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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:23 pm
Time: 9:23 pm
Results for criminal law reform
6 results foundAuthor: Mossman, Elaine Title: Key Informant Interviews: Review of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 Summary: This report was commissioned to provide information for the review of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 by analyzing data collected during interviews with brothel operators and Non-Governmental Organizations. Details: Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Justice, 2007 Source: Crime and Justice Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington Year: 2007 Country: New Zealand URL: Shelf Number: 115791 Keywords: Criminal Law ReformLaw and LegislationProstitution |
Author: Boxall, Hayley Title: Historical review of sexual offence and child sexual abuse legislation in Australia: 1788-2013 Summary: The report provides an overview of the socio-political factors and events that have influenced the development of Australia's child sexual abuse legislation from 1788-2013. Key developments in relevant legislation during this period which are discussed in detail in the report include: the decriminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting males the removal of gendered language from legislation to enable the law to deal with matters involving male victims, female offenders and same sex offences broadening the definition of sexual intercourse introduction of specific legislation relating to child pornography introduction of mandatory reporting laws. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2014. 108p. Source: Internet Resource: AIC Special Report: Accessed September 4, 2014 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/007/Historical-review-sexual-offence-child-sexual-abuse.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/007/Historical-review-sexual-offence-child-sexual-abuse.pdf Shelf Number: 133178 Keywords: Child PornographyChild Sexual AbuseCriminal Law ReformSex OffendersSexual Violence |
Author: Boxall, Hayley Title: Brief review of contemporary sexual offence and child sexual abuse legislation in Australia Summary: The following report provides a brief overview of the offences that an individual who sexually abuses a child in an institutional setting may be charged with at the end of 2013. Information provided for each of the identified offences includes: the location of the offence in the respective state or territory's legislation; the age of the victim (where relevant); - aggravating factors - for the purpose of this review, restricted to factors relating to: the age of the child; - the relationship between the offender and victim; and - whether the victim has an intellectual impairment, physical disability or mental illness; the maximum penalty. The offences included in this review have been divided into a six sections: contact sexual offences where the child is below the legal age of consent (16, 17 or 18 years old depending on the jurisdiction and nature of the sexual act); contact sexual offences where the child is above the legal age of consent; contact sexual offences where the age of the victim is not specified; non-contact sexual offences; child pornography offences (production); and offences for which institutions and/or their representatives that were aware of child sexual abuse may be charged. Only offences relating to individuals located within Australia are included in this review. Further, while there are other defences that may be used to refute charges brought under sexual offence or child sexual abuse legislation (for example, honest and reasonable belief that a person was over a certain age and similarity in age between the victim and offender), the only defence that is considered in this report is consent. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2014. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: AIC Special Report: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/006/Brief-review-sex-abuse-legislation.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/006/Brief-review-sex-abuse-legislation.pdf Shelf Number: 133327 Keywords: Child Pornography Child Sexual Abuse Criminal Defense Criminal Law Reform Sex Offenders Sexual Violence |
Author: Tonnessen, Liv Title: Women and Girls Caught between Rape and Adultery in Sudan: Criminal Law Reform, 2005-2015 Summary: This report investigates criminal law reform in Sudan, focusing on two important and controversial legal reforms related to (a) a definition of rape that is clearly de-linked from the Islamic crime of zina (i.e., sexual intercourse between individuals who are not married to each other) and (b) a definition of "child" as an individual younger than 18 in statutory rape cases. Many legal reforms have been proposed in Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 officially ended the extended civil war (Africa's longest) between the north and south of the country. The peace accord opened up some space for women's groups after a long period of harsh authoritarian control. All Sudanese laws were to be reviewed and reformed in alignment with the Interim National Constitution of 2005, including the Criminal Act of 1991. Although the peace agreement was largely gender-blind, the interim constitution included clauses on gender equality and affirmative action (Itto 2006). Pro-women activists as well as women within the government have been particularly active in advocating for legal reforms since 2005 with reference to the bill of rights. Two major legal reforms - in 2010 and 2015 - have dealt with rape. The most recent legal reform redefines rape in Sudan's Criminal Act of 1991. Until February 2015, "rape" was defined as zina (adultery or fornication) without consent. The act of zina was, and still is, punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried offenders and by death by stoning for married offenders. The blending of the ideas of rape and zina in the 1991 act meant that the strict rules of evidence used for zina were also applied to rape, something that constituted a serious legal obstacle for rape victims. Pro-women activists contested this legal position by forming the "Alliance of 149," named after the rape article in the Criminal Act. Interviews conducted during the last five years show that the reform process on rape/zina has been politicized, especially after the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Sudan's president for sexual warfare in Darfur in 2009. Around the same time as the National Assembly was amending Sudan's rape law, it forcibly shut down the founding member and initiator of the "Alliance of 149". In addition, the definition of apostasy was widened in such a manner that it can easily be used to clamp down on activists who are criticizing the Islamist regime. Darfur brought the previously taboo topic of rape into the public debate by focusing attention on sexual violence in Sudanese society. This furthered debate in both government and civil society about reform of Sudan's rape laws (including the controversial topic of marital rape), although only limited dialogue on the topic has arisen between government reformists and pro-women activists. Reformist Islamist women in government managed to effectively advocate for an amendment to the Criminal Act de-linking rape from zina, which Sudan's National Assembly passed in February this year. However, the reform is only partial, since the Evidence Act of 1994, in which rape and zina are still conflated, has yet to be reformed. In addition, marital rape is not explicitly criminalized. The other significant legal reform deals with statutory rape. Under the definition of "rape" in the pre-2015 version of the Criminal Act, the requirement of evidence for lack of consent does not apply to children, which means children have had better protection under the law. However, determining who was a "child" was a thorny issue. The Criminal Act of 1991 defines a child to be someone who has not yet reached puberty, as understood in Islam. Sudanese judges have taken varying approaches to defining "puberty," however. Many have viewed age 15 as the dividing line between childhood and adulthood, while others have looked for physical signs of puberty (or "sexual maturity"). In practice, this has meant that girls over the age of 15 (and sometimes even below) who have raised rape cases in Sudanese courts have been treated as adults. And as adults, they have had to show evidence that they did not consent to the sexual act. In 2010, Sudan enacted a new National Child Act that defines a child as an individual younger than 18 in accordance with the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Sudan ratified in 1991. The Child Act specifically criminalizes statutory rape. As it stands now, the new law is in conflict with the Criminal Act, however. Although the Child Act should take precedence, our findings suggest that the implementation of the act in courts in Khartoum is uncertain in statutory rape cases: while some judges implement the Child Act in statutory rape cases for all girls under the age of 18, some still follow the Criminal Act and look for signs of puberty. The definition of a child as younger than 18 years in the Child Act of 2010 did not receive much attention at the time of enactment, but it is has become the focus of heated debate as conservative actors have realized that this new definition also has repercussions for the age of marriage, which is set at puberty in Sudan's Muslim Family Law of 1991. Two conflicting positions within the current Islamist government (including in the judiciary itself) both employ Islamic arguments. In February 2015, an amendment to the Criminal Act was proposed to the National Assembly setting the age of criminal responsibility at 18 in accordance with the Child Act and international conventions ratified by Sudan. However, this proposal was blocked, partly by the judiciary itself, which advocated for the age of 15. Meanwhile a legal counter-mobilization against the Child Act continues and has resulted in a case currently pending in Sudan's Constitutional Court. Details: Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2015. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: R 2015:10: Accessed May 5, 2016 at: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5661-women-and-girls-caught-between-rape-and-adultery.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan URL: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5661-women-and-girls-caught-between-rape-and-adultery.pdf Shelf Number: 138953 Keywords: AdulteryCriminal Law ReformGender-Related ViolenceRapeSex OffensesViolence Against Women, Girls |
Author: Hylton, Keith N. Title: Whom Should We Punish, and How? Rational Incentives and Criminal Justice Reform Summary: This essay sets out a comprehensive account of rational punishment theory and examines its implications for criminal law reform. Specifically, what offenses should be subjected to criminal punishment, and how should we punish? Should we use prison sentences or fines, and where should we use them? Should some conduct be left to a form of market punishment through private lawsuits? Should fines be used to fund the criminal justice system? The answers I offer address some of the most important public policy issues of the moment, such as mass incarceration and the use of fines to finance law enforcement. The framework of this paper is firmly grounded in rational deterrence policy, and yet points toward reforms that would soften or reduce the scope of criminal punishment. Details: Boston: Boston University, School of Law, 2017. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Boston Univ. School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper No. 17-18: Accessed February 6, 2018 at: https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2982371 Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2982371 Shelf Number: 149008 Keywords: Criminal Law ReformDeterrence Drug Legalization Fines Punishment Sentencing |
Author: Walters, Mark A. Title: Hate Crime and the Legal Process: Options for Law Reform Summary: BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to assess the application of criminal laws and sentencing provisions for hate crime in England and Wales (Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA), ss. 28- 32, and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA), ss. 145 and 146) in order to capture best practices and identify barriers to the implementation of these rules. The study was carried out over a 24-month period and used a multitude of sources, both secondary and primary, to answer a number of key questions that were first set out by the Law Commission's 2014 report on hate crime law reform, as well as other questions set out as part of an EU crossjurisdictional project. The report is funded by the EU Directorate-General Justice and Consumers department and forms part of a wider European study into the use of hate crime laws across five EU member states (England and Wales; Ireland; Sweden; Latvia; and the Czech Republic). METHODOLOGY A mixed-methods approach was employed for the project which enabled us to compare and contrast the stated aims and purposes of policies and legislation with the experiences of those tasked with enforcing and applying the law. This approach included: (a) an assessment of existing policies and publically available statistics; (b) a review of over 100 reported cases; and (c) 71 in-depth, qualitative semi-structured interviews with "hate crime coordinators" and "hate crime leads" at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), District (Magistrates' Court) and Circuit (Crown Court) Judges, independent barristers, victims and staff at charitable organisations that support victims of hate crime, police officers, and local authority minority group liaison staff. Part A: Law, policy and statistics: Understanding the "life cycle" of a hate crime HATE CRIME STATISTICS Using publically available statistics on hate crime, we calculate an approximate number of offences that are likely to "drop out" of the criminal justice system. The total number of cases that drop out of the system represent what is known as the "justice gap" for hate crime. Analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) suggests that approximately 110,160 hate crimes are reported to police each year. The most recent police statistics recorded 62,518 hate crimes between 2015/16. This suggests that only 57% of those incidents reported to the police are recorded as hate crimes. During the same year, the CPS prosecuted 15,442 hate-based offences, of which 12,846 resulted in a conviction. The CPS recorded the announcement of sentencing uplifts in court as 33.8% of total hate crime convictions, which equates to 4,342 cases. If these data are accurate, it means that out of an approximate 110,160 reported hate crimes, only 4,342 offences (4%) resulted in a sentence uplift based on identity-based hostility. In other words, approximately 96% of reported hate Part B: Analysis and research findings PREPARING CASES FOR PROSECUTION: COLLATING EVIDENCE TO PROVE HOSTILITY - The most cogent form of evidence to prove the hostility element of a hate crime is witness testimony of verbalised prejudice, expressed during the commission of an offence. - Additional ways in which hate crimes can be proved in court include the use of audio and video recording of the incident. However, interviewees emphasised that, without a sound recording of verbal slurs, proving a demonstration of hostility beyond reasonable doubt via video footage is extraordinarily difficult. This was most apparent in relation to disability hate crime cases. - The defendant's prior record and bad character can be important factors in proving that a defendant was motivated by hostility. However, accessing this information is problematic, as the hostility element will not be noted on a perpetrator's record where a prior offence was aggravated by sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity hostility (under CJA provisions). - Other forms of evidence that can be sufficient to prove the hostility element of a hate crime include leaflets, letters and other written documentation which indicate an affiliation with right-wing hate groups. Social media comments, subscription to websites with links to racist organisations, and text messages displaying hate-based content are also useful forms of evidence in hate crime cases. GATHERING EVIDENCE: FAILURE TO IDENTIFY AND INVESTIGATE HOSTILITY EARLY ENOUGH - There was evidence to suggest that the CPS has made recent improvements to the identification of disability hate crimes. However, there remains a significant proportion of incidents that are not flagged correctly by the police. Interviewees noted that even where there is evidence of a disablist slur having been expressed during the commission of an offence (the most common type of evidence for all types of hate crime), the disability hate crime flag is still frequently not applied. - Conversely, in some cases, the "flags" that are added to case files can become a barrier to looking beyond the wider facts of the case. This may mean that other facts or types of prejudice are lost during the investigation. - There was a perception amongst some CPS interviewees that the police need to be more "proactive" in identifying the relevant pieces of evidence that will make for a compelling case, especially in complex cases that do not involve verbalised prejudice. However, even with more carefully crafted evidence files, prosecutors frequently fail to secure uplifts at sentence for disability hate crime, meaning that the effective enforcement of hate crime legislation for victims of disability hate crime remains in doubt. - CPS prosecutors pointed to issues with some police officers not being aware of hate crime sentencing provisions, which led to investigators not collating the necessary evidence of hostility towards the complainant's sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability. GATHERING EVIDENCE: THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN POLICE AND THE CPS - Gathering evidence and presenting it successfully in court depends on a good relationship between the police and the CPS. Breakdowns in this relationship can result in cases "dropping out" of the system. - Communication problems can occur if charging advice is not sought by the police early on. In some cases, this makes it difficult to gather the necessary evidence for the hostility element later in the process. Although all interviewees were aware that the CPS needed to be contacted for charging advice, CPS prosecutors noted that this did not always happen. - Open lines of communication are key to ensuring that charging advice is sought and that discussions regarding the quality of evidence are had early on in a case's "life cycle". Police officers indicated that more immediate contact with the CPS is necessary, especially because hate crime legislation can be confusing and the police may need advice before interviewing suspects. - Communication between the CPS and the police is sometimes strained due to difference in preferred styles of communication - with the CPS frequently preferring e-communication (and reviewing of files), whereas police officers often preferred interpersonal discussions about a case. - Independent barristers for the prosecution noted that advice is often not sought from them early in the process, and a breakdown of communication between barristers and police via the CPS can lead to evidence not being collated or presented in court. RECOMMENDATION We recommend that investigators use (a non-exhaustive) checklist during the investigation and charging stages of the criminal process (the items on the checklist can be found at 6.1 in the main report). We recommend that the CPS provide police (and independent barristers employed for the prosecution) with a direct and open line to CPS area hate crime leads. Independent barristers for the prosecution should also be included in the case review process where possible. Details: Brighton, UK: University of Sussex, Crime Research Centre, 2017. 214p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2018 at: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=final-report---hate-crime-and-the-legal-process.pdf&site=539 Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=final-report---hate-crime-and-the-legal-process.pdf&site=539 Shelf Number: 149973 Keywords: Bias-Motivated Crime Crime Statistics Criminal Law ReformDiscrimination Hate Crimes Prejudice |