Course Of Justice Research Articles

Prosecuting human traffickers in Nigeria: victim-witnessing and community-oriented challenges

AbstractThe paper reflects on the limitations of Nigeria’s antitrafficking efforts, as they relate, particularly, to the complexities of victim-witnessing in the prosecution of sex trafficking cases. While much has been written about the institutional and cultural impediments to victim-witnessing in Nigeria or Nigerian-related sex trafficking cases, our work seeks to ask an often underplayed, if not ignored question: Can individuals existing under unjust structures find the impetus to assist the state advance the course of justice? We respond to this question by exploring the interrelationships between political failure, community-oriented trafficking and the moral quandary faced by intercepted victims who see trafficking as a conduit for economic mobility. Utilising Robert Merton’s strain theory, we highlight how the relational dynamics between traffickers and their victims within a community-oriented trafficking context underscore an innovation adjustment to the Mertonian strain. Against this background, we conclude that victim-witnessing is and will remain a challenge for Nigeria’s criminal justice response to trafficking because victims perceive their criminal exploiters as inextricably linked to their material wellbeing.

A study of bribery and corruption in Exodus 23: 8 and the Nigerian experience

Bribery and corruption are social global phenomena that have generated debates among scholars. They are problems of routine deviation from established standards and norms by public officers and parties with whom they interact. It is widely held that bribery and corruption are the bane of the development of many nations in the world today. Previous studies on bribery and corruption have situated its cause in human weakness with little or no attention paid to divine position on the issue. This study examined Yahweh’s instruction to ancient Israel on bribery and corruption. Exodus 23: 8 was chosen as the text of investigation to establish Yahweh’s position on bribery. As a corollary, the study explored how Nigerians are expected to handle the issue of bribery and corruption in our contemporary time. African Biblical Hermeneutics that makes the Bible relevant in any culture and nation was used for the study. It was discovered that the level of corruption in ancient Israel and Nigeria was very high. Findings revealed that some Nigerian judges and leaders collect bribes to pervert the course of justice. The poor and the less privileged in society suffer injustice of all sorts in the hands of leaders and judges who have received bribes. These corrupt practices are partly responsible for the unrest, banditry, underdevelopment, unemployment and insecurity that have bedevilled our nation today. For Nigeria to stand tall in the comity of Nations her citizens must make justice and equity their watchword. Nigerians who are involved in Bribery and Corruption be sanctioned.

Application of the Institute of Private Rulings of Arbitrazh Courts

A private ruling as a procedural institution aimed at eliminating identified violations of the rule of law in the course of justice and preventing their recurrence is well known to civil proceedings and is actively used by courts of general jurisdiction. At the same time, there has always been an ambiguous attitude in the legal community towards private rulings in the arbitrazh process, which found their legislative consolidation back in the Arbitrazh Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in 1992, due to the divergence of views on their purpose and legal essence, fragmented legal regulation, as well as multidirectionally developing judicial practice. In addition, for a fairly long period of time, the institution of private rulings was generally excluded from the arbitrazh process, which negatively affected its importance and relevance on the part of the judicial system. Currently, private rulings form an important procedural tool used by arbitrazh courts both to strengthen the rule of law and to prevent offenses in the field of entrepreneurial and other economic activities also for the purpose of informing the bodies of inquiry or preliminary investigation about the signs of a crime discovered while dealing with the case. However, the differences in the legal regulation of private rulings in the arbitrazh process compared with regulation in civil or administrative proceedings, significant features and significantly different approaches in the practice of their application by arbitrazh courts represent private rulings as a contradictory and conflicting legal institution, which leads to a decrease in its effectiveness and applicability in the work of courts.

Why identification matters: an explorative study on six cases of family reunification

The escalating phenomenon of migration, accompanied by a disturbing surge in associated tragedies, has persistently violated internationally protected human rights. Absence of physical evidence, namely the presence of adequately identified corpses, may impede the full enjoyment of human rights and—in some cases—the course of justice as it obstructs the initiation of legal proceedings against individuals implicated in causing such catastrophes. It also presents administrative obstacles, as death certificates are indispensable in legitimizing statuses like orphanhood and widowhood. Family reunification, particularly for orphans, plays a significant role for those attempting to reconnect with their relatives all over the world. Likewise, for mothers, the acknowledgment of their marital status or widowhood can be a pathway to regain their marginalized right to social life. To elucidate this issue, we analyzed six representative cases from the tragic October 3, 2013, shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa, where 366 individuals were retrieved dead from the sea. These cases underscore the practical challenges involved, highlighting the compelling need for continued efforts to ensure that this burdensome problem transcends from being a mere ethical, moral, and legal discourse. Although considerable progresses, these cases also reveal that substantial work still lies ahead. There is a pressing need for improved mechanisms to certify kinship ties, which are often the limiting factor in many reunifications, and can hinder the granting of custody to children. The severity and far-reaching implications of this problem necessitate thoughtful attention and action, especially considering the ongoing escalation in migration and related fatalities.

An examination of criminal offenders with dementia in Australian courts

This study aims to characterize people with dementia who were charged with criminal offences between 1995 and 2020 and describe their offending. Court cases were derived from Australian legal databases and descriptive data were manually extracted from case reports. Of 62 people variously charged with homicide, assault, child sexual assault, breach of conditions, property and larceny offences, driving offences, perverting the course of justice and arson, 46 were identified as having executive dysfunction, either as stated by medical expert witnesses or implicitly, due to conditions like Huntington’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. Offending history was found to differ depending on offence type and dementia type. Executive dysfunction appears to underly offending in the sample; furthermore, some disease factors may combine to ‘inhibit’ or ‘permit’ offending. Permitting factors include executive dysfunction and younger age at time of offending; inhibitory factors include dementia-related impacts on mobility, memory and reaction speed.

Chetty v Perumaul (AR313/2020) [2021] ZAKZPHC 66 (21 September 2021) - A cautionary note on the self-inflicted injury of disastrous and careless cross-examination

The Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court recently commented on the functional interrelationship between judicial and legal professional ethics (Sutherland "The Dependence of Judges on Ethical Conduct by Legal Practitioners: The Ethical Duties of Disclosure and Non-Disclosure" 2021 SAJEJ Vol 4, Issue 1 47-64). Sutherland appropriately states that a culture of ethical conduct by legal practitioners is critical to ensure expeditious litigation and just outcomes (Sutherland 2021 SAJEJ 48). Many others also stress the general importance of professional ethics in legal education, practical legal training, and practice. Nonetheless, unprofessional, dishonourable, and unworthy conduct occurs with sufficient regularity to evoke widespread criticism of the legal profession. The Legal Practice Council listed the names of 123 legal practitioners who were either struck off the roll or suspended in 2022 for unethical conduct. The majority of reported violations were variations on well-known themes. Here some legal practitioners neglected to carry out legal work in a competent and timely manner, while others practiced and appeared in court without obtaining a practice management certificate or a Fidelity Fund Certificate. An advocate accepted instructions and payments directly from clients without a brief from an attorney and later used the details of attorneys without their consent. Some reported judgments, however, describe less common or novel examples of unethical conduct, such as defeating or obstructing the course of justice, misleading the court and forgery. In one instance, a legal practitioner placed a matter on an unopposed roll to secure a default judgment by intentionally removing the notice to oppose and the answering affidavit from the court file. This same legal practitioner assaulted and intimidated members of the South African Police Service ("SAPS") and was later interdicted from intimidating, threatening, victimising and harassing members of the SAPS and State attorney's offices.

The procedural fraud that justifies the appeal for a retrial according to the Jordanian Civil Procedure Code

The idea of ​​fraud is considered to have ethical dimensions that find its applications in a wide range of branches of law, both public and private, without exception. Its range is extended to the Civil Procedure Code, which is the common law for all other procedural laws. These procedural laws vary between judicial and non-judicial; Therefore, they must be protected from the fraud and manipulation of the opponents, which are usually aimed at prolonging the litigation period, depriving rights holders of their rights, or misleading justice for an unlawful purpose, which affects the proper course of justice. We have concluded that the possibility of applying the principle of cheating spoils everything on the rules of procedure. Especially, since this principle is one of the universal and stable legal principles without stipulating it in the law, as it is a principle linked to the public order. In addition, the methods of cheating are not limited to the illegal behavior of the opponent but extend to include the concealment and lying of the opponent. Therefore, it is necessary for the legislator to intervene to regulate the rules of fraud in the procedures with explicit texts and not to leave them to the general rules.

On the ‘darkness of dark figure’ of sexual crimes: Survivors' rape reporting experiences with the Nigerian police

While extensive studies have identified the influence of social perception and victims' self-blame as factors responsible for underreporting of rape, fewer studies have explored victims' interaction with police officers and possible impacts this could have on victims' reporting behavior. Therefore, this study explores rape victims’ interaction with officers of the Nigerian Police in the course of seeking justice. Twenty-seven victims of rape who interacted with police and six key informants working in women advocacy groups were interviewed in a qualitative study. Findings indicated that participants perceived police officers to have engaged in victim-blaming, slut-shaming, lack of empathy, refusal to cooperate with counsel, and delaying investigative processes. Evidence from the study suggests that police officers manifest influence from social stereotypes and rape scripts in their perception of rape victims. The study suggests the deployment of a special anti-sexual violence unit within the police, consisting of well-trained and skilled personnel in sexual crimes.

Prospects and Challenges to Prove Environmental Harm in Litigation: Status Quo In Nigeria

Environmental litigation and enforcement of environmental rights remain a global challenge to sustainability, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. The increasing rates of industrial activities have led to increase in production of hazardous substances posing threat to lives of the inhabitants of the environment. Victims of environmental harm most times find it difficult to protect and enforce their environmental rights. Proving environmental harm such as damages to property in litigation to enforce rights of compensation or restoration for damages suffered becomes difficult due to locus standi technicalities and undue delays during trials. Sometimes victims are faced with financial constraint in pursuing the course of justice which involves retaining the services of a lawyer and expert witnesses. This paper, therefore, examines the prospects and challenges to proving environmental harm in litigation. This paper employs doctrinal legal research methodology and content analysis of both primary and secondary sources in relation to proving environmental harm in litigation. On this premise, this paper recommends the application of the principle of Res Ipsa Loquitur in trials of environmental cases. Proving environmental harm for the enforcement of environmental rights by victims, should be totally devoid of technicalities of law during trials. This will in turn promote the course of justice in cases dealing with environmental harm.

Judges in the Dock

This article refers to judges, in the UK and elsewhere, who have themselves been convicted of or accused of a crime, whether while still officiating as a judge, before their appointment, or after their retirement. The most obvious criminal offence of which judges are guilty is bribery. This is considered in this article, but there is a wide range of offences from smuggling to murder, including, along the way, perjury, perverting the course of justice, two judges sent to prison for passing sentences which were much too heavy and one judge imprisoned for passing a sentence which was much too light. It examines the ways in which such judges have been dealt with and disparities of sentence.
 Keywords: perjury; perverting the course of justice; points-swapping; sentencing.

PUNISHING THE FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH STATUTORY DUTIES IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT

Drivers of vehicles on public roads have long been subject to various duties upon being involved in a collision or an accident. It seems that the earliest formulation of a duty upon a driver involved in an accident was promulgated in Durban in 1906, where hit-and-run motorists were targeted, with the same regulation being promulgated a year later in Pietermaritzburg. This regulation required the driver of a motor car, if an accident occurred involving a pedestrian, a person on horseback or in a vehicle, or to any horse or vehicle in the charge of a person, to stop and, if required, to give his name and address, the name and address of the owner of the motor car and its registration mark and number. The obligation to stop, to provide name and address and registration number, was repeated in the provincial ordinances which replaced these local regulations. The duties presently imposed on a driver in the event of an accident are set out in section 61 of the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 (hereinafter “the Act”). The current formulation is substantially similar to its antecedents, in the form of section 135 of the uniform Road Traffic Ordinance of 1966 (in which the traffic rules of the then four provinces of the Republic of South Africa were set out (hereinafter “the Ordinance”); for a discussion of this section and the relevant case law, see Cooper Motor Law Volume I (1982) 486ff; and s 118 of the Road Traffic Act 29 of 1989 (hereinafter “Road TrafficAct”)). The most substantial change between the various formulations was the inclusion in the Road Traffic Act of section 118(2A), in terms of section 20 of Act 39 of 1993. This provision is found in the present formulation at section 61(3). Section 61(1) creates seven separate offences, thus consequently, where an accused has knocked down and injured or killed a pedestrian and has failed to comply with the provisions of section 61(1)(a) and section 61(1)(b) he or she may be charged with contravening both of these sections. Two further offences are created in section 61(2) and section 61(3), relating to the removal of a vehicle which has been involved in an accident, from the scene of such accident. It is not unknown for a driver who has collided with another vehicle, orpedestrians, to seek to evade civil or criminal liability by fleeing the scene of NOTES/AANTEKENINGE 333 the accident in order to escape identification. Such “hit-and-run” driving, besides defeating the proper course of justice, often involves a callous disregard of the physical injuries suffered by the victims of collisions. Legislatures seek to inhibit such conduct by imposing upon the driver of any vehicle involved in accidents the duty to stop and render such assistance as may be appropriate and to report the accident. Given that the “hit and run” offence has been variously described as “one of the most serious of offences in which a motorist can become involved” (S v Mavridopolos 1973 2 SA 44 (RA) 45H), “almost invariably despicable and mean” (R v Chipunza 1967 3 SA 589 (RA) 590F-G), and “the meanest type of case it is possible for a motorist to be concerned in” (R v Pather 1942 NPD 247 248), it is proposed to examine the sentencing guidelines in relation to punishment of the failure to fulfil the duties imposed by section 61. The note will first briefly advert to each of the individual duties, before concluding with some general comments about the sentencing regime established in the Act.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PENAL PROVISIONS AGAINST A LEGAL INDIVIDUAL AND THEIR PROBLEMS IN IRAQI LEGISLATION

Legal persons play a large role in societies, especially in recent times, because they have played a positive and pivotal role towards high rates of investment and economic development. However, these legal persons may prove their involvement - in some cases - towards committing many crimes and violating the provisions of the law. Accordingly, the importance of this research comes through dealing with one of the important topics, which is to shed light on the implementation of penal provisions on the legal person and its problems in Iraqi legislation. Our study aims at explaining the approach of the Iraqi legislator towards the proper implementation of the penal provisions on the legal person, especially since the implementation of the judgment revolves around the availability of many legislative provisions, and what many legal texts have settled in the criminal legislation in Iraq, so what is the contribution of those policies and procedures regulating the implementation process Towards achieving its deterrent goals and achieving retributive justice. Despite the clarity of the texts related to the implementation of penal judgments on a legal person, many legal difficulties and problems may arise when implementing a criminal judgment, which would have an impact on obstructing the course of justice, which calls for solutions that remove such obstacles. Our study deals with following the descriptive analytical approach and clarifying the position of the Iraqi legislator towards the issue of implementing penal provisions on the legal person. Our study in this regard is divided into two sections; In the first topic, we deal with the concept of the legal person and the trends of legal jurisprudence towards his penal responsibility.. Then we explain in the second topic the position of the Iraqi legislation regarding the implementation of criminal judgments towards the legal person, as our study addresses two demands. Keywords: Legal Person, Penal Judgment, Iraqi Legislation, Problems, Legal Jurisprudence.

ARBITRATION JUDICIARY – NEW QUALITY OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Arbitration judiciary, often referred to as arbitration, is commonly presented in the literature as one of the alternative methods of dispute resolution. The objections to the irregularities of the judicial state system and legitimate expectations in terms of reducing the time and costs of the proceedings guarantee the parties real access to court and protection of their rights by drawing up an arbitration clause. As part of the mutual relations of arbitration with respect to alternative dispute resolution methods, it should be emphasized that arbitration is a real alternative to the state justice administered by the common courts. It is also worth pointing to the possibilities and the need for disputes resolution by arbitration constituting as an important addition to the course of justice made by courts. The consistent intention to resolve the conflict reflected in the arbitration agreement and the exceptional opportunities for the parties to participate in the arbitration proceedings constitute a new content of the culture and legal awareness of citizens and the creation of modern mutual relations between the parties of broadly understood civil law relations. An arbitration clause, the implementation of arbitration proceedings and the resolution of a dispute within the framework of arbitration may and should therefore constitute a new quality in the administration of justice.

Reconciliation Between the Victim and the Perpetrator-Restorative Justice

Abstract The purpose of this research is to study and address the relation between the perpetrator and the victim, in particular the way it is regulated in the Republic of Kosovo by comparing it with the regulation in other countries. A long time ago criminal law in its institutes has paid attention only to the perpetrator, trying to guarantee his fundamental rights, it is enough to stop at the institute of presumption of innocence and many other institutes and we can see how importance criminal law and in particular criminal procedure has paid to the perpetrator, and on the other hand the victim has always remained in the shadows. Therefore, today we find it reasonable to address this issue, to find out from which period criminal law and authors of criminal law turn their heads towards the victim, to find out what is the position of the victim in society today, what steps have been taken in legal terms and also special attention will be paid precisely to restorative justice as a key point for the realization of the rights of the victim, the compensation of the damage and the restoration of balance and the establishment of relations in society. And it is quite important that in addition to the relations that perpetrators have with victims, we also try to understand the historical course of restorative justice and this way to make an analysis of the position of the victim and the perpetrator over the decades.

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE: FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

The article examines the experience of some foreign countries in implementing the proceedings of simplified procedure. One of the most common expedited methods of conducting justice in the world is the so-called summary proceedings, which, obviously, comes from the English word “summary”, which means short, brief, and abbreviated. Summary procedures (or proceedings) have some similarities with mandatory and simplified proceedings in the domestic law. The main peculiarity of the summary proceedings consists in the fact that the decision on a particular case is carried out without any court hearing based on analysis of the reliability, admissibility of evidence and assessment of the positions of the parties at the preliminary stage of the process. However, the specific peculiarity, that is the written nature of the proceedings, does not exist in this case. It is due to an oral conversation included that the court conducts with the parties, so, following the previously stated argumentation in terms of clarifying the terminology, the summary proceedings are expedited regarding ordinary procedures, but not simplified. In the countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal family, there is also another specific form of acceleration of civil procedures, which is not common for the Ukrainian legal system that is a concerted decision. The concerted decision is an agreement between parties sanctioned by a court, and it takes an advantage of immunity regarding an indirect appeal (by an additional claim) to the same extent as a decision rendered by a court. The concerted decision is the final act, which concludes the consideration of the case as such. It has been established that in most developed countries of the world the model of the course of justice in civil cases provides for a plurality of expedited procedures, each of which is intended to consider a separate category of cases. In some countries, in order to denote such a type of procedures, they use the general word “particular”, as, for example, in France – procedure particulieres, emphasizing their uniqueness and special peculiarities. In many countries, such special procedures include a procedural mechanism, which is similar to the domestic system of mandatory procedures.

Need for Psychological Check-ups and Medical Treatment to the witnesses of Heinous Crimes

Witnesses are regarded as one of the most indispensable element in the criminal justice system. It is because of them that the trial finds some substance so as to arrive at a fair conclusion. The inputs provided by the witness may have direct bearing on the conviction or acquittal of an accused, hence it is desired that such witness be protected from the wrath of extraneous factors that have the capability to change his stance over a particular case. Extraneous factors in form of corruption or threats form a majority which results in turning of the witness hostile; hence it becomes rudimentary for the state to ensure protection of such witness so as not to alter the prescribed course of justice.

Bloody Lucre: Carceral Labor and Prison Profit

The pursuit of profit is inextricably intertwined with America’s system of carceral labor and criminal punishment. Along with the institution of slavery, the harnessing of involuntary carceral labor yielded enormous proceeds through transformation of human toil into financial gain. Profit incentives have exerted a profound influence on the shape of American carceral labor. From 16th-century British convict transportation to 21st-century private corrections companies, profitable returns from involuntary carceral servitude have been an important feature of criminal punishment. This Article traces the coruscating power of the private profit motive within the criminal justice system, one of the first to chart the ways this focus on revenues has shaped the forced toil of those under correctional control. By thoroughly evaluating our carceral history, and dissecting the financial currents that have shaped the many forms of involuntary inmate servitude, we will be better able to disentangle how money has influenced and warped our system into one of mass incarceration. Moreover, a full understanding of our carceral past could help us begin to rechart the course of modern criminal justice, eliminating this kind of involuntary servitude in our system.

Lawyers’ antics and nonverbal impoliteness in Nigerian court documents: An example of Mosojo versus Oyetayo

Unlike the inquisitorial court system, the adversarial court requires that counsels willfully resort to face-aggravating impolite non/verbal acts through the instrumentation of relevant court papers as well as the use of professional privileges at the cross-examination phase to the detriment of the opposition, thereby elevating the quest for victory above fact-finding and the dispensation of justice. The study evaluates counsels’ impolite nonverbal communicative behaviour and professional antics which are complementary to verbal impoliteness. Anchored on Watts’ (2003) theory of relational works and Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness super-strategies, the study drew fifteen (15) purposively selected examples, with preponderance of underlying nonverbal face-aggravating behaviour by professional courtroom participants, from archived pretrial documents and transcripts of proceedings in Mosojo versus Oyetayo (2012). Against the existence of inquisitorial and fact-finding alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, the disputants chose the adversarial Western-like court system, with a penchant for impolite non/verbal behaviour, for the resolution of the Obasinkin chieftaincy dispute in a Nigerian community. Findings revealed that counsels’ antics and nonverbal impolite behaviour are not only embedded in some legal documents, but also manifested in the form of time-wasting, willful absence from court and embedded presupposing boobytrap arguments that were meant to frustrate the opposition and influence the course of justice. Litigants are advised to explore the ADR alternative while judges should regulate the courtroom use of language to prevent the miscarriage of justice.

EL INTENTO DE COPAMIENTO DE LA TABLADA (1989). REPRESIÓN, JUSTICIA Y DERECHOS HUMANOS

El 23 de enero de 1989, militantes de la agrupación MTP encabezados por Enrique Gorriarán Merlo –histórico dirigente del PRT-ERP–, intentaron copar los cuarteles del Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizada 3 “General Belgrano” en la localidad argentina de La Tablada, con el supuesto propósito de frustrar un golpe militar carapintada en contra del gobierno de Raúl Alfonsín, quien había enfrentado tres levantamientos militares a lo largo de su gestión. La represión fue desmedida y violenta y dejó varias personas heridas, muertas y desaparecidas. En este artículo me propongo analizar las lecturas del ataque a La Tablada y el derrotero de la justicia al respecto, poniendo énfasis en las violaciones a los derechos humanos producidas, el rol del Estado, las consecuencias en la modificación de las leyes represivas y el cambio en la correlación de fuerzas en la relación gobiernos/militares.

Introducing Victim Impact Statement in India: Reconceptualizing Victim Status

The right to fair trial is inherent in the concept of due process of law, which now forms part of Article 21 of Indian Constitution after the Maneka Gandhi judgement. Pertinently attached with the same comes the responsibility of the criminal system to treat victims with increased awareness and sensitivity. However, the established convention shows that in planning and developing administration of criminal justice, proper attention is not given to the victims of crime in achieving goals of criminal justice; the major cause of it being that a victim is heard only as a witness not as a victim. A credible response to the said issue has emerged in the form of victim impact statement (VIS) in the modern legal system across the world. With that being said, the researchers through this article try to deduce the need for incorporating a VIS in India through the various jurisprudential understandings of what it means to be a victim, including the gap between the subjective experience of the sufferer and the interpretation of the same by others, and what restorative justice would mean to heal a victim. Establishing upon the same premise of victim status, the researchers try to suggest that the introduction of VIS, with the primary purpose of it being a therapeutic tool and not an instrument of changing the course of justice, will serve to make us reconsider our contours of a ‘victim’.