ICC Pre-Trial Chamber Allows Victims to Participate in the Investigation Phase of Proceedings

The decision rendered by the International Criminal Court (ICC)Pre-Trial Chamber I on 17 January 2006 allows victims to beinvolved in ICC proceedings at an early stage of the investigation.The Prosecutor, who has filed an appeal against this decision,has consistently argued that the right of victims to participatein the proceedings does not cover the investigation phase. Itis argued that the impact of this decision goes far beyond theissue of victims’ participation in the investigations;it has general implications for the balance of power betweenthe judiciary and the prosecution in proceedings before theICC.     

Newspaper juries

This article reports on a field experiment on the effect of media information on people’s attitudes towards the justice system. For the duration of a year a Dutch local newspaper took small groups of readers, called ‘newspaper jurors’, to court sessions of criminal cases and subsequently reported on their experiences and perceptions. Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined whether an attitude change in the general reader population of this particular local newspaper occurred as a result of the jury’s newspaper reports. Findings show that, after the treatment interval of 1 year, no attitude change in the general reader population could be identified that was absent in the control group.     

Intellectual Property Theft and Organized Crime: The Case of Film Piracy

This article seeks to understand the processes by which the crime of intellectual property theft is organized, with specific attention given to film piracy. It seeks to identify the structure and function of the criminal enterprises engaged in this crime and assess the degree to which organized crime is involved with film piracy. An analysis of available sources reveals that general conclusions about the relationship of organized crime to film piracy results from a lack of useable and verifiable information in media, government, and industry sources. In the absence of independent, substantive analysis, anecdote and industry interests currently drive public policies and legal developments created to address the role of organized crime in film piracy. In the United States and across the globe, seizures, criminal indictments, civil actions, and public awareness are up considerably. Whether or not these advances can be maintained in the face of technological advances, the evolution of industry economic structures, and consumer indifference to the stigma of intellectual property theft and concern at industry response to such theft remains to be seen. Specific recommendations for future research are offered. The author would like to thank the International Center of the National Institute of Justice for soliciting funding this research through a grant, Intellectual Property and Organized Crime. He also Thanks Jay S. Albanese and his the anonymous reviewers of this work for their helpful comments and criticisms. This article only reflects the findings of the author, not the National Institute of Justice, Dr. Albanese or the reviewers.