National Judicial Research Articles

Deaths due to tired bullet injuries: Evaluation from medical, legal, and social perspectives.

In Türkiye, as in other parts of the world, there is a rising trend in individual armament and firearm violence, resembling an epidemic. When fired into the air, bullets eventually lose the initial speed with which they left the barrel and begin to accelerate downwards under the influence of gravity as they fall to the ground. At this point, these projectiles are referred to as 'tired bullets,' which cause serious injuries and fatalities. This study evaluates autopsy cases of deaths due to tired bullet injuries. We aimed to raise social awareness and contribute to the literature by exploring the forensic, legal, and social dimensions of tired bullet injuries. From 2013 to 2022, 695 forensic autopsies of gunshot wounds were reviewed at the Trabzon Forensic Medicine Group Presidency. Nine cases were identified where individuals had undergone autopsies and the cause of death was attributed to tired bullet injuries. The data for the cases included in the study was sourced from our archive records and the UYAP (National Judicial Network Project) system. The second stage involved analyzing reports of falling bullet injuries from local and national newspaper websites. In the third stage, the Supreme Court decisions regarding perpetrators of tired bullet incidents were examined. The study included six male and three female cases, with an average age of 32.5 years. Injuries were predominantly located in the head in seven cases, the eye in one case, and the inguinal region in another. In eight cases, the bullet trajectory was from top to bottom. The incidents predominantly occurred in residential areas. It was observed that all cases received coverage in both national and local media, and campaigns against tired bullet injuries were organized. The perpetrators of these injuries were frequently sentenced for murder with probable intent. Tired bullet injuries represent a significant public health issue that necessitates comprehensive preventative measures addressing medical, legal, and social dimensions. There should be national and international campaigns led by the media, involving all public institutions, organizations, and non-governmental organizations to promote individual disarmament, highlight the dangers of firearms, and stress the importance of these initiatives.

Medical and legal evaluation of injuries due to dog bites: a Türkiye study.

Dog bites are the most common type of injury related to animal bites in our country and worldwide. Dog bite wounds pose significant public health concerns and have medicolegal implications. In this study, we aimed to assess the problems associated with dog bites and propose potential solutions. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 149 cases submitted by judicial authorities to our institution, the Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine, between 2015 and 2021, to obtain medicolegal expert opinion reports. Information regarding the cases included in the study was obtained from our archives and the National Judicial Network Project (UYAP) system. Data were recorded using Microsoft Excel 2016, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). The mean age of the cases was 33.7 years, with 57% being male. 56.4% of the incidents occurred in the city center, and 30.9% took place during the summer months. 65.8% (n=98) of the cases were attributed to stray dogs. Superficial injuries without muscle tissue involvement were observed in 54.4% (n=81) of all cases, while 22.8% (n=34) had deep tissue defects or flap injuries, 4.7% (n=7) involved vascularnerve injuries, 16.1% (n=24) included bone fractures, and 2% (n=3) featured visceral injuries. Surgical treatment was performed on 37.5% (n=56) of the cases. Impairments were reported in 22.1% of the cases, with permanent facial scars affecting 16.7% of them. Psychiatric evaluations were required for 48.9% (n=89) of the cases, and 57.5% of them received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. People attacked by dogs may experience serious physical or psychological sequelae. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate all victims using a multidisciplinary approach, addressing their physical, social, and psychological needs, and providing rehabilitation when necessary. Non-governmental organizations, such as those dedicated to the prevention of cruelty to animals, in collaboration with local veterinary services, should play a role in national initiatives to provide objective and humane solutions for both victims and animals.

Advancing Sustainable Justice through AI-Based Case Law Analysis

Background: Ukraine has a unique Unified State Register of Court Decisions that publishes all court decisions in cases considered and resolved by courts in the public domain. There are more than one hundred million such documents in the register today. This provides unique opportunities for collecting, analysing, and summarising the empirical base of justice. This has the potential to form the basis for further transformation of the national model of justice. This study's impetus may have risen from the realisation that relying solely on human resources for such endeavours may present challenges. Methods: The study is based on the hypothesis that using hardware and software to analyse large data sets of state registers of court decisions and judicial statistics data can identify persistent patterns and causes of inefficient functioning of the judicial system. Results and Conclusions: The study led to the development of software with functionality that annotates court decision text, intended for further use in advanced Natural Language Processing algorithms. Furthermore, the study underscores the need to develop an algorithm for predicting risks and outcomes of court proceedings and a methodology for processing large amounts of data from the Unified State Register of Court Decisions. This is justified based on specific indicators of the effectiveness of dispute resolution. This article advocates for the use of machine learning algorithms as an innovative tool to generalise large data sets from court decision registers, particularly to obtain objective data on a large scale. The article also examines the prerequisites for establishing the Institute of National Judicial Practice and explores its functioning in the present stage of judicial reform.

Judicial Independence and Reformation of the Collegium System: Evaluating the Njac Judgement and Foreign Judicial Appointment Systems

The National Judicial Appointments Commission, introduced by the 99th constitutional amendment, was struck down by the Supreme Court of India while the collegium system was upheld. The basic structure doctrine of the independence of the judiciary was contested to be violated by the amendment, and the striking down of the amendment ensured that judicial supremacy was protected. Yet, India is the only country where the spirit of democracy is of utmost importance. Still, the judges are appointed by fellow judges in the current practice of the collegium system. In this research article, the researcher will evaluate the dissenting view of Justice Chelameswar in the NJAC judgement and tackle the issue of the need for reformation of the collegium system to make it more transparent and democratic. The article will also deal with a comparative analysis of the Indian judicial appointment setup and the setup of judicial appointments in foreign countries like the USA, UK, France, Australia and Canada to formulate recommendations for reformation in the Indian setup.

International Terrorism: Attributes and Forms

The authors analyze the features of international terrorism. It is proven that international («external») terrorism should be recognized as an independent legal phenomenon, separate from the domestic («internal») terrorism. The authors agree with those researchers who consider international terrorism to be one of the varieties of terrorism, but believe that the suggested attributes of international terrorism should be modified. While the territorial attribute and the attribute of citizenship of the culprit generally do not raise any objections, the authors argue in support of their position regarding the specific features of the victims of international terrorism, they state that such features could be anything as long as they define a group of people that is different from the group to which the members of an international terrorist organization belong: religious, racial, ethnic, national, linguistic, political features, etc. Another attribute supported in the article is the recognition of the terrorist organization as an international one by the national judicial (law enforcement) bodies. This allows the authors to suggest that the current legislation of the Russian Federation should include a procedure for recognizing a terrorist organization as an international one. This suggestion takes into consideration the fact that the FSB, which keeps a Unified Federal List of Terrorist Organizations, differentiates between Russian, foreign and international terrorist organizations in its practical work. The authors conclude that international terrorism is characterizes by such attributes as unlawfulness, territoriality, certain citizenship of the culprit and (or) the victim of terrorism, identification of the victim with certain groups of people, recognition of the subject of terrorism (terrorist organization) as an international one. It is suggested that the Federal Law «On Counteracting Terrorism» should be supplemented by the norm that describes the concept of an «international terrorist organization». It is proven that the recognition of a terrorist organization as an international one (or a foreign one) should be exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. As for the analysis of the forms of international terrorism, it is argued that the most dangerous ones are «Islamist» (religious) and «right» (racist, Nazi) terrorism.

APA Foundation Program to Decriminalize SMI Honored

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article APA & MeetingsFull AccessAPA Foundation Program to Decriminalize SMI HonoredKatie O’ConnorKatie O’ConnorSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:10 Mar 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.04.4.32AbstractThe Judges and Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative works to decriminalize mental illness and connect judges and psychiatrists to help people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.The APA Foundation’s Judges and Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative (JPLI) has been named a winner in the 2nd Annual Anthem Awards by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.JPLI’s goal is to bring together psychiatrists and judges in an effort to divert and deflect people with serious mental illness (SMI) from incarceration, instead connecting them with treatment. It is an initiative that the APA Foundation (APAF) leads in collaboration with the Justice Center of the Council of State Governments and the National Center for State Courts. JPLI was named a silver winner in the 2023 Anthem Award’s community engagement category for nonprofit organizations.“JPLI does vital work to improve the lives of people living with SMI,” said Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., CEO and medical director of APA and chair of APAF’s Board of Directors. “Having a mental illness does not make someone a criminal—the individual has an illness that can be treated, just like diabetes or hypertension. The more we spread that message, especially in courtrooms, the more likely it is that our patients will be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”Central to JPLI’s work is creating connections between judges and psychiatrists. Through trainings, the judges and psychiatrists are able to increase the understanding within the legal system of how mental illnesses present, especially in the courtroom. Frequently, JPLI’s staff conducts train-the-trainer events, during which they train judge-and-psychiatrist teams on how to train those within their own communities to work with people with SMI in the legal system (Psychiatric News, Judges, Psychiatrists Trained to Share Education About MH in Justice System).“We are incredibly proud of what JPLI has accomplished with the support of the APAF Board of Directors, a growing number of APA members across the country who have embraced JPLI, and over 1,300 judges across 43 states who have come to understand that SMI is not a crime,” said APAF Executive Director Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq. “Together, we can take the first step to decriminalize mental health and promote well-being.”The Anthem Awards were launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards. The awards’ stated goal is to honor the purpose- and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. “We’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities,” states the Anthem Awards’ website.“Serious mental illness is not, and should have never been, a crime, but that is the sad reality that our communities face,” said Christopher Chun-Seeley, APAF’s program director of school and justice initiatives. “With our work to empower judges to use their convening power in their communities and psychiatrists to use their mental health expertise to reclaim our community members from the justice system, we are making an impact to decriminalize mental illness. But there is more work to be done, and we cannot do it alone.”There are numerous opportunities to get involved with JPLI. It will host three train-the-trainer events: May 17 to 19 in San Francisco, August 12 to 14 in Denver, and October 14 to 16 in Washington, D.C.Further, at APA’s 2023 Annual Meeting, APAF will present two sessions related to mental health and justice. “Answering the Judges Gavel: Decriminalizing Mental Illness and the National Judicial Mental Health Task Force” will be held on Sunday, May 21, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. “Mental Health Professionals’ Role in the Criminal Justice System: How to Be an Agent of Change” will be held on Sunday, May 21, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.Finally, the JPLI Annual Leadership Summit, during which the winners of the 2023 Judge Stephen S. Goss Memorial Award will be announced, will be held on Thursday, May 18, in San Francisco. For more information about this or other events, email [email protected]. ■ResourceMore information about JPLI’s award ISSUES NewArchived

Identification of Dispute Sources in the Construction Industry via Court Files

Contracting parties generally tend to resolve their disputes through the litigation process. The lengthy litigation process reduces the belief among the parties that the disputes are resolved peacefully, and this destabilizes the sustainable structure of the construction industry where disputes are very common. Determining the most common sources of disputes in construction lawsuits is very important in terms of taking necessary precautions beforehand. Additionally, increasing the competency levels of construction and judicial actors regarding construction processes is extremely important in terms of making the judicial process more efficient and faster. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the most frequent dispute sources in the construction industry, the competency levels of judicial actors including expert witnesses and the average duration of the construction-related litigation process for the superior courts. Hence, 346 construction-related lawsuits conducted between 2018 and 2021 were examined via content analysis to classify the common themes. Lawsuits were investigated via the official websites of Courts of Cassation and National Judicial Network Information System (UYAP). Next, the frequency analysis was conducted to detect the significance of each theme via SPSS software. It is highly believed that this study will enable the decision-makers to take necessary precautions before the dispute occurs as well as improve the dispute resolution process in the construction industry. Projects related to superstructure works constituted the majority of the disputes ending up with the judicial process. Additionally, the majority of the disputes detected from lawsuits resulted from “Debit and Credit” related issues. Moreover, the litigation process was also detected as a very lengthy process. Furthermore, it is detected that majority of the lawsuits were rejected by the Courts of Cassation due to inadequacies of the competency levels of the judicial actors.

Role of Judiciary to Sustain Constitutionalism

All nations in the modern era embraced democratic political systems and welfare state ideologies, giving administrative agencies broad latitude to act as they see fit. In the lack of clear rules, etc., using those powers frequently becomes subjective. In order to guarantee that "the rule of law" is present in all governmental operations, it is, therefore, imperative to restrict discretionary powers. The Indian judiciary has been correctly cited as an illustration of this worldwide trend as courts have gained authority in recent years. The Indian Court has, in many respects, evolved into a model for good governance that judges the rest of the Indian government. “On October 16, 2015, the Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) issued a landmark judgment in NJLC. The judgment held unconstitutional the Ninety-ninth Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which established National Judicial Appointments Commission. This Article argues that the Court has expanded its mandate as a result of the shortcomings of India’s representative institutions. The Indian Supreme Court’s institutional structure has also aided its rise and helps explain why the Court has gained more influence than most other judiciaries. This Article examines the development of India’s fundamental structure doctrine and the Court’s broad right-to-life jurisprudence to explore how the Court has enlarged its role.

Judges, Psychiatrists Trained to Share Education About MH in Justice System

Judges, Psychiatrists Trained to Share Education About MH in Justice System

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS WITH REFERENCE TO USA, AUSTRALIA AND INDIA

Appointment of judges in India in higher judiciary have been an issue since independence where even constituent assembly while drafting the constitution was in dilemma as to what method should be adopted to appoint a judge in the Supreme court and High Court. Ultimately, the power to appoint judges was given to executive to keep a check on higher judiciary to prevent nepotism and increase accountability and transparency. But this trend was reversed in 2nd judges case in 1993 when collegium system was formed by Supreme Court and President became bound to accept the recommendation of collegium system in the appointment of judges. Even SC struck down National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014 (NJAC) to uphold judicial independence. In this paper author will study the judicial appointment process of 3 countries i.e., USA, Australia and India and will try to analyze the trend followed in India for appointment process by looking into the landmark cases and NJAC Act which was struck down in 2015 by SC and lastly giving recommendations to improve the appointment process to uphold transparency and accountability which is considered as sine-qua-none for good governance.

Methyl alcohol intoxication and concomitant psychoactive substances in forensic cases

Methyl alcohol is an alcohol derivative that is widely used in the industry and is easy to obtain. Methyl alcohol intoxication is a serious condition. Especially in recent days, the cases of methyl alcohol intoxication, which has caused the death of many people, have again focused attention on this intoxication in Turkey. Use of homemade drinks containing methyl alcohol and fake alcohol can be shown as the reason for this. Forensic cases (mostly postmortem) with positive methyl alcohol results were analyzed. The presence of psychoactive, legal, and illegal abuse potential substances was also evaluated in the samples of the positive cases. The toxicological analysis results of biological samples (postmortem and antemortem) belonging to forensic cases that came to the Forensic Medicine Institute Izmir Group Presidency, Chemistry Department between 2017–2020 were evaluated. Methyl alcohol and its metabolites are routinely analyzed by headspace-gas chromatography (HS-GC) and headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) in biological samples (postmortem-ante mortem). In addition to methyl alcohol, the analysis of illegal, legal, and medical substances in blood and urine samples is performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometry (LC-MS/MS). The analysis results were obtained from the National Judicial Network Project (UYAP) and then analyzed statistically. In the samples of the positive cases, the presence of psychoactive, legal, and illegal abuse potential substances was also evaluated. In total, 42,564 cases were screened and methyl alcohol was detected in 0.6% ( n = 247) of these cases. The mean age of methyl alcohol-positive cases was 53.43 ± 10.66 (min: 25; max: 76), 95.1% of which were male. In total, there are 205 postmortem, 4 antemortem, and 38 unreachable cases with methyl alcohol detected. Although there was a significant increase between the years, the positive rate increased significantly in 2020 compared to the previous year (22 times more). The most common cause of death was methyl alcohol intoxication. In the majority of cases (16.6%), the methyl alcohol level was in the range of 150–300 mg/dL, followed by the concentration range of 301–499 mg/dL (12.6%). In the evaluated cases, besides the results of methyl alcohol, the presence of medical, medically abused legal, abused legal, and abused illegal substances in blood and urine were also examined. The medical and medically abused legal substance has mostly been detected in blood and urine. The high taxes on alcoholic beverages and the prohibitions that came into effect during the pandemic period caused an increase in illegal alcohol production. In our country, it has been prohibited to sell ethyl alcohol and methanol online since 2020. Despite this ban, the increase in the detection of methyl alcohol in 2020 is remarkable to our findings. As can be seen from the results of our study, increasing methyl alcohol use increases the responsibility of the people working in forensic and clinical laboratories. Especially during the pandemic period considering the increase in individual news, reveals the necessity of scientific data instead of popular data on the use of methyl alcohol. With this study, it is predicted that providing data to the field of forensic toxicology will both shed light on toxicological analyzes and benefit lawmakers for strategies developed to prevent the use of methyl alcohol.

Judges’ Perceptions of Systemic Racism in the Criminal Justice System

Recognition of the causes and consequences of systemic racism, particularly related to the criminal justice system, has increased in recent years, in part because of the Black Lives Matter movement. Awareness of racism and how it intersects with the justice system is a first step to addressing it; thus, it is critical to understand the sentiment of justice employees regarding systemic racism. This content analysis assessed the sentiment of 632 judges who responded to The National Judicial College's Question of the Month. Approximately 65% believed that systemic racism exists in the criminal justice system. Assessment of open-ended responses revealed many themes. Some judges pointed toward disparate treatment, while others denied racism exists. Some claimed that racism occurs but is not systemic. Many said that disparities are not a result of racism, but a result of SES, education, etc. Judges specified training and reforms (e.g., bail) that are needed. Suggested solutions included increasing accountability for police, prosecutors, and judges who display discriminatory behavior. These solutions indicated that judges are amenable to training and other reforms; such policy shifts should be pursued.

Appraisal of Existing Frameworks on Judicial Independence in Nigeria

Frameworks enhance the independence of the judiciary. Thus, there are different types of frameworks on the independence of the judiciary: legal and institutional. These are subjected to examination to bring them in line with current realities. This has necessitated the volume of pieces of literature proposing frameworks for reforms. Thus, in addition to the legal and institutional frameworks is the textual framework. The legal frameworks cover legislative enactments like the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended), institutional frameworks like the regulations handed down by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and textual frameworks which are academic works of scholars, jurists and legal practitioners. This paper undertook an appraisal these frameworks and made proposals, like an amendment to s. 271 CFRN 1999, for further reforms, towards enhancing judicial impendence in Nigeria and aligning it with international standards.

Constitutional and Statutory Courts of Constituent Entities of Russia in the National Judicial System: Past, Present and Future

The regional bodies of constitutional control have existed for more than 30 years, and during their work, they caused heated debates among legal scholars regarding their necessity. From January 1, 2023, these courts will cease to exist throughout the country because the wording of the federal Constitution and the law “On the Judicial System of the Russian Federation” has been changed. The researchers consider the legal regulation of the activities of constitutional and statutory courts and the history of their activity, draw parallels with the legal regulation of such instances abroad, analyse the problems of the “high cost” of the functioning of constitutional and statutory courts, and propose approaches that could significantly optimise the financing of the constitutional and statutory courts of the subjects. The authors present a comparative table on the number of cases considered by the courts, analyse their competence, consider the problematic issues of its differentiation from the competence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the possibility of assigning consideration of matters under the jurisdiction of the constitutional (statutory) courts to the courts of general jurisdiction.

Prawo do sądu ustanowionego ustawą a orzekanie przez sędziów sądów powszechnych powołanych na wniosek Krajowej Rady Sądownictwa po 6 marca 2018 r.

Right to a Tribunal Established by Law and the Adjudication by Judges of Common Courts Appointed at the Request of the National Judicial Council after 6 March 2018 The purpose of the article is to discuss the problem of common courts adjudicating in panels with judges appointed at the request of the National Council of the Judiciary after 6 March 2018 from the perspective of the right to a tribunal established by law guaranteed by Article 6(1) of the ECHR. In particular, the research problem of the article is to determine whether adjudication by a common court in panels involving such persons always leads to a violation of Article 6(1) ECHR. The article presents the view that the appointment of common court judges at the request of the reorganised NCJ, possibly with exception to assessors and former assessors appointed to their first judicial positions, constitutes manifest violation of fundamental rules of appointment of judges. This position is supported by the previous ECtHR case law, according to which adjudication by defectively appointed Supreme Court judges led to violation of the right to a tribunal established by law. However, the mere fact that a common court judge has been appointed in manifest violation of domestic law does not mean that the issuance of a ruling by such judge must always lead to a violation of Article 6(1) ECHR. In the process of assessment of whether there has been a violation of the Convention, the ECtHR also takes into account whether the national courts have adequately reviewed and remedied the violations of law that occurred at the stage of judicial appointments. The article presents the view that if a domestic court undertakes a comprehensive assessment of the judicial appointment process and then concludes, relying on the values expressed in the ECHR and in the case law of the ECtHR, that despite participation of unlawfully appointed person in adjudication panel an individual’s right to court was not put at risk, a violation of Article 6 ECHR can be avoided. If, however, the issue of the judge’s appointment is not examined at all or is done so only superficially, there will be a breach of the ECHR.

The Need for a National Judicial Appointment Commission and the Appointment of Jurists

The Need for a National Judicial Appointment Commission and the Appointment of Jurists

BCA: Bilinear Convolutional Neural Networks and Attention Networks for legal question answering

The National Judicial Examination of China is an essential examination for selecting legal practitioners. In recent years, people have tried to use machine learning algorithms to answer examination questions. With the proposal of JEC-QA (Zhong et al. 2020), the judicial examination becomes a particular legal task. The data of judicial examination contains two types, i.e., Knowledge-Driven questions and Case-Analysis questions. Both require complex reasoning and text comprehension, thus challenging computers to answer judicial examination questions. We propose Bilinear Convolutional Neural Networks and Attention Networks (BCA) in this paper, which is an improved version based on the model proposed by our team on the Challenge of AI in Law 2021 judicial examination task. It has two essential modules, Knowledge-Driven Module (KDM) for local features extraction and Case-Analysis Module (CAM) for the semantic difference clarification between the question stem and the options. We also add a post-processing module to correct the results in the final stage. The experimental results show that our system achieves state-of-the-art in the offline test of the judicial examination task.

Is Civility Dead? Judges’ Perceptions of Incivility in the Courtroom

AbstractIn response to The National Judicial College’s Question of the Month (n=831) in April 2018, almost 45% of judges reported that civility was declining in their courtrooms. A content analysis of judges’ comments revealed that judges experience a broad range of incivility including uncivil behavior, speech, and self‐presentation. Similarly, the sources of incivility appear to come from a variety of individuals including members of the public, defendants/plaintiffs, self‐represented litigants, attorneys, and other judges. These findings shed light on potential causes of incivility and can help legal practitioners and psychologists determine “best practices” for managing courtroom‐specific workplace incivility.

Weakening National Judicial Institutions and the Rescue Mission of Regional Courts: A Critical Assessment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice

Regional courts are currently functioning effectively in the continent of Africa in response to the progress in economic assimilation initiatives. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice (ECCJ) has been particularly active, handing out rulings on subjects ranging from human rights infringements, the validity of national elections, to the freedom of movement. Further, the judiciary is responsible for the interpretation of laws within the state, a position which is generally altruistic for most constitutional arrangements in the West African sub-region. However, democratic governance, in most of the states constituting the ECOWAS, is challenged by power dynamics that have created a senior/junior partnership relationship among the arms of government; and in particular, the dominance of the executive over other arms of government. This state of affairs affects mostly the judiciary, and by extension impacts litigants’ confidence in the judicial systems within the sub-region. This consequently explains citizens’ options to approach the ECCJ for resolution of disputes. This paper seeks to interrogate the causes that have weakened judicial systems within the sub-region, using Nigeria as a case study to determine how the ECCJ intervenes on such matters and the challenges regarding the execution of its judgments. Further comparative analysis of the SADC Tribunal shall be explored. The paper concludes by providing possible ways for the judiciary to navigate the challenges and also recommending how the justice sector can generally be strengthened.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by PCR in a series of corpses sent for autopsy

Following the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, affecting 185 countries. There have been numerous scientific publications presenting epidemiological, clinical, statistical, and microbiological data. The high mortality has implied the need for increasingly accurate data regarding the virus and its behaviour in the environment and, on the other hand, faced health teams with a serious problem in relation to the safe handling of corpses and the risks of transmission that this implies. The objective of this study was to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in corpses sent to the National Judicial Morgue that were not included in the definition of a suspected case submitted by the Argentine Ministry of Health. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were taken from 101 cadavers chosen randomly and based on inclusion criteria for detection of viral RNA using the RT-PCR technique. Of the cadavers included in the study, 16.8%, not classified as suspected cases of COVID-19, were tested for the presence of viral RNA in the samples collected.