The role of prosecutors in ensuring human rights compliant responses to terrorism

Since 9/11 the threat from terrorism has been regarded as ‘exceptional’, a threat that requires military and sometimes even extra-judicial responses. But experience has shown that these responses can have unintended and counterproductive results. Many experts now believe that criminal justice and rule of law-based responses to terrorism are often more legitimate, effective and sustainable. The paper argues that prosecutors have a vital role to play in promoting appropriate criminal justice responses to terrorism. Yet with no international court with jurisdiction over terrorist crimes, prosecutors carry the primary responsibility to work with their local law enforcement agencies to bring terrorist suspects to justice before national courts, while ensuring that no misuses or abuses of authority have occurred. To deliver on this mandate, prosecutors must remain vigilant and ensure that the counter-terrorism actions of police, corrections and other law enforcement authorities are lawful and respectful of human rights. This will often require immense courage under fire.     

Criminal defense counsels,district attorneys,and the insanity plea: A modest difference of opinion

This research examines differences between samples of 166 city and county prosecutors and 118 defense attorneys from Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky concerning their views toward the insanity plea in felony cases. Currently, tests for insanity used by the states are the M’Naghten rule, the ALI Model Penal Code test, and the Smith “irresistible impulse” test or combinations thereof. Defense counsels greatly favor the prosecution bearing the burden of proving a defendant’s sanity, while a majority of prosecutors believe that this is the defense counsel’s responsibility. Twenty-five percent of the prosecutors surveyed believed that it is the prosecutor’s responsibility to show by clear and convincing evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendants are sane and capable of bearing the responsibility for their crimes alleged. Philosophical and practical arguments about the burden of proof issue are examined. Preferences of defense counsels and prosecutors for different insanity tests are explored, finding that a majority of attorneys favor the more recent ALI test.     

Towards Good Practice in Juvenile Justice Policy in the Commonwealth

Any witness who is not able to testify due to lack of support or protection is a loss to the proper functioning of a criminal justice system. In this context it is generally accepted that creating a climate for witnesses to testify truthfully and without fear of reprisals is essential to fulfilling the goals of truth and justice. Accordingly, addressing the issues of witness protection and support is a central aspect of a well-functioning criminal justice system; one that contributes not only to the rule of law through more effective investigations and trials, but also ensures that witnesses are treated with the recognition and care they deserve for their contribution to finding the truth. The principle that victims in the criminal justice system must be treated with courtesy, compassion and respect for their personal dignity entails a responsibility on the part of national authorities to realise this basic principle through the development of appropriate mechanisms designed to provide assistance to the victims. However, building effective national victims/witness support and protection is challenging for any state, and especially so for small Commonwealth jurisdictions due to capacity and other constraints. The Commonwealth seeks to provide technical assistance and capacity building to support its members in promoting the rule of law and has developed and disseminated a best practice guide for the protection of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system. This article seeks to highlight the valuable findings of the Commonwealth guide and to provide guidance to policy-makers, legislators, police, prosecutors and other stakeholders in criminal justice practice.     

Protecting victims of intimate partner violence: Swedish prosecutors’ experiences of decision-making regarding restraining orders

Restraining orders can be used as a risk management strategy to reduce the likelihood of intimate partner violence (IPV) re-victimisation. The aim of this study was to examine how prosecutors work with cases of IPV, with a focus on their collaboration with police, use of violence risk assessment and implementation of restraining orders. A qualitative analysis was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with five prosecutors operating in two northern police districts in Sweden in 2016. Data were analysed using latent content analysis. Three overarching themes arose: The case, Organization of resources and Interpretation of the law. Each theme was discussed in the context of the prosecutors’ work with IPV. Prosecutors pointed to several inadequacies in the legislation and offered potential solutions that would ameliorate their work. Results also showed that prosecutors seldom used violence risk assessments conducted by police as a basis for issuing restraining orders. The primary reason for this was a lack of clear routines governing cooperation between police and prosecutors in the application process. The results from this study can be used when training criminal justice personnel in order to obtain a better understanding of the difficulties that prosecutors face when trying to protect victims of IPV.     

Performance-based evaluation,state compensation and judicial ecology: dynamics of China’s detention review practice

Through participatory observation and in-depth interviews with thirty-four practitioners, this article pierces the veil of the dynamics of China’s pretrial detention system by looking into various socio-legal factors which may affect law enforcement in China. When the prosecutors make their decisions on detention in practice, a variety of factors such as state compensation, performance-based evaluation as well as judicial ecology such as public opinion, power struggle, and judicial coordination all play a role. The dynamics of China’s detention system, through governing the prosecutors’ daily operations and the procuratorate’s routine policy-making, often distort the pretrial detention system that is mainly regulated by the Criminal Procedure Law and in practice, result in a high rate of custody. The dynamics also suggest a non-autonomous criminal justice system in China, meaning that extra-legal factors usually influence, complicate, and sometimes even re-direct China’s development of the rule of law.     

Citizenship and justice: public prosecutors in social contexts in Portugal

All over the world judicial systems are under tremendous pressure as the instruments used by citizens to access their full rights. The erosion of other state powers has transferred expectations of social intervention or, at least, protection for the rights of the weak and vulnerable, to the sphere of justice. Hence, in some countries the social role of judges or public prosecutors has become more important and their work is publicly scrutinised to ensure that their duties are performed correctly and fairly. In addition to criminal law, social areas of justice (concerning workers and children) have become more central to judicial systems, conferring a new public responsibility on these professionals.

In several countries, including Portugal, public prosecutors are unusual within the legal profession given that they have equal status in both social and criminal areas of law. In certain systems, public prosecutors may act as a party, defending the rights of powerless citizens and leading them through the judicial process. Such powers offer great potential for fairness and justice but at the same time can lead to dangerous professional controversies. Through an analysis of the Portuguese model, one of the more advanced of its kind (in terms of intervention), some of the main features will be described and identified.

Public prosecutors in Portugal have, for many years, been in charge of a set of very varied responsibilities within the context of the Family and Juvenile and Labour Courts which far exceed what is publicly acknowledged, particularly in criminal matters. However, their functions are not limited to those of the ‘public prosecutor’ or ‘coordinator of the investigation’ typically associated with responsibilities in criminal matters.

Within the context of these two major and socially sensitive areas, public prosecutors act as intermediaries between the different parties and entities involved in litigation, a fact which, in professional terms, endows them with features which are atypical of magistrates and places them in close contact with citizens. Thus, taking a case study based on the Coimbra Family and Juvenile and Labour Courts as its starting point, this paper aims to map out these formal and informal functions, which create a level of importance that is probably much higher than would have been expected, particularly given the lack of truly credible and effective alternatives that enable citizens to access law and justice.     

美国的律师考试制度及其对我国司法考试的启示

在美国 ,法学专业教育是参加律师考试必不可少的条件 ,而通过律师考试是步入律师界的必经之路。职业责任考试在律师考试中占有举足轻重的地位。几乎所有的法官和检察官都是来自于律师队伍。这种职业准入制度有着诸多可资借鉴之处。我们应当加强职业责任教育在法学教育中的地位 ,加大职业责任在律师考试中的份量 ,逐渐建立一种制度 ,即只有通过律师考试的人才有资格任法官或检察官。     

英国检察官审前会见证人制度研究

为防止检察官在审前训练、指导证人作证和污染证据,英格兰和威尔士的法律传统禁止检察官在审前会见证人.2003年开始,检察官审前会见证人的制度（PTWI）在英格兰和威尔士经历了从试点到全面推行的变革过程.为此,英国修改了《皇家检察官守则》的相关内容,制定了审前会见的《实务守则》和《工作指南》.而同为普通法系的我国香港地区对要不要引入检察官审前证人会见制度进行了审慎的研究,最终决定维持现行做法.英国这一制度探索展现了“检察官基于案件证据资料做出公诉决定”这一过程的复杂性,我国应从制度上规范检察官审前会见证人,科学评估证人证言可靠性,促进审查起诉制度精细化发展.     

建设法治基础上的公共服务型政府

面对我国政府管理中的问题,许多学者从不同的角度提出了不同的解决方案,这些主张在不同的地方被不同的政府拿来作为政府改革的目标。本文通过对法治政府、有限政府、责任政府和服务型政府的比较分析后,认为法治政府已经涵括了有限政府和责任政府之内容,服务型政府则从管理职能和管理方式上突出了服务之作用,因而,我国应该建立法治基础上的公共服务型政府。     

Community prosecution tenets and practices: The relative mix of “community” and “prosecution”

Community prosecution encourage prosecutors to collaborate with constituents to mutually determine solutions to community problems. However, the potential exists for prosecutors to continue seeking their traditional goals of maximizing convictions while nominally working within a community-prosecution framework. A random survey of 261 Georgia prosecutors helps to determine whether community-based prosecutors spend more time in community outreach and law enforcement coordination activities. The results show that attorney caseload measures correlate with time spent on community outreach and law enforcement. Being assigned to community prosecution or a specialized crime unit is not consistently related either of these activities. In short, consistent differences do not emerge between community-based and traditional prosecutors.     

A higher bar: Institutional impediments to hate crime prosecution

Why are hate crime cases so rarely prosecuted? Most states and the federal government have hate crime laws on their books, yet available data indicate few prosecutions in most jurisdictions. Drawing on case files and interviews with police and prosecutors in one jurisdiction, three institutional impediments to hate crime prosecution are identified: evidentiary inflation, by which law enforcement uses a higher burden of proof than what is required by statute; loose coupling between police departments and prosecutors' offices; and cultural distance between law enforcement and victims. Findings also reveal that advocacy groups and media can successfully increase the visibility of cases and draw the attention of prosecutors. The findings align with aspects of legal endogeneity theory and enhance our understanding of the role of organizations in constructing the meaning of law. The results also help explain why some laws are rarely enforced, even when they have support from key personnel in an organization.     

论公司融资中债权人利益的保护——以信息资产与责任为中心

信息、资产与责任是公司内外部利益群体利益博弈所借重的重要工具,更是债权人维护自身利益的主要手段。信息将资产向外传递的效率与质量,需要借由规制高管与审计师的责任对其＂保驾护航＂,以此为连结,法治理念的树立、严法以治的方向、高管对债权人信义义务的规制以及案例法经验的借鉴与吸收,有利于强化高管与审计师责任,更加有利于保障信息可以全面、高效地将公司资产情况向公司债权人传递,继而保护债权人利益。     

先秦和秦朝法治的现代省思

中国具有悠久的历史传统 ,其中蕴藏着丰厚的法治资源。本文考察并分析了先秦和秦朝法治产生的历史背景、主要原则、运作机制、价值取向以及实践效果等 ,指出了传统法治中的一些原则、义理和机制与现代法治有相通之处 ,可为现代法治所用     

Prosecution independence and accountability: principles,challenges and recommendations

This paper examines the independence and accountability of the prosecutor and the prosecution agency, principles that apply in those areas, challenges that may arise and recommendations for action that enable jurisdictions to comply with best practice in the field, strengthening the rule of law and contributing to good governance. The prosecution agency, through the conduct of its head and of individual prosecutors, plays a fundamental role in the proper administration of criminal justice. For it to operate efficiently and effectively, both government and the community must have confidence in it. That requires that it operate independently, according to well-established principles, and accountably. Challenges to those requirements may be met legislatively, structurally, managerially and operationally. A central issue discussed – especially in the context of small jurisdictions – is the desirability of having an independent Director of Public Prosecutions.     

程序正义的中国语境

程序正义在中国的语境中已被曲解,这种曲解不仅与我国传统的法律文化中程序工具主义、纠问式诉讼模式、法治基础薄弱有很大关系,与现实的程序价值理念及立法与司法的严重脱节密切相连。中国语境下的“程序正义”既是我国在迈向法治社会进程中传统文化与制度的缺陷的现实表现,又是我国法治现代化的一种必然产物。中国要走向程序法治,不仅需要相应的人文环境和相关的法律制度作为支撑,还需要在程序法治的实践中不断地加以检验并修正自己。     

The Fiscal Imperative and the Role of Public Prosecutors in Brazilian Environmental Policy

The main characteristic of the general policy-making process in Brazil is the dominance of a fiscal imperative that leads the president to use his/her substantial powers to pursue monetary stability and fiscal responsibility. The fiscal imperative means that environmental policy is only attended to if the macroeconomic constraint permits. However, Brazilian public prosecutors exert a significant countervailing constraint that impedes the president from simply pushing environmental policy to the sidelines. This article describes the role of the public prosecutors in the environmental policy process and provides statistical analysis supporting the claim that their involvement exerts a positive effect on environmental policy outcomes.     

Lesser-included offenses

The positions taken by prosecutors and defense lawyers on proposed jury instructions on lesser-included offenses provide evidence that juries do not follow the law strictly. This paper develops a simple model of expected utility to predict how jurors make their decisions. The model explains a stylized fact that is inconsistent with the idea that juries always follow the law, namely why prosecutors often object to giving the jury the option of a lesser-included offense. We use the model to evaluate the law concerning jury instructions on primary and lesser-included offenses.     

环境污染责任构成要件再探讨——兼评《侵权责任法》的相关规定

《侵权责任法》明确了环境污染侵权责任不以行为具有违法性作为构成要件,在法律层面上明确环境污染侵权责任的因果关系推定规则是对我国传统侵权责任法的突破,具有重要的理论和实践意义。但在损害要件上的矛盾态度、环境污染预防性责任适用时的违法性考量及部分条款之间存在的逻辑上的不周延也是需要进一步探讨的问题。     

法治进程中检察官专业化之必要性

中国检察制度是社会主义法治进程中的一项重要制度,是检察官专业化的基础。检察官担负着法律监督职责,履行法律监督职能,推进检察官专业化,既是检察官履行职责的要求,也是提高检察官素质和依法治国的要求。     

法治中的文本与语境分析

从“文本———语境”的关系来看待法治 ,可以发现法治的根本性问题在于文本意义的展开 ,而这种意义的展开是一种语境的依赖。通过分析语境与文本解读的关系 ,法治的核心问题将会得到近距离的审视。