Natalia Taubina: The Reform of the MVD Has Failed

Natalia Taubina, head of the Moscow-based nongovernmental organization Public Verdict Foundation, argues that the law enforcement system, including the MVD, Investigative Committee, Procuracy, and judiciary still require serious change.     

Nurgaliyev: We Must Develop Propaganda of the Honesty and Heroism of Police

Russian minister of internal affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev calls for developing a positive image of the police.     

Experts: On the Procedure for Recertifying MVD Personnel

The period allotted for the certification of policemen expires on August 1. The law "On the Police," signed by President Medvedev in February 2011, stipulated that the militia was to be renamed the police and that all MVD personnel, including the highest ranks, were to undergo recertification. As a result, according to minister of internal affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev, 327 generals have remained in leading positions and 21 have failed the test. Another 143 members of the generals' corps have left the MVD on grounds of age or at their own request.     

The Spanish Constitutional Tribunal's Decision in Guatemalan Generals: Unconditional Universality is Back

On 26 September 2005, the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal reversedthe decisions of the Audiencia Nacional and the High Court (TribunalSupremo) in the case of the Guatemalan Generals. According tothe two judicial bodies, the exercise of universal jurisdictionover international crimes required a link between the crimeor the victims or the offender and Spain, such as the presenceof the offender on Spanish territory or the Spanish nationalityof the victims. The Constitutional Tribunal held, instead, thatthese requirements are contrary to the principle pro actione,i.e. they result in an unjustified restriction of the constitutionalright to effective judicial protection. The Tribunal also clarifiedthat universal jurisdiction, whose aim is fighting impunity,does not require any link other than the universal characterof the values protected by the provisions criminalizing themost serious violations of international law. The presence ofthe accused in Spain is merely a condition for trial, not adistinct ground of jurisdiction; in other words, the accusedmust be in Spain for the trial to begin, but jurisdiction maybe exercised even in his absence, for example for the issuanceof a request for extradition. The only condition to which theexercise of universal jurisdiction is subject is that the stateof the locus commissi delicti is not already investigating andprosecuting the case effectively.     

Failed Governance: A Comment on Baker and Griffith's Ensuring Corporate Misconduct

This essay evaluates Baker and Griffith's book, Ensuring Corporate Misconduct, as a contribution to the social science literatures on regulation and governance, risk, and insurance. Previous social science work on insurance often took an “insurance on the ground” perspective comparing how insurance actually works with the theory of insurance and scrutinizing the actions of insurers as well as the actions of their policyholders. In line with this perspective, Baker and Griffith find that directors and officers (D&O) insurers do not actually charge premiums that vary with risk or monitor the actions of the officers and directors covered by the insurance. Because insurers and governments share governance tasks (a point Baker makes elsewhere), insurers' failures in fact amount to “failed governance” of the corporate world.     

General Kramarev: They Brought up the Reform of the MVD to the Elections and Miscalculated

The former head of the Chief Directorate of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast believes that little has changed in Nurgaliyev's ministry.     

Children Who Have Been Traumatized: One Court's Response

A court that is trauma‐informed can assist with the process of identifying children in need of trauma‐focused services and can provide education and direction to families frustrated by prior treatment failures. The unique role of the juvenile court judge as a community convener offers an opportunity to increase community awareness about the impact of trauma, and to promote the adoption of evidence‐based treatment for trauma victims. This article outlines the way that increased trauma awareness and trauma screening within a family court system mobilized the development of effective resources for children and families affected by trauma.     

把法官当“人”看——兼论程序失灵现象及其补救

中国司法审判中程序失灵现象泛滥的根本原因之一,即在于部分诉讼立法和管理规则与法官作为人的本性相冲突,要么没有合理关照法官的正当利益诉求,要么对法官滥用权力的冲动防范不足。一个必要的改进方向,就是正视法官作为社会人和经济人的本质,通过合理的制度设计引导法官将自利行为与司法公正融为一体,将制度规范内化为法官的自主行为,从而最终实现制度与行动者的协调统一。     

The Deputies Have Stopped Extremism: On the Level of Legislation

Yesterday, an amendment to the Federal Law "On Countering Extremist Activity" that was introduced by deputies representing all of the Duma's factions was passed on the first reading.     

Emerging Parenting Coordination Practices Around the Globe: What We Have Learned

Parenting coordination is emerging in numerous countries around the globe as a response to the need to protect children in families whose parents experience high conflict following their separation or divorce. This article describes the different trends in the implementation of parenting coordination programs in Canada, Spain, and Italy and the socio‐legal contexts in which they have evolved. An analysis will also be presented of the unique challenges faced by these countries and the ensuing debates on issues related to the referral process, legal procedures, decision‐making authority, judicial immunity, confidentiality, and professional requirements and training for the appointment of parenting coordinators. The authors will present what has been learned from their respective experiences and make recommendations to promote continued development.     

Selective incapacitation: Have we tried it? Does it work?

The selective incapacitation of individuals who pose a threat to society by their frequent criminal activity has been recently discussed widely by academicians, policy makers, and practitioners in criminal justice. Recent research has presented actuarially based scales of predictor variables that identify “career” criminals and derive predictions of the effects of their incapacitation on the overall societal crime rate.While selective incapacitation is currently viewed as a relatively new development in utilitarian criminal justice, this article points out that the prediction of recidivism and the use of actuarially based scales toward that end is a long-standing part of the U.S. federal parole process. An illustration of the selective-incapacitative effects of this process, using a large sample of federal releases, is presented.     

The Exclusion of (Failed) Asylum Seekers from Housing and Home: Towards an Oppositional Discourse

‘Housing’– the practical provision of a roof over one's head – is experienced by users as ‘home’– broadly described as housing plus the experiential elements of dwelling. Conversely, being without housing, commonly described as ‘homelessness’, is experienced not only as an absence of shelter but in the philosophical sense of ‘ontological homelessness’ and alienation from the conditions for well‐being. For asylum seekers, these experiences are deliberately and explicitly excluded from official law and policy discourses. This article demonstrates how law and policy is propelled by an ‘official discourse’ based on the denial of housing and the avoidance of ‘home’ attachments, which effectively keeps the asylum seeker in a state of ontological homelessness and alienation. We reflect on this exclusion and consider how a new ‘oppositional discourse’ of housing and home – taking these considerations into account – might impact on the balancing exercise inherent to laws and policies concerning asylum seekers.