Court Hearings Research Articles

Finding the Truth in A Virtual Courtroom: Criminal Trials in Indonesia during the COVID-19

Video conferencing through video call platforms, such as Zoom and Google Meet, has become a useful option for judges holding criminal trials during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. This trend also occurred in Indonesia. Some judges believe that video conferencing technology will help them accomplish justice in an emergency, referring to the legal maxim 'salus populi suprema lex esto’ or ‘let the welfare of the people be the supreme law’. Although virtual trials assist courts in preventing the spread of the deadly virus, they have also affected the work of judges to reach the substantive truth. This paper examines the challenges concerning the rights of the accused and technological matters that have emerged under the use of virtual courtrooms and, in some ways, led to unfair trial procedures. We argue that the absence of laws that regulate virtual courtrooms, along with an outdated the Code of Criminal Procedure in Indonesia (KUHAP), can lead to miscarriages of justice. The arguments presented in this article are based on survey data conducted from December 2020 to January 2021. The respondents are judges from Indonesia's western, middle, and eastern regions who used video conference facilities for criminal court hearings during the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020-2021.

Using a Randomised Controlled Trial to Test the Effectiveness of a Simplified Notice of Police Bail

Abstract Purpose To test whether a simplified notice of police bail can increase court attendance in New Zealand by increasing defendant awareness of upcoming court hearings. Methods We designed a simplified notice of police bail using principles from behavioural science. The simplified notice reduced the required reading age of the front page by 2 years and included a clear call to action and simplified information. We rolled the notice out across six police stations in New Zealand and tested the impact with a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) (n = 1542, with clustering by custody officer). We also conducted interviews with defendants and staff, and conducted a survey with staff, to gain additional insights into the barriers to court attendance. Results Our results suggest the simplified notice increased court attendance by 3.6 percentage points (p < 0.1). If scaled throughout New Zealand, this would translate to around 1400 more defendants attending court each year due to the new notice. Our qualitative findings highlight a number of barriers to attendance not addressed by the simplified notice, including transport barriers, childcare barriers, and waiting times at court. Conclusions A simplified notice of police bail can increase court attendance by increasing defendants’ awareness of their court requirements. There are a range of additional barriers to attendance not overcome by our intervention which future interventions could address. Trial Registration AEARCTR-0007018.

Peculiarities of procedural decision-making during pre-trial investigation of high-profile offences a sexual nature committed against children

Based on the analysis of regulatory legal acts and investigative and judicial practice, certain peculiarities of procedural decision-making during pre-trial investigation of high-profile criminal offences of a sexual nature committed against children have been highlighted, namely, with regard to: the formation of an investigative team or an investigative and operational team; the application of security measures; the conduct of criminal proceedings in a closed court session; and the application of measures to ensure criminal proceedings.
 It has been noted that for a comprehensive, complete and impartial pre-trial investigation of high-profile criminal offences, including sexual offences committed against children, the need to establish an investigative team is provided for at the regulatory level. In addition, the law provides for the possibility for an investigating judge or court to decide to conduct criminal proceedings in a closed court session during the entire trial or a separate part of it in the case of a criminal offence against sexual freedom and sexual inviolability of a person (Article 27(2)(2) of the CPC of Ukraine). Court practice has shown examples of such a decision being made in the case of choosing a preventive measure for a person suspected of committing sexual offences, in particular those committed against children, and during the interrogation of a person during a pre-trial investigation in a court hearing.
 A procedure for application of measures to ensure criminal proceedings during the pre-trial investigation of the category of criminal offences under study, in particular, suspension from the duty, and preventive measures has been analysed. It has been established that, for the most part, preventive measures are chosen taking into account the risks envisaged by Article 177 of the CPC of Ukraine, the severity of the punishment which the suspect faces if found guilty of the criminal offence of which he or she is suspected, the data on the suspect's identity, and the resonance of the criminal offence committed.

Peculiarities of appointing and conducting forensic examinations under martial law

It has been proved that criminal justice is a procedure regulated by the norms of current criminal procedure legislation for the activities of specially authorized subjects (bodies of inquiry, preliminary investigation, prosecution, etc.) to determine the circumstances relating to the commission of criminal offences, conduct pre-trial investigation, hold court hearings, render decisions and impose punishment for criminal offences. It has been noted that forensic examination is a special study carried out by highly qualified persons, in accordance with the established procedures and methods, with the aim of obtaining objective and reliable information about an object or event which is the subject of a trial. Forensic examination is one of the key means of evidence in criminal proceedings. Its key purpose is to conduct a specialised investigation to obtain objective and reliable data about a particular object, which can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. Forensic examinations can be conducted in various fields, such as medicine, physics, chemistry, ballistics, graphology and others, and the data collected can be important for the course of criminal proceedings.
 It has been noted that under martial law, there are fundamentally new features of the appointment and conduct of forensic examinations. At the same time, the need to reduce bureaucratic procedures in the course of appointing examinations, to introduce certain elements of electronic document flow into this process, to reduce the timeframe for conducting certain examinations with their mandatory preliminary differentiation depending on the degree of complexity, and to ensure that such differentiation is legally enshrined in law are also emphasised.

Structural violence and the subversion of participatory planning—the struggle for the Warwick Market in Durban, South Africa

Deprivation, poverty, inequality, forced displacement, psychological harm, lack of public participation in planning and benign neglect are examples of structural violence in cities. In the case of benign neglect, public facilities are deliberately neglected in terms of maintenance and provision of basic facilities—a form of ‘slow violence’. Drawing from qualitative data sources that included participant observation, consultations with legal advisors and court hearings, this paper analyses the different forms of structural violence that were used in early 2009 in the city of Durban to try to replace the century old Early Morning Warwick Market which catered for the poor working class, with a mall. The Municipality’s participatory and consultative approach to upgrade the Warwick Avenue Triangle in the first democratic decade (1994–2004) is contrasted with the subversion of participatory planning in the second democratic decade (2004–2014), as Durban prepared for FIFA 2010. The mall development would have resulted in the loss of an important part of Durban’s history, heritage and culture. A key contention of this paper is that the fatally flawed neoliberal planning fiasco in Warwick Avenue was driven by a top-down process which favoured private corporate interests. The mall project was presented as a public–private partnership. However, in such partnerships local democracy is compromised as the fiscal prospects of local governments become dependent on the business decisions of the private sector. There were serious contradictions evident in the juxtaposition of large-scale public-private partnerships such as the mall, and the threats to displace low-income traders, a process which David Harvey called ‘accumulation by dispossession’. The historical and political processes of accumulated and incremental neglect and stigma which encapsulate ‘slow violence’ contributed to the decay and decline of the Early Morning Market. Attempts to displace traders and replace the market with a mall was basically a political decision, aided and abetted by some senior members in the ruling ANC government hierarchy—a shameful period in Durban’s democratic history. The threats to displace the traders in the Early Morning Market was a form of structural violence, which was reminiscent of the apartheid era. The structural violence of apartheid-capitalism continues at the level of outcomes (non-participation and displacement) even under a changed political structure (democracy), as the ANC government pursues a neoliberal agenda.

Status Of Corruption Acts Under The Indonesian Criminal Law System

The purpose of this research is to describe the regulation of criminal law in Indonesia and to analyze the position of corruption in Indonesian criminal law. This research uses normative legal research in the form of library research using three types of legal materials, namely primary legal materials, secondary legal materials and tertiary legal materials, with the nature of qualitative descriptive research. The results of the study show that the criminal act of corruption is a part of Indonesian criminal law whose arrangements are outside the Criminal Code (KUHP). In addition, this crime has certain specifications that are different from general criminal law which are regulated in separate laws, namely: Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended in Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Eradication of Corruption Crimes. The criminal act of corruption is also known as a special crime. The criminal act of corruption is a part of the special criminal law which has certain specifications that are different from the general criminal law, such as deviations from procedural law and when viewed from the regulated material. The Criminal Procedure Code for corruption that is applied is lex specialist in nature, namely the existence of deviations intended to speed up procedures and obtain investigations, prosecutions and examinations at court hearings.

On the issue of using the results of a virtual autopsy in criminal investigation: A review

This study discusses the legislative aspects of using virtual autopsy (virtopsy) results as evidence in criminal cases.
 When reviewing the literature, several works that present algorithms for using the results of computer modeling of a corpse in the investigative process, as well as the legal aspects of using virtopsy in the field of forensic science and the description of some medical cases, were identified. It also revealed a need for more comprehensive work covering both the legal grounds for using virtopsy results during the investigation and the practical aspects of using this technology for evidence in specific categories of court hearings.
 A SWOT analysis of the use of virtopsy to improve the quality of crime investigation has been performed. Based on the results of the study, the positive and negative aspects of using virtopsy in investigative actions were identified, and practical recommendations for its use in cases of sudden death, medical errors, and the preparation of an examination of an unidentified corpse were developed.
 Using virtopsy results increases the validity of the conclusion in judicial practice, its use should complement the results of an autopsy, and the pictures can be attributed to drawings that can be used during investigative actions and, in the future, as evidence by attaching them to the interrogation protocol.
 Furthermore, virtopsy is used when the deceaseds relatives refuse to have a pathoanatomical autopsy performed, often for religious reasons.
 Using machine programming elements in computed tomography procedures will allow for a re-examination of the corpse without exhumation, determining whether death occurred due to a service error and increasing the efficiency of forensic medical examinations.

Holding of a Closed Court Hearing in a Civil Procedure: Some Challenging Issues

Holding of a Closed Court Hearing in a Civil Procedure: Some Challenging Issues

Reflections on Organizational Conflicts

Records at the University of Education, Winneba discloses that in 2017, the Vice Chancellor of the University, together with five other officers, was sacked. Following this situation was a massive transfer of staff members alleged to be sympathizers of the six dismissed staff members to other campuses of the institution and the suspension of some staff members. This led to several court hearings that made the University popular via the media with continuous controversies. This study is a case study conducted at the University of Education, Winneba that seeks to follow up on the implications of the primary court action that initiated the termination of appointments of staff members and examine the experiences of victims of the University's impasse between 2017 and 2022 when a High Court ruling directed the reinstatement of duty of the dismissed members. This study investigates the reintegration process of staff returning to the institution and seeks to examine the measures taken over the period to address the psychological implications of the impasse.

What Predicts Failure to Appear for Court Hearings?

Despite its importance, the pretrial process has not been subjected to the type of scrutiny directed at judges’ sentencing decisions. The goal of this project, which uses data on defendants released pretrial in four Arizona counties, was to identify the factors that predict failure to appear (FTA) for court hearings and to determine whether these predictors vary across defendants. We found that the likelihood of FTA was affected by a combination of defendant characteristics, case characteristics, and the jurisdiction where the case was adjudicated; the FTA prediction score, which is obtained from the risk assessment instrument used in all Arizona counties, also had a significant effect on the likelihood of FTA. Discussion focuses on inter-jurisdictional differences in FTA rates, the fact that the type of pretrial release did not predict FTA, and the fact that the defendant’s race/ethnicity affected the FTA prediction score and most of the Public Safety Assessment factors.

Participation in the Court of Protection: A search for purpose

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (‘the Act’) (UK) and associated rules and guidance aim to support the person with impaired decision-making to participate in decisions about their life. More than a decade after the Act came into force, there is uncertainty about what it means for the person (‘P’) who is the subject of proceedings in the Court of Protection (‘CoP’) to participate in court hearings. This paper reviews the law and guidance on participation of P as well as the limited published research on P’s participation. The authors identify gaps in the current legal framework and conclude that research which captures the views of judges, practitioners, and not least, P and their families and carers, is a necessary step towards improved CoP guidance and practice promoting the participation of P.

REKONTEKSTUALISASI PENJATUHAN TALAK TIGA DALAM BINGKAI NEGARA INDONESIA

This study discusses the law of three divorces in one word or one assembly which often occurs in Muslim societies. The basis used as a reference is the hadith of the Prophet SAW and Fiqh. As a rule of law country, Indonesia has provided rules for the implementation of divorce as stipulated in Law No. 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage, Law No. 7 of 1989 concerning the Religious Courts, and the Compilation of Islamic Law. The substance is that divorce can only be carried out before a court hearing. However, there are still many practices that occur in society imposing triple talaq on a wife in one word or one assembly. This research is library research with a qualitative approach. The results of this study, that the imposition of divorce with one word or in one assembly needs to be reconstructed in understanding hadith and Fiqh as a form of ijtihad with various approaches within the framework of a rule of law that realizes the goals of the law itself.

A new technology of evidence research is necessary in criminal proceedings

The purpose of the research, part of the results of which is presented in this article, was an attempt to formulate and describe the method of judicial evidence, the method of disclosing before the court the content and significance of the evidence collected by the parties, to develop and propose rules for conducting individual legal actions, to link them into a single process (technology) forensic research. The procedure for examining evidence is not only the sequence of relevant actions, but also court-approved regulations for working with separate evidence, according to which the parties, when providing documentary evidence, must not only name the documents that they use to support their positions, but also disclose their content and report on the circumstances. in support of which they are submitted, so that it is clear both to the court and to any outside, reasonable and impartial observer. When presenting evidence, the prosecutor and the lawyer must demonstrate to the court both the propriety and admissibility of individual sources of factual data, as well as the logical connections between them, proving certain circumstances, criticizing the evidence of the procedural opponent, emphasizing the shortcomings of others and the advantages of their own evidence. That is, the content of the evidence must be revealed at the court hearing by the party that submits it to the judicial investigation, and not by the court, which should be exempted from the obligation to declare the documents provided by the parties. At the same time, the submission of evidence is not limited to providing the court with written, electronic documents or physical evidence. The justification by the parties of the necessity of questioning witnesses, experts, ensuring the arrival of these persons to the court and their questioning before the court is also the submission of evidence – factual data, information about which the interrogated have. It is proposed to borrow the experience of the courts of common law countries, where material evidence is usually submitted through witnesses who can testify to its origin. Key words: Criminal proceedings, evidencing, technology of court research.

Protection of the personal data of witnesses and injured parties during court sessions

In the Republic of Moldova and Romania, the protection of personal data of injured parties and witnesses must be understood and viewed as a unitary whole in the support given to them. Courts must adopt clear rules and regulations regarding both the confidentiality and the protection of personal data of injured parties and witnesses. The new General Data Protection Regulation and the Directive provide an up-to-date legal framework based on the responsibility for data protection.It aims to create a unitary framework for the protection of personal data, and of injured parties and witnesses, during court hearings. They need to be given more rights and facilities to control their own data and therefore more obligations and responsibilities for the courts that manage data in the course of court hearings.

Experiences of criminal justice: Perspectives from Wales on a system in crisis By D.Newman, R.Dehaghani, Bristol: Bristol University Press. 2023. pp. 270. £80.00 (hbk); £26.99 (pbk); £26.99 (ebk). ISBN: 9781529214222; 9781529214239; 978152914246

Experiences of criminal justice: Perspectives from Wales on a system in crisis By D.Newman, R.Dehaghani, Bristol: Bristol University Press. 2023. pp. 270. £80.00 (hbk); £26.99 (pbk); £26.99 (ebk). ISBN: 9781529214222; 9781529214239; 978152914246

JUDICIAL SYMBOLS IN COMMUNICATIONS

The article reviews the authors’ complex research of judicial symbolism. The meaning of the main judicial symbols, their formation, cultural and historical context in which they arose, issues of use the judicial symbols in social communications are considered in the article. Judicial symbolism includes actional, visual, verbal and spatial judicial symbols which could be classified according to the criterion of the way of the meaning’s transmission and perception. Actional symbols refer to the expression of meanings through action: this includes regulation of the judicial process, which has a certain order to be observed by the participants of the court hearing. Visual symbols represent certain elements of judicial symbolism, where the main is the visual perception, through which the appropriate interpretation of the symbolic meaning and understanding of the values of justice and the principle of the rule of law is carried out. This includes the robe, medallion, works of fine art as an aesthetically significant communication, in which the themes of the court are being interpreted. Verbal symbols – verbal standardized phrasing that mean respect for the court and present the judge (judges) as representatives of the state in whose name they administer justice. Spatial symbols mean structuring the courtroom and determining the semantics of the court building, in particular its interior design and exterior appearance, pointing out to the principles and values of justice. The above set of the means of representation of the symbols should be understood as a holistic text in which each type of judicial symbols is agreed and complemented with others, in order to achieve the main communicative objective, i.e. to convey the meaning of a fair justice, rule of law and respect for the court as an integral part of civil society. Judicial symbolism is characterized by systemic nature in which the individual elements are integrally connected and interdependent. The patterns of formation, structuring and understanding of individual elements of judicial symbolism should be analysed from the standpoint of a holistic vision of its purpose and objectives in the context of the communication process targeted at society.

Principle of Internal Independence of the Judge: Degree of Implementation in Ukraine

This article is devoted to the characteristics of the legal content and the actual state of implementation of the principle of internal independence of judges in Ukraine.
 It is emphasized that the importance of forming an independent judicial system is one of the most important indicators of building a truly legal system of Ukraine. After all, in a democratic legal state, only the judiciary can finally resolve a legal dispute or conflict. But it will be able to fulfill its purpose only under conditions when it is truly independent, impartial, and accessible to everyone, and the enshrining of rights and freedoms in legislative acts is unambiguous, clear, precise, systematic and accessible to everyone. Besides, no matter how perfect the legislation is, its norms become declarative if they do not have a mechanism for observing the rights and obligations provided for in them.
 In Ukraine, the issue of judicial reform is extremely urgent, since the percentage of the country's population that believes in the possibility of protecting their rights and interests in court is small, and the number of unjust decisions is too significant.
 It has been established that one of the most negative social phenomena that affects the administration of justice in Ukraine is systemic corruption. The next determinant is an excessive load on the courts, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of judicial proceedings, as well as lengthens the duration of cases and judgments. Other "dangerous" and risky determinants include the instability of judicial practice, the ambiguity of regulations that establish the legal basis for the administration of justice, and long delays in court hearings due to the failure of judges to provide a schedule for consideration of court cases.
 The author's definition of the principle of internal independence of a judge is given, which is the ability of judges to perform their duties properly, in particular to independently and impartially decide each case on its merits, without influence or undue control by the head of the court, other judges, employees of the court apparatus and participants in the court proceedings. Process.

Application of electronic tools by participants in commercial proceedings

The trend towards digitizing procedures involved in legal commercial proceedings is regularly analyzed on the pages of profile publications. Meanwhile, the practical application of electronic tools available to participants in commercial proceedings and commercial courts does not often receive the attention it is due, which creates difficulties in implementing them in real court proceedings. The author understands electronic tools as the mechanisms enshrined in the Russian Commercial Procedure Code that allow participants in commercial proceedings and commercial courts to perform procedural actions in electronic form and/or remotely. Having analyzed, systematized, and summarized the judicial practices formed by the Russian Constitutional Court, the Russian Supreme Court, the Court for Intellectual Property Rights, and commercial courts of appeal and cassation, as well as relevant publications, the author draws up a practical guide to the use of electronic tools for (a) obtaining information on the proceedings via electronic tools of communication and the Internet, (b) electronic access to case files in limited access mode or via the Court File service, and (c) remote participation in court hearings via web-conferencing (online hearings). This practical guide is necessary due to the lack of proper, uniform, and complete statutory regulation of the use of electronic tools by courts and participants of commercial proceedings. The necessary procedural actions are often performed on the basis of guides posted on the websites of commercial courts and/or in the ‘My Arbitr’ system. In this regard, drawing up a practical guide seems to be highly relevant, useful, and appropriate.

Implementation of the Provisions of International Acts on the Interrogation of Defense Witnesses in Court in Russian Law

Problem statement. The right to a fair trial within a reasonable time by an independent, impartial and competent court, in compliance with the fundamental principles of criminal proceedings established by international treaties and national legal acts, is pivotal in the legal status of the individual. As judicial practice shows, in criminal proceedings, the implementation of this right largely depends on individual judicial regulation when deciding on satisfaction/refusal to satisfy the request for questioning in court of a defense witness. The significance of the testimony of a witness confirming the defendant’s alibi or other circumstances testifying to his innocence or the presence of mitigating circumstances actualizes theoretical and applied (based on the analysis of judicial practice) studies devoted to the interrogation of a defense witness during the judicial investigation of a criminal case. Purpose of the work: to identify methodological and organizational and legal problems of summoning and questioning a witness at a court session, to determine the role and aisles of individual judicial regulation when making a decision on a petition for summoning a witness submitted by the defense party. Results. The importance of questioning a defense witness at a court hearing to ensure its publicity, immediacy and verbality is obvious. The interrogation also ensures the proper procedural regime of proof and the operation of the principles of adversarial, presumption of innocence and the right of the accused to defense. Recommendations and other provisions of judicial bodies regarding the summoning and interrogation of witnesses should be evaluated on the basis of the principles of justice enshrined in Russian law, while individual judicial regulation in resolving a specific petition for summoning a witness should be formed on the basis of recognition of the significance of the testimony of this participant, their possible impact on the outcome of the trial, and also provided, when necessary, technical capabilities of video conferencing and web conferencing.

Konsep Talak Perspektif Wahbah Az-Zuhaili, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyah, dan Kompilasi Hukum Islam

Jurisprudence prioritizes the right of divorce to be held by the husband. The purpose of this qualitative research with a literature study approach is to describe and analyze: 1) the concept of divorce, which can cause the breakup of marriage relations according to Wahbah Az-Zuhaili, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyah, and the Compilation of Islamic Law, and 2) what is the legal term used by Wahbah Az-Zuhaili, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyah, and the Compilation of Islamic Law (KHI) in determining divorce. The results of this study indicate whether the husband intends to become the legal ruler or not to divorce and prohibit divorce without any cause. The difference lies in the editorial divorce used and the witness in the divorce. As for instituting the law of Wahbah Az-Zuhaili, Muhammad Jawad Mughniyah both used the Al-Qur'an, Sunnah, and ijmak. The difference lies in the way of understanding sunnah and ijmak. Jawad does not use kiyas in determining the law but uses reason so that the relevance of the divorce provisions of the two figures, namely Wahbah Az-Zuhaili, Muhammad Jawad, and KHI, in determining the divorce issue lies in the procedure for its implementation. According to the two figures, divorce does not need to be done in front of the courtroom wherever the divorce is pronounced, so divorce falls at that moment because divorce is the husband's right. However, in Indonesia, divorce must be carried out before a court hearing because the husband cannot guarantee his right to divorce. Also, the wife gets protection and legal certainty.