Criminal Justice Institutions Research Articles

NOTE: The Development of Modern Criminal Justice Processes and Institutions in Ethiopia (1907-1974): An Overview

This note briefly discusses the institutional and process developments in Ethiopia’s modern criminal justice. There is a close relationship between political administration and justice administration considering the issue of judicial independence in a historical context. The year 1907 is taken as a starting point in the development of criminal norms and institutions because the Ministry of Justice was established and Afe Negus Nesibu was appointed Minster of Justice. The institutional and normative developments in this period were merely reactive to problems. Twelve judges were appointed to help the Minster of Justice who was entrusted to see all the cases by himself. Procedural rules were introduced as schedules in order to manage the inflow of cases. The enactment of the 1930 Penal Code helped judges determine sentences rather than sending convicts to the governor for sentencing. Regulation of appeal and preliminary processes such as providing a copy of judgement were introduced. The second phase in Ethiopia’s modern criminal justice system started from 1941 onward because this year is a landmark for the establishment of modern legislation and modern criminal justice institutions. The police were established as an investigation institution that executes orders given by the court. Prison was established signaling imprisonment as a mode of punishment. The prosecution institution was established under the Ministry of Justice. Thereafter, several substantive and procedural rules have been adopted governing the initiation of cases, summons, evidence, judgement and appeal. The last institution established during this period was the judicial organ.

Rational Foundations of Criminal Proceedings: A View through the Prism of Sociological Considerations

   The paper examines the rational foundations of law typified by criminal proceedings. In search of the origins of the rationalistic picture of law, the author, in the course of analyzing the actions of subjects (participants) of criminal proceedings in certain situations, shows the correspondence of criminal proceedings to the rationalistic system of M. Weber, which allows rationalizing in the legal plane the values dominant in society. Law, being a social institution, in the author’s opinion, should be subject to the laws of social life revealed by other disciplines, in particular sociology. Using an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the institutions of criminal justice will allow us to study them in their integrity and discover their new facets. Following this position, the author attempted to analyze the institution of a pre-trial agreement on cooperation through the prism of the theory of rational choice and the teachings of P. Sorokin about crimes and exploits, which made it possible to outline a path for further improvement of this institution, which would correspond to the laws of social development.

Challenges in creating humane and equitable policing: A focus on the Global South

AbstractResearch SummaryPolice brutality is a widespread phenomenon around the world. Particularly gruesome human rights abuses in the course of policing take place in Latin America, the world's most violent region outside war zones. Democratic institutions such as competitive elections, checks and balances, and judicial independence are insufficient to prevent police from abusing their power. What factors explain that police engage in abusive behaviors, including illegal arrest, the fabrication of evidence, the use of torture to extract confessions, and the excessive use of force causing injury or death? How can societies restrain these abusive behaviors and subject police to the rule of law? Police behavior is shaped by a combination of institutional, societal, political, organizational, and individual factors. Inquisitorial criminal justice institutions, inherited from the colonial past, have persisted in Latin America until very recently. This meant that democracies in the region were born with weak due process protections that have enabled state authorities and police to abuse their coercive powers as they investigate and prosecute crimes. Police brutality is further the product of security policies. High crime rates and the presence of highly organized criminal groups have pushed many Latin American governments to adopt militarized security interventions ‐including deploying the armed forces to control crime and militarizing police forces. Populist demands for harsh policies, moreover, generate incentives for politicians to adopt security strategies that violate human rights and which, in the long run, increase violence in society. The most affected groups are the poor, people of color, and those living in impoverished minoritized communities.Policy ImplicationsIt is essential to strengthen due process protections and judicial oversight over police to reduce torture and other forms of police brutality. Police demilitarization and, under some conditions, community‐oriented policing approaches can sharply reduce the use of excessive force causing injury or death. Body‐worn cameras (BWC), moreover, can effectively be used to reduce police abusive behavior —and violence against police officers — even in high violence situations and where toxic police‐community relations prevail. One limitation of this technology is that it gives too much leeway to frontline officers to turn their cameras on. Poor supervision can further undermine police compliance with camera protocols. These problems can be overcome by assigning cameras to supervisors and using more advanced technologies that allow turning cameras on from the main station. Monetary incentives that reward police officers “to kill less” is another effective policy intervention to reduce police violence causing injury or death.

범죄예방에 있어서 시민참여의 한계

Citizens perceive crime prevention as the task of a criminal justice institution, but the police, one of the criminal justice institutions, has a vacuum in crime prevention and policing activities due to excessive policing duties. Accordingly, the participation of the private sector in crime prevention, that is, a way to activate citizen participation, was actively discussed among criminal and criminal justice and police scholars and practitioners. However, civic participation in crime prevention is currently experiencing many limitations rather than being activated.
 This study intends to examine the limitations by exploring the types and limitations of citizen participation in crime prevention and deriving problems.
 As a result, there is a limit to civic participation. First, there is a lack of publicity for the Citizens Police Academy due to the lack of channels for citizen participation in crime prevention activities. Second, the simplification of the participating organizations or participating personnel of the crime prevention conference. Third, there is a limit to citizens' awareness and participation in reporting crimes. Fourth, it was considered as insufficient support for autonomous crime prevention unit activities. Therefore, future research directions were suggested through consideration of the limitations.

Whose confidence? Regional leaders’ perspectives on building confidence in a reconfigured probation service

The idea that the institutions of criminal justice should command the confidence of the public and other stakeholders is a taken for granted ‘good’, but one which has rarely been considered from the perspectives of operational leaders within those institutions. We also know little about what happens at times of crisis, when claims are made about the erosion of confidence and leaders are charged with rebuilding it. In this article, we seek to engage critically with the idea of confidence in one criminal justice institution – the Probation Service in England & Wales – at just such a time. Drawing on original empirical research with the 12 leaders of the recently unified service, this article focuses on the question of whose confidence matters and considers some of the challenges associated with confidence-building work from the perspectives of these leaders. Our research revealed that the stakeholder groups whose confidence most concerned them were sentencers and other partner agencies; government ministers; and their own staff within the unified service. We introduce the idea of ‘domains of confidence’ to highlight the importance of understanding perspectives on confidence (and efforts to strengthen or rebuild it) in a relational space in which the particular positionality of actors in the criminal justice field must be understood.

Restorative Justice Paradigm

The paradigm shift from retributive justice to restorative justice has encouraged institutional awareness that restorative justice methods are alternatives that need to be strengthened both in terms of policy and practice. This has prompted law enforcement agencies to begin drafting and enforcing restorative justice policies in the criminal case settlement process. The purpose of this research is to analyze the working process of restorative justice policies through their implementation practices in each institution that focuses on various criminal justice institutions in Pontianak City. This study will describe the factors that influence the process of working in restorative justice by elaborating on the paradigm of law enforcement officers, policies at their institutions, and their experiences and practices. The method used is normative-empirical legal research as research on law enforcement in concreto. Although the paradigm of punishment has shifted towards a restorative paradigm, the findings in the field showed frequent obstacles. First, cross-sectoral regulatory factors that regulate restorative justice mechanisms with different mechanisms. Second, the weak integration of the criminal justice system as seen in practice between the Pontianak Police and the Pontianak District Attorney Office has not shown the integration of the criminal justice system in the corridor of enforcing the principle of functional differentiation. Third, the factor of criminal law policy is overcriminalistic so it is still overshadowed by the retributive and punitive colonial paradigm. Fourth, factor in the small period of time in the prosecutor's office due to tiered assessments within the structural corridors of leadership. Fifth, the legal culture factor of society is still mostly punitive.
 Keywords: Paradigm; Restorative Justice; Criminal Justice System

Management of electronic records to support judicial systems at Temba Magistrates’ Court in the North West Province of South Africa

The management of electronic records has been a burning issue in many sectors, particularly the justice sector. Criminal justice institutions, such as courts and ministries of justice, suffer from inadequate management of court records, which undermines the legal and judicial systems. South African courts are overburdened with backlogs, delays, and corruption due to poor electronic record management. The dysfunctional management of electronic records has led to poor service delivery and justice for citizens. These concerns provided the impetus for research to assess the management of electronic records at Temba Magistrates’ Court in the North West Province of South Africa. To achieve the stated aim, the study adopted a qualitative approach through a case study design. Data were collected by conducting interviews with purposely selected records officers, a records manager, registry clerks and document controllers. The findings of the study indicated that Temba Magistrates’ Court has put in place relevant legislation and policies for managing electronic records. The study findings showed that staff are not complying with records management policy. The major findings of the study revealed that the Temba Magistrates’ Court has experienced unforeseen consequences, including a backlog of cases, challenges of data storage, loss, and misplacement of electronic court records resulting from poor records management practices. The study concluded with recommendations for the need to motivate and encourage staff members to adhere to the records management policy. The study also revealed the need to adopt multifactor authentication mechanisms such as biometrics, passwords, and fingerprints to reduce or prevent unauthorised access to electronic court records. A comprehensive records management programme should be developed and implemented. It is concluded that staff members working at Temba Magistrates’ Court should be suitably trained in all aspects of electronic court management.
  

Regulating criminal justice: The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in the inspection of probation in England and Wales

Criminal justice institutions are held to account in a number of ways yet there is limited knowledge as to how these systems of regulation function. One primary method for regulating systems of punishment is through the use of independent inspectorates, yet very little empirical research has explored how inspectorates engage with the organisations they inspect nor how inspection is received by inspected organisations. Procedural justice theory has been used to understand compliance with laws. It can also shed light on compliance with systems of accountability, although there is a dearth of research in this area. Thus, our understanding of how regulation works in situ is limited. This article uses procedural justice theory to analyse data that were collected in England and Wales to explore how His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation garners legitimacy from those it inspects. The article suggests that the Inspectorate is seen to be trustworthy and impartial, treats people with respect and provides them with a voice although there is variance between groups. The article contributes to (1) our understanding of how regulation works in the field of probation and (2) procedural justice theory by exposing the mechanisms that underpin compliance with regulatory regimes in institutional settings.

Offence Paralleling Schema Modes in Institutional Violence.

This study explored emotional patterns in relation to the Offence Paralleling Behavior and the schema mode frameworks. The study retrospectively assesses schema modes in the events prior and during criminal and institutional violent behavior. It draws upon observer-ratings of schema modes by 42 male patients who received mandated clinical care in a forensic hospital in the Netherlands. Wilcoxon Signed Ranked tests showed no differences between events prior crimes and incidents with regard to schema modes that relate to universal childhood needs with the exception of impulsive child mode. States of intoxication were more prevalent prior and during the crimes than during the incidents. Furthermore, modes tended to be less activated during incidents, particularly low self-control, conning and manipulating, and self-aggrandizer modes. It is hoped that criminal justice institutions and their staff would benefit from being more aware of schema mode in order to prevent and deal with incidental violence.

“I am a Child!”: Public Perceptions of Black Girls and their Punitive Consequences

AbstractHow do race and gender stereotypes affect public support for the punishment of Black girls? Across the USA, Black girls are suspended, expelled, arrested, and detained by educational and criminal justice institutions at disproportionate rates. Despite this, there is little research in political science investigating what drives this phenomenon. This paper uses original survey experimental data to examine how stereotypical public perceptions of Black girls shape support for their punishment and punitive policy more generally. We join previous research in finding race- and gender-based stereotypes intersect to produce a distinctive set of public perceptions rooted in the “adultification” of Black girls. In general, Black girls are seen as acting older than their age, more dangerous to others, and more experienced with sex than their peers. But, in an important extension, we also link these adultification stereotypes to support for harsher punishments for Black girls than for their peers and to support for punitive school policies more generally. Together, these findings point to the importance of understanding the intersectional nature of racialized and gendered public attitudes and help to draw the empirical link between the adultification of Black girls and support for their disproportionate punishment among the American public.

Do civilian complaints against police get punished?

Law enforcement institutions are tasked with a complicated undertaking that involves maintaining community safety and, at times, making arrests while exercising care in their interaction with private citizens. Errors may have dramatic consequences for civilians, police and the criminal justice system. Given limited observability of law enforcement agents’ behavior, one way to mitigate the principal-agent problem is to rely on signals from civilians via complaints. At the same time, civilian complaints may result in reputational and financial losses for the criminal justice institutions. This paper empirically investigates one way in which criminal justice institutions respond to civilian complaints. Namely, criminal prosecutors can upcharge a defendant who files a civil complaint against law enforcement. By upcharging, the prosecutor can increase the likelihood that a defendant will accept a plea deal, thus preventing the defendant from seeking monetary damages in civil court (Heck vs. Humphrey, 1994). Using data on citizen complaints and criminal charge outcomes from Cook County (Illinois), we find a strong causal link between a citizen filing a complaint and the total number of charges filed.

Alignment of the national criminal legislation to the standards of the European Union through the prism of the association agreement

As a country aspiring to join the European Union, Moldova has been working towards the harmonization of its criminal justice standards and laws with those of the EU. This involves aligning its legal framework with the EU acquis communautaire, which is the body of EU law that all member states must comply with. One of the main objectives of this harmonization process is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Moldovan criminal justice system, as well as to enhance its capacity to fight against cross-border crime and other forms of transnational organized crime. To achieve this, Moldova has implemented a number of reforms aimed at improving its criminal justice institutions and processes, including the adoption of new laws and regulations that are in line with EU standards and practices. In addition, Moldova has also established closer cooperation with other EU countries, both through bilateral agreements and through its participation in EU-wide initiatives such as Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor's Office. This cooperation allows for the exchange of information and best practices between Moldova and the EU, as well as for the coordination of efforts to combat cross-border crime and other forms of transnational organized crime. Overall, the harmonization of criminal justice standards and law in Moldova is an ongoing process that will require continued effort and cooperation between Moldova and the EU.

Policing, Punishment, and Place: Spatial-Contextual Analyses of the Criminal Legal System

Policing and punishment are unevenly distributed across geographic space. Research analyzing place-based variation in the criminal legal system is increasing, asking how community conditions contribute to variation in criminal justice outcomes and how multiple criminal justice exposures (e.g., policing and punishment) vary together in places. In this article, we identify spatial-contextual analyses of the criminal legal system and summarize their contributions by organizing them by their three major approaches: those emphasizing crime, urban ecology, or social control. We describe challenges the subfield faces, including an overemphasis on large cities and an overcommitment to analyzing criminal justice institutions like police or prisons discretely, when they are often experienced cumulatively and simultaneously. We call for research that transcends received institutional divisions, generates recommendations for stakeholders at multiple scales, makes greater use of formal spatial modeling, and analyzes places across the urban-rural continuum.

Development and Validation of Multidimensional Scales of Public Confidence in Criminal Justice

Despite growing interest in public confidence in criminal justice, robust confidence measures have not yet been established. Two studies were conducted to develop multidimensional measures of public confidence in criminal justice. Study 1 involved two-phased construction of scales in which a preliminary inventory was generated and then finalized after psychometric evaluations. Six multidimensional scales (62 items) were constructed for measuring efficiency-, finality-, fairness-, lawfulness-, accuracy-, and transparency-oriented confidence. Study 2 tested the predictive ability of the scale scores for cooperation with criminal justice institutions. Results highlight that higher confidence in authorities’ accurate fact-finding and fair treatment predicted greater willingness to assist institutions. Higher confidence in authorities’ lawfulness predicted greater compliance with the law. The six scales developed are a reliable and valid tool for measuring confidence in criminal justice and predicting cooperation with criminal institutions.

"This is where I belong:" a narrative study of professional commitment to a new criminal justice agency.

Scholars of penal change have established a rich theoretical understanding of the macro- and meso- level processes that explain the emergence, diffusion, and success of penal developments. Similarly enthusiastic examinations of the agentic aspects of professional commitment to criminal justice institutions are necessary to better understand the relationship between micro-level individual processes and the endurance and success of penal projects. The present study builds on existing analyses of cause lawyering and indigent criminal defense to examine the personal narratives of penitentiary defenders, lawyers working for the Unit of Penitentiary Defense, a novel Chilean public agency that offers legal assistance and enables convicted prisoners to file grievances and report rights violations before criminal courts. By drawing on 45 in-depth semi-structured interviews, I analyze the ways in which these attorneys incorporate biographical experiences and life events into coherent stories that both support and construct their professional identity as legal aid lawyers despite adverse working conditions. Four narratives are prevalent in their accounts: identification, privilege, calling, and admiration. These narratives demonstrate that criminal justice professionals engage in meaning-making processes through the creation of biographical accounts that tie personal and professional self-understandings together. The contribution of the article is thus twofold: it situates the role of individual agency in the development of penal projects and provides a novel explanation as to how legal aid lawyers become personally and professionally invested in indigent defense.

Judiciary institutions and violent crime in American Indian nations

AbstractIn many American Indian nations the security situation is dire. While scholars have studied how institutions shape economic development in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) nations, the role of AIAN institutions for security and violent crime has received much less attention—despite the extensive literature highlighting the important role of effective and legitimate institutions in the long‐term decline of violence. We analyze how varying types of American Indian polities and judiciary institutions fare in tackling violent crime using data across 146 American Indian polities. Our findings indicate that more autonomous American Indian criminal justice institutions with specialized court systems are associated with lower violent crime. However, customary justice institutions do not appear to be effective in reducing violent crime, highlighting the problem of cultural mismatch between traditional and formal justice systems. We argue that analyzing AIAN nations provides important insights into how institutional legitimacy can shape violent crime.

The Role of the Justice Sector Stakeholders in Curbing the Menace of Sexual and Gender Based Crisis in Nigeria

Purpose: This paper examines the role of justice sector stakeholders in Nigeria in curbing the menace of sexual and gender based crisis in Nigeria. Gender-based violence (GBV), is one of the oppressive forms of gender inequality posing a fundamental barrier to the equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political spheres. Acts of gender-based violence affect the lives, health and wellbeing of millions of women, girls, boys and men worldwide. Gender-based violence takes place in all societies and all cultures. It includes female genital mutilation, female infanticide, child marriage, physical abuse, sexual harassment, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females. Lack of access to justice institutions and mechanisms contribute to culture of impunity for violence and abuse. Girls and women may also experience gender-based violence when they are deprived of nutrition and education. Gender based crimes are grossly under-reported, especially when it is against the male folks and within a family setting or close affinity environment. While it is widely believed that women are much more likely than men to be killed by their intimate partners or family members, as a result of GBV, the nature of deaths when it involves men (excessive brutality, mutilation of diseased body, poisoning) is beginning to cast aspersion on that assumption.
 Methodology: The doctrinal research was used in carrying out this research. Both secondary and primary sourced materials such as textbooks, journals, internets, case laws etc. were used.
 Findings: Finding revealed that the gaps in criminal law and procedure, gender stereotypes, victim blaming, non-conviction of the aggressor and inadequate/inappropriate responses of the criminal justice institutions and professionals to GBV lead to secondary victimization as well as the likelihood of use of self-help.
 Recommendation: To address these, advocacy message should be directed to the perpetrators. Religious leaders, traditional rules, lawyers, media houses, Civil Society Organisation among others are enjoined to take proactive measures in addressing this menace.

Centralized Law Enforcement in Contemporary China: The Campaign to “Sweep Away Black Societies and Eradicate Evil Forces”

AbstractIn 2018, China's general secretary, Xi Jinping, announced a three-year war on “black societies and evil forces” and promised to take down various forms of organized crime and evil forces within society. This article examines the operational features of this particular crackdown and how they diverged from previous “strike hard” campaigns. This campaign adopted novel strategies including embedding instructions on law enforcement within criminal justice institutions, promulgating special rules on the crimes of evil forces in order to “strike” campaign targets early, and deploying intrusive investigation tactics that focused on the person and not the crime. Using democratic centralism as a liberal lens, this campaign showcases the struggle between the imperative of legality and the politics of a major campaign in China.

Cultural scripts of risk consciousness: police practices in high-risk offender management programs

ABSTRACT Risk discourse pervades criminal justice institutions. One such example is high-risk offender management programmes. Officers who work in these programmes routinely carry out an array of policing practices to manage high-risk individuals. To reduce risks of recidivism and facilitate social reintegration, these practices range from traditional law enforcement tactics of monitoring and surveilling, to collaborating with agencies and organisations outside of the criminal justice system. Here, the authors utilise the concept of risk consciousness to describe and analyze the cultural logics officers mobilise when perceiving, evaluating, and managing high-risk individuals. Using qualitative interviews conducted with police agents working in Canadian high-risk offender management programmes, this study examines how offender management agents justify and inform their actions. We find officers often invoke a reflexive risk consciousness to interpret and respond to subjects’ riskiness and behaviours. Drawing on different cultural scripts, agents frame subjects as both needing help and as dangerous offenders necessitating further monitoring and law enforcement intervention. In doing so, agents simplify offender management strategies by enforcing accountability while simultaneously neglecting subjects’ subjectivity.

Considerations on the reform of Ukraine’s wartime criminal justice system

The purpose of the article was to consider the main development trends in certain elements of the criminal justice system, which were integrated due to Russia's large-scale attack on the sovereign territories of Ukraine. The subject of the article is the institution of the reform of the Ukrainian criminal justice system. The legal bases ensuring the functioning of criminal justice institutions (in particular, the investigative bodies) are examined and the corresponding conceptual and categorical apparatus is analyzed. A review of selected elements of the criminal justice system during the war is conducted. The influence and significance of Ukraine's acquisition of EU candidate membership status on the functioning of certain elements of the criminal justice system is clarified. Finally, the content and essence of the main requirements of the EU to Ukraine, which can be the basis for conducting negotiations on the issue of Ukraine's final accession to the organization, are characterized. In the conclusions, directions and methods of reforming certain elements of the criminal justice system in the conditions of large-scale invasion are described.