Criminal Evidence Research Articles

Cyber Security in the Age of Covid-19: A Timeline and Analysis of Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Attacks during the Pandemic

The entire world has been impacted by Covid-19, which has forced the nations to undergo lockdowns, which have opened the new horizons of virtual learning and work from home culture. Though virtual learning and online meetings were available prior to the lockdowns, use of these platforms have intensified. There is a lack of awareness among many in the public concerning the perils of using these platforms which makes them susceptible to cyber-crime attacks phishing, sexual or verbal abuse, eve teasing etc. Lockdowns have provided cyber criminals with new criminal opportunities and evidence shows that there has been a rampant increase in the number of cyber-crimes during this period. Public lack of awareness has led to innocent people falling prey in the hands of attackers. Since the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns came as a surprise, public and private authorities lacked the opportunity to make appropriate arrangements for training people and making these platforms secure. There is no question that if these platforms are made secure, then they will prove to be as an asset to the society but much work must be done to achieve the goal of complete cyber security.

ЩОДО ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ ПОНЯТТЯ ТА ЗМІСТУ ОПЕРАТИВНО-РОЗШУКОВОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ... РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ КРИМІНАЛЬНИХ ПРОЦЕСУАЛЬНИХ ГАРАНТІЙ СТОРОНИ ОБВИНУВАЧЕННЯ

One of the priority areas of Ukraine’s development as a state governed by the rule of law is the protection of the legitimate interests, rights and freedoms of man and citizen. Law enforcement agencies, special services, courts are the key institutions on whose activities the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, security and law and order depend. The level of law and order in the state and society depends on the strict observance of the current legislation by the mentioned institutions. In this context, the strict observance by investigators, operatives and the court of the norms of the legislation regulating the conduct of covert investigative actions, in particular a special investigative experiment, acquires special significance. The purpose of the article is to determine the permissible limits of behavior of an investigator or operational officer during a special investigative experiment. The study shows the significant shortcomings of current legislation governing the conduct of a special investigative experiment and the practice of its application. As a result it is offered: 1. Given that a special investigative experiment is carried out on crimes that are being prepared or committed, as well as the practical impossibility of distinguishing between conditions that should contribute to the manifestation of existing intentions of the object of the case and conditions that contribute to the formation of such intentions and their implementation active actions to create conditions conducive to the development of a crime or the formation of criminal intent. 2. Since the experiment differs from observation by active interaction with the object under study, the very concept of «special investigative experiment» and its definition are given in the Instruction on the organization of covert investigative (search) actions and use of their results in criminal proceedings. It is proposed to replace the term «special investigative experiment» with the term «special investigative control» or «passive investigative experiment» and define it as observation of a person whose actions show signs of a serious or especially serious crime in order to verify the real intentions of such person and obtain information and documents relevant to the pre-trial investigation. 3. Concerning a special investigative experiment in the understanding of the Instruction, ie regarding active actions to create conditions that contribute to the development of certain events. Such methods of operative-search or counter-intelligence activities, as shown above, are quite acceptable and, under certain conditions, are effective means of detecting and preventing crimes. However, their results cannot be used as evidence in criminal proceedings. This is not a criminal procedure, it is an operational search or counterintelligence activity. With this content of these measures, it is necessary to abandon the concept of «special investigative experiment» and return to the concept of «operational experiment», which should be applied and defined in departmental regulations. suspect on behalf of the investigator, prosecutor; implementation of a complex of measures for operative and investigative support of criminal proceedings. Operational investigative provision of criminal procedural evidence affects guarantees of human rights both in operational investigative activities and in criminal proceedings. It is proved that the successful investigation and disclosure and investigation of any crime can be carried out only under the conditions of its organizational-tactical operational-search support. It is justified that, based on the fact that in the course of operational-investigative measures during the operational-investigative implementation of criminal procedural guarantees of the prosecution, human rights are often violated, there is a need to strengthen their guarantees both in ORD and in pre-trial proceedings and, in particular, due to the strengthening of departmental and judicial control and prosecutorial supervision of operational investigative activities and pre-trial proceedings.

О роли результатов оперативно-розыскной деятельности в современном уголовном процессе

The article is devoted to the analysis of the place and role of operational-­investigative activities results (hereinafter — ORD) in modern criminal procedural law. The views established in science regarding the use of materials obtained in the course of conducting operational-­search activities (hereinafter referred to as ORM), as well as existing law enforcement realities, correlate with the views established in science regarding the use in criminal procedural evidence obtained during the conduct of operational-­search activities (hereinafter referred to as ORM). The article reveals the inconsistencies between the theoretical provisions and the requirements put forward by objective reality to expand the practice of using the capabilities of the operational units of the inquiry bodies for the purposes of criminal proceedings. The author aims to establish the reasons for the skeptical attitude of process scientists to the ORD results and substantiates the provisions on the leading role of the court, the prosecutor’s office as independent guarantors of human rights and a citizen in the implementation of individual ORM. Methodologically, research relied on the dialectical method of scientific knowledge, logical, comparative legal methods, as well as observation and other particular methods of studying legal phenomena. The research used doctrinal sources, as well as domestic legislation as the sources of study material. Conceptual proposals were put forward to improve the theory of criminal justice, with the aim of its rational updating, as well as possible ways to improve the Criminal Procedure Code of Russia.

Criminal Stereotypes of Muslim and Arab Americans and the Impact on Evaluations of Ambiguous Criminal Evidence

Criminal Stereotypes of Muslim and Arab Americans and the Impact on Evaluations of Ambiguous Criminal Evidence

On the Distribution and Application of Evidence in Economic Crime Cases

China's criminal evidence rules show scattered, high abstraction, lack of systematic and systematic problems, which gradually can not meet the needs of criminal justice practice. In the process of handling economic crime cases, the public security and judicial organs have encountered difficulties in the direction of investigation and the comprehensiveness of the evidence, so it is urgent to collect and review the evidence of similar crimes to guide and standardize the relevant evidence work. Explore and use the law of evidence distribution in economic crime cases to provide practical considerations and ideas for the formulation of evidence collection and review norms in economic crime cases.

Collecting Digital Evidence from Online Sources: Deficiencies in Current Polish Criminal Law

The importance of digital evidence, especially online content, is continuously increasing due to the proliferation of digital technologies in socio-economic life. However, the legal means of criminal evidence gathering in Polish legislation remain unchanged and do not take into account some contemporary challenges. In various countries, traditional rules of evidence gathering were created in the context of a physical world. These rules may be insufficient to safeguard the forensic soundness of evidence gathering methods. Inadequacies of current procedures may be especially visible in the context of transborder digital evidence gathering from online open sources. This article describes the practical shortcomings of Polish criminal evidence law in the context of digital evidence with particular attention to online open-source materials. Empirical data indicate that existing legal limitations are bypassed in practice to enable evidence collection. This unfortunately often happens at the expense of the forensic soundness of digital evidence.

The weight of criminal judicial evidence

The study is devoted to the current issue of the weight of criminal judicial evidence, which is understudied in the national doctrine. The legislator, having introduced this evaluative concept in 2012 (Paragraph 1, Part 11, Article 1 of 178 CCP), did not provide its normative definition. As a result, there is a conceptual uncertainty, which is inappropriate given the requirements of the rule of law (Article 8 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 8 of the CCP). Therefore, the purpose of study is to attempt to formulate a definition of the “weight of evidence”, to propose a scheme of work of a lawyer to determine the signs of this activity phenomenon in situations of making appropriate procedural decisions. The study is based on the activity methodology using a number of special methods – search and bibliographic; semantic; Aristotelian; hermeneutic; historical-legal; comparative-legal; functional analysis; generalisation. The study formulated the definition of the “weight of evidence” as an activity characteristic. The latter is the result of a pragmatic logical and legal evaluation of ad hoc evidence within its totality. Thus, certain evidence is prioritised due to the greater suitability attributed to it by the lawyer to serve as a convincing evidence base of the procedural decision. Therefore, the conclusion is substantiated that the “weight of available evidence” as its activity characteristic is “the fifth element” of the structure of “criminal judicial evidence” along with such characteristics as “credibility”, “admissibility”, “reliability”, and “sufficiency”. The study includes conclusion that the introduction by the legislator in 2012 of the “weight of available evidence” meets the requirements of the evidentiary practice of the modern national adversarial process and the ECHR

Компоненты фактического основания, подлежащие доказыванию для принятия решения о государственной защите участников уголовного процесса

The article proposes the author’s scheme for establishing the actual grounds for deciding on the state protection of participants in the criminal process. The content of this scheme consists in transferring the rules of criminal procedure evidence to the procedure under analysis. The authors implement this by supplementing the law of criminal procedure with a group of articles, one of which is devoted to the circumstances to be proved (established) for the application of the procedure of state protection of participants in criminal proceedings. Thus, the work justifies the need to establish the components of the actual basis of state protection by means of criminal procedure evidence.

Children’s narrative coherence in ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ forensic interviews and courtroom testimony

ABSTRACT In the United Kingdom, Section 27 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act permits ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ (ABE) forensic interviews to replace the evidence-in-chief in cases involving children. It is therefore imperative that forensic interviewers elicit complete, reliable, and coherent narratives from children. The goal of the current research study was to assess the coherence of forensic interviews and whether the interviewers’ emotional or cognitive support was associated with increases in the coherence of these interviews. Children’s narrative coherence was examined in 80 transcripts of ABE investigative interviews with 7- to-15-year-olds who disclosed sexual abuse. Narrative coherence was assessed using the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme, including three dimensions of narrative coherence: chronology, consistency, and theme (Reese, E., Haden, C. A., Baker-Ward, L., Bauer, P., Fivush, R., & Ornstein, P. A. (2011). Coherence of personal narratives across the lifespan: A multidimensional model and coding method. Journal of Cognition and Development, 12(4), 424–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2011.587854). Findings revealed that first elicited events were more likely to be more coherent compared to subsequently elicited events, and child engagement was positively associated with all dimensions of narrative coherence. Interviewer support was positively associated with chronology, script accounts of abuse were associated with decreased consistency and chronology (but not theme), and cognitive support was not associated with any dimension of narrative coherence.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МЕТОДИКИ ПРОВЕДЕННЯ ГЛАСНИХ СЛІДЧИХ (РОЗШУКОВИХ) ДІЙ В УСТАНОВАХ ВИКОНАННЯ ПОКАРАНЬ ДКВС УКРАЇНИ

The peculiarities of investigative (search) actions in penal institutions during the investigation of criminal offenses committed by convicts are highlighted in the article. The main patterns and results of scientific research in this area are identified. Legislative norms and peculiarities of conducting investigative (search) actions in penal institutions are analyzed and scientifically substantiated proposals for improvement of criminal procedural legislation are developed. The problems of tactics of investigation of criminal offenses in penal institutions under the condition of receiving convicts’ reliable and complete testimony (witnesses, victims, accused and suspects) are studied. Methods of conducting investigative (search) actions in penal institutions are considered and the necessity to take into account the fact that they are carried out at the regime facility is emphasized. It has been determined that convicts or prisoners and employees of penal institutions may not be involved as some of the participants of the investigative (search) actions, namely witnesses to the search. Emphasis is placed on the problem related to the fact that in practice, in most cases, individuals do not agree to be witnesses to the search during investigative (search) actions. This happens because to the following reasons: firstly, the relevant procedural actions take a long time, and secondly, individuals are worried about their lives, health and future (because convicts may threaten them in penal institutions). It is emphasized that forming of the methodology of investigation of penitentiary criminal offenses is another step in filling the system of criminalistics methods, in deepening knowledge of the mechanism of recurrent criminal offenses, new approaches in finding the most effective methods of detecting, investigating and preventing criminal offenses that take place in penal institutions. It is concluded that the institute of investigative (search) actions, as an effective means of criminal procedural evidence, needs constant improvement as a procedural form, taking into account the practice of its application, as well as improving the organizational and tactical principles of its implementation. Key words: penal institutions, convicts, criminal offenses, investigative (search) actions, methodology, tactics of investigation.

Implementation of the proportionality test during the search process and the collection of evidence

As a means of collecting materials, the search and seizure of objects and documents is of undeniable importance in criminal evidence, providing valuable data that serve to establish the existence or non-existence of the crime, to identify the perpetrator, to establish guilt and other circumstances essential to the just settlement of the case. The present study, in the light of the proportionality test, reflects on the application of several evidentiary procedures, based on multiple criteria, in particular, the assessment of the reasonable doubt, the proportionality between the evidentiary procedure used and the degree of the incriminated deed; the relevance of the materials collected as a result of the evidentiary procedure and the excessive use of force, in carrying out the search.

Implementation of the normative content of the principle of ensuring the right to liberty and security of person in the course of criminal procedural evidence

Consolidation at the level of the Constitution of Ukraine of the principle of ensuring the right to liberty and security of person necessitated the study of its essence and normative content in order to assess the correctness of the legislative approach to formulating the principle at the level of sectoral regulations. The normative content of the principle is enshrined in Art. 12 of the CCP. Analysis of the wording of this article allows us to identify three components of the principle, which reflect its requirements: prohibition, protection, security. The first element of the principle is the provisions of Part 1 of Art. 12 of the CCP. The key concepts that substantively fill this element are the following: restriction of freedom in criminal proceedings is possible only by a reasoned court decision; the reason for such a restriction is the suspicion of committing a criminal offense; restriction of liberty occurs in the manner prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code. Procedures for restricting the right to liberty are corrected due to the importance of the restricted right. Judicial review proceedings on the prosecution's request to choose precautionary measures restricting liberty are characterized by its active position in proving the circumstances, which is the basis for restricting a person's liberty. The investigating judge, in the presence of a duly motivated and substantiated request, takes an active position solely to verify the information that is the basis of the request. The content of the element of protection consists of the provisions of the law on: the need to bring the detainee to the investigating judge as soon as possible and to check the legality and validity of the restriction of liberty; notification of the detention of the person of her relatives. The third element of the normative content of the principle is formulated in Part 5 of Art. 12 of the CCP. The law provides for criminal liability for knowingly illegal detention, pretext, house arrest or detention (Article 371 of the CPC), as well as the possibility of compensation for damage caused by illegal decisions, actions or omissions of the body carrying out investigative activities, pre-trial investigation, prosecution or court (Article 130 of the CPC).

The Admissibility of Sexual Orientation Evidence as Evidence of the Complainant's “Sexual Behaviour” Under s.41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999

The Admissibility of Sexual Orientation Evidence as Evidence of the Complainant's “Sexual Behaviour” Under s.41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999

Forensic Investigation for Cyber Space: Importance of Cyber Forensics in Business and Global Economy

Cyber forensics is a technique of electronic finding used to identify and disclose technological criminal evidence. The current study was an attempt to add to the emerging body of knowledge about the inherent problems of cyber forensics. This paper provides an overview of cyber forensics, including recent and future advances in the area. The specific subjects covered included the importance of computer forensics and how new technology enables the development of computer forensics in a business and global economic context.

Comparison of methods to develop fingerprints on papers impregnated with AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA.

Although there have been significant advances in fingerprinting techniques, studies on how these techniques affect other criminal evidence are limited. Synthetic cannabinoids (SC), which are illegal substances frequently encountered in crime scenes and are widely used worldwide, are available in various forms in the market (pill, powder, liquid, and herbal product). These synthetic cannabinoid substances have recently been introduced to places such as prisons and rehabilitation centers, primarily via an infused piece of paper. The first seizure of the paper-impregnated form of AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA in Turkey was observed in 2014. This study investigates the effects of fingerprint development methods on the concentrations of these SCs impregnated on paper. Therefore, eccrine and sebaceous fingerprints of volunteers were imprinted on the papers before and after they were impregnated with AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA. Six different fingerprint development methods were applied. Fingerprint development methods were later checked in 384 fingerprints. AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA infused on papers were extracted by the liquid-extraction method, and concentrations were analyzed via LC-MS/MS. After applying Thermanin, 1,2-indandione, iodine vapor, DFO, and 5-MTN fingerprint development methods, the concentration levels of AB-FUBINACA were 26.25, 19.60, 21.43, 17.76, and 17.77ng/cm2 , while the concentration levels of AB-PINACA were 1.1, 0.98, 1.31, 1.28, and 1.22ng/cm2 , respectively. Finally, although the best fingerprint visualization was obtained on papers that were applied the Ninhydrin method, the method failed to detect SCs on papers.

Discussion on the Properties of Relevance, Admissibility and Reliability of Criminal Procedural Evidence

The paper analyzes the legislative definition of criminal procedural evidence. The author gives critical assessment of replacement of the phrase “any factual data” from the Criminal Procedure Code of the RSFSR with the phrase “any information” in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The wording under consideration gave rise to the possibility for some authors to conclude that the law does not indicate the factual nature of information claiming the status of evidence. The main attention is paid to the question of the necessary properties of proofs. The paper points to the erroneous perception by some researchers of the content of Art. 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which manifests itself in endowing the properties of relevance, admissibility and reliability with the status of criteria for evaluating evidence. According to the author, relevance, admissibility and reliability are not criteria for evaluating evidence, but information obtained in the course of proving for the possibility of using it as evidence. The criteria for evaluating the evidence are specified in Part 1 of Art. 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation—the law and the conscience of an authorized person who evaluates evidence according to his inner conviction. In contrast to the opinion of researchers who believe that the necessary properties of evidence include only relevance and admissibility, the author argues that each evidence must also have the property of reliability. Only in the presence of the entire set of necessary properties, the information obtained in the course of proving can be endowed with the status of evidence.The author demonstrates that each of the necessary properties of a proof has an independent content and meaning. Therefore, their confusion is unacceptable. It is concluded that relevance, admissibility and reliability should form the basis for all procedural decisions concerning evidence. According to the author, a clear understanding of the content of these properties would be facilitated by the consolidation of the definitions of these categories in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. It is also advisable to edit Part 1 of Art. 74 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation by means of defining the concept for criminal procedural evidence as "any factual information" and indicating the purpose of obtaining them as "for the correct resolution of the case".

Patterns of drug overdose deaths in Kuwait from 2014 to 2018

BackgroundKuwait is an Arabian Gulf couFntry with a population of around 4.4 million as of 2020. In recent years, government based news agencies have commonly exposed drug smuggling plots that were foiled by local authorities. We attempted to study the patterns of drug overdose deaths in Kuwait, which we believe is a good method to address the effect of illicit drug use in the country. MethodologyAll cases that were signed out as drug overdose death were collected from the General department of criminal evidence. The relationship between demographic factors and drug types were analyzed using various statistical methodologies. Results344 victims were identified from 2014 to 2018. The majority of whom were Kuwaiti nationals (67%) and the average age of death was 38. Hawalli governorate had the highest number of cases, while Jahra governorate had the least. Morphine appeared to be the most common drug found in the victims post mortem (79.9%) followed by benzodiazepines (43%). Our study has an extremely low female number of victims (2.6%). Some substances that are commonly abused globally eg heroin and cocaine were rarely recovered in our study. The number of cases have had an increase over the study period with the highest number of cases in 2018. ConclusionThe current study is the first of its kind in Kuwait and one of the first in the middle east region. It is evident that illicit drug use and subsequent drug overdose deaths are on a rise in Kuwait and government agencies need to put a strategic plan to address and reduce this problem.

A guilty pleasure: The legal, social scientific and feminist verdict against rap

This article draws on governance theory, critical theory and cultural criminology to interrogate how legal, social scientific and feminist discourses converge to construct rap music as a pressing social problem. While each discourse has its own preoccupations, ideologies and internal contestation, the overarching message is that rap music is a potential source of danger that conveys anti-social attitudes. Suspicion is sometimes also cast on musicians themselves. While I compare three overlapping fields, the ultimate purpose is to problematize the supposedly progressive approach to interpreting and mobilizing against songs deemed harmful. Significantly, I argue that much of the social science scholarship and feminist activism that addresses hip hop music perpetuates anti-Black stereotypes and dovetails with repressive state apparatuses. Among other things, social science and feminist criticism of rap hermeneutically support the use of rap lyrics as evidence of criminality—a distinctly non-progressive, racialized legal practice.

The Accumulation of Disadvantage: Criminal Justice Contact, Credit, and Debt in the Transition to Adulthood.

Social exclusion of those with criminal justice experience increasingly includes a financial component, but the structure of disadvantage in credit and debt remains unclear. We develop a model of financial disadvantage in debt-holding during the transition to adulthood among justice-involved groups. We study cumulative criminal justice contact and debt holding by age thirty using the NLSY97. We follow life-course theory and understand this Millennial cohort as transitioning to adulthood during an era of historically high criminal justice contact, with many experiencing arrests, convictions, and incarceration. We develop a distinct measurement approach to cumulative criminal justice contact by age thirty that captures variation between young adults in the severity of justice encounters in the early life course. We conceptualize financial disadvantage as a lower likelihood of holding debt that facilitates property and attainment investments and a higher likelihood of holding higher-cost debts used for consumption or emergencies. We find that those with the most punitive criminal justice contact evidence the most disadvantageous form of debt holding, exacerbating social exclusion. We consider the implications of the accumulation of financial disadvantage for our understanding of criminal justice contact as a life-course process that will continue to shape the Millennial cohort's future trajectory.

Using micro-services and artificial intelligence to analyze images in criminal evidences

With the advancement of digital crimes, the field of digital forensic science grows more and more, and with this growth, the search for faster and more accurate solutions to aid the investigation process becomes a necessity. In the context of the Brazilian judicial system, during a criminal investigation, forensic specialists extract, decode, and analyze the evidence collected to allow the prosecutor to make legal demands for a prosecution. These specialists have a very short time to analyze to find criminal evidence and the process can take a long time. To solve this problem this paper proposes to use a micro-services-based application with artificial intelligence to process large amounts of images contained in criminal evidence using open-source software. The image classification module contains some pre-trained classifiers, considering the needs of forensic analysts of the Rio Grande do Norte District Attorney's Office (MPRN). The models were built to identify specific types of objects, for example, firearms, ammunition, Brazilian identity cards, text documents, cell phone screen captures, and nudity. The results obtained show that the system achieved good accuracy in most cases. This is extremely important in the context of this research, where false positives should be avoided in order to save analysts' working time. Moreover, the proposed architecture was able to speed up the image classification process using Apache Spark.