers. In this paper, we present the crime-reporting and rewarding mechanism to protect the identities of whistleblowers and reward genuine and first whistleblowers. The proposed mechanism not only protects in the presence of outsider adversaries but also in the presence of active insider adversaries. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed mechanism is reliable in identifying and rewarding genuine and first whistleblowers. We use the public ledger to timestamp and record submissions and smart contracts to automatically transfer rewards to genuine and first whistleblowers. To show the feasibility, we implemented the proposed mechanism. Security and performance analysis show that the proposed mechanism is secure against active insider and outsider adversaries, reliable, and transparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocacy is one of the sensitive and dangerous professions in society, which is referred to as one of the two arms of justice. The presence of a lawyer in the courts basically facilitates the discovery of the truth. The Iranian legislator, in Article 35 of the Constitution, has foreseen the right to have a lawyer and the right to choose a lawyer, and the principles of transnational proceedings have also respected this right. But our legislator, in the note of Article 48 of the Criminal Procedure Law, has limited the right to choose a lawyer in some criminal cases at the court stage. Is this limitation of choosing a lawyer consistent with domestic and international legal principles? In this article, this issue has been examined in the Iranian law and the principles of transnational proceedings, and Islamic sources have been referred to and analyzed in this article. The research method is descriptive-analytical through library data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic document examination has been considered one of the most important fields in the forensic science. For this, a quick, effective, and cheap techniques for evaluation of forensic evidence is highly required. This study explores the comparison of A4 document paper by chemical and physical analysis. 16 of white A4 paper from different brands were analyzed by FTIR for investigation of structural characteristics. Video Spectral Comparator 8000 has been used to compare the A4 papers under different light source. The inorganic filler composition in the paper is also explored by ICP‐OES. The calcium carbonate content in document papers play a discriminant role which found to be between 16.02 % and 35.54 %. Also, water contact angle has been utilized in order to examine the surface of paper which is generally related to the inorganic filler and other additives. The WCA results ranged between 83° and 111° that enable quick and easy way to compare A4 document papers. The experimental results have demonstrated that besides FTIR methods, other methods such as ICP‐OES for elemental composition, WCA for wetting test, VSC for visualization under different light of source could have been applied for comparison of document papers in case of criminal cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern canon of open science consists of five "schools of thought" that justify unfettered access to the fruits of scientific research: i) public engagement, ii) democratic right of access, iii) efficiency of knowledge gain, iv) shared technology, and v) better assessment of impact. Here, we introduce a sixth school: due process. Due process under the law includes a right to "discovery" by a defendant of potentially exculpatory evidence held by the prosecution. When such evidence is scientific, due process becomes a Constitutional mandate for open science. To illustrate the significance of this new school, we present a case study from forensics, which centers on a federally funded investigation that reports summary statistics indicating that identification decisions made by forensic firearms examiners are highly accurate. Because of growing concern about validity of forensic methods, the larger scientific community called for public release of the complete analyzable dataset for independent audit and verification. Those in possession of the data opposed release for three years while summary statistics were used by prosecutors to gain admissibility of evidence in criminal trials. Those statistics paint an incomplete picture and hint at flaws in experimental design and analysis. Under the circumstances, withholding the underlying data in a criminal proceeding violates due process. Following the successful open-science model of drug validity testing through "clinical trials," which place strict requirements on experimental design and timing of data release, we argue for registered and open "forensic trials" to ensure transparency and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although policing is a public service, police records are not public records nor can one of the most prominent work product of police forces activities—case files—be easily found in public record offices or institutional archive services. Little research has been undertaken on what documents police casework (evidence to the evidence). The whole record of police investigation encompasses textual and artefactual material, making them complex documents worth exploring under the archival lens. This article establishes a landscape of police forces' archival practice in England and Wales, through analysis of grey literature formalizing national recommendations on police IRM, especially archiving in the public interest. The study also includes a survey of current practice of what police forces loosely call 'archiving,' through a questionnaire (sent under FOI requests) to all 43 forces in England and Wales. Findings showed that there was little to no awareness of inter/national archival practice standards, in official discourse and in current practice, which correlates with little to no practical archiving of police case files in the public interest. These findings suggest that the absence of actualized police casework archives may result in an archival silence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), which serves as the final court of appeal for various UK territories, Commonwealth countries, and Crown dependencies. It emphasizes the evolving nature of the JCPC and its role in generating significant case law. The article discusses the history, jurisdiction, and types of cases heard by the JCPC, highlighting its diverse range of topics and the importance of local knowledge in decision-making. It also mentions a specific case involving a marina development in the Bahamas, which raised issues of public interest litigation and access to justice. The JCPC's decisions hold precedential value in the UK legal system. [Extracted from the article]