Sense Of Impunity Research Articles

Criminal offences related to domestic violence: Structure of the investigation methodology

Violence by family members is not only systematic, but is also characterized by an increase in its intensity, aggression, and the victim's sense of impunity and inability to resist leads to serious criminal and legal consequences. Even when criminal offenses that result in injury or death are detected, it is not always possible to establish their connection to domestic violence. This situation can be avoided by following a defined, scientifically based structure of actions. Therefore, today there is a need to develop algorithms for investigator's actions during the investigation of criminal offenses resulting from domestic violence. That is why in this article the author aims at identifying the interdependent elements of the criminal investigation process. To achieve this goal, the author used the methods of analysis, synthesis and questionnaire, the method of decomposition, and the special legal method. As a result, this work has made it possible to substantiate the expediency of dividing the investigation methodology into nine mandatory structural elements. The completeness of such elements depends on the investigative situation, the specific type of criminal offense committed, the form of criminal plans implementation, the identity of the offender (either a person who commits systematic domestic violence or a person who is a victim of such violence or a witness thereto), the presence or absence of previous experience of the offender's illegal behavior, and the place of the criminal offense (rural area or a large city environment). The author substantiates the need to include such structural elements as "interaction with state and public authorities, institutions and organizations on preventing and combating domestic and gender-based violence" and "preventive activities of an investigator in criminal proceedings related to domestic violence" in the structure of the methodology. It is also determined that the effectiveness of the methodology is determined by the interdependence of investigative (detective) actions, compliance with the stages of the investigation and timely involvement of relevant specialists. Such elements, if properly sequenced and combined, form the methodology for investigating this category of criminal offenses. The practical value of the work lies in the formation of an effective program, planning of the investigator's actions not only to establish the circumstances of the incident, but also to establish the causal relationship between domestic violence and other criminal offenses.

Brazilian Portuguese Hate Speech Classification using BERTimbau

Hate speech is a language that attacks or denigrates a specific group based on their characteristics, such as their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Hate speech became widespread and spread through social networks, blogs, videos, and other communication channels. With anonymity and a sense of impunity, people feel encouraged to spread their hatred on the internet. In this work, we used the BERT model for the Portuguese language called BERTimbau to classify hate speech in three datasets in Portuguese, available in the literature: OFFCOMBR-2, OFFCOMBR-3, and Fortuna et. al. (2019) dataset. Still, we performed some preprocessing and an oversampling technique on the datasets. Finally, we compared the results obtained with results obtained by works available in the literature. Experiments with BERTimbau, using preprocessing and oversampling obtained better results than other classification techniques.

Psychopathic personality disorder and cybercriminality: an outline of the issue.

The rapid development of information and communication technologies has created a new dimension in interpersonal relationships, which is commonly called cyberspace. Structural features of cyberspace such as anonymity, the lack of non-verbal indicators of interaction, their asynchrony, a sense of impunity and the lack of specific norms of conduct cause that the behavior of some people online may differ significantly from their behavior in real life. Individuals with psychopathic personality disorder can use cyberspace for criminal activities such as cyberbullying, trolling, digital piracy, cybervandalism or data theft. This is a very significant problem, as some researchers predict that as digital communication develops, 'cyberpsychopaths' will become the dominant form of criminals. Currently, there is a lack of research on the relationship between the structural features of cyberspace and the expression of psychopathic personality traits and their role in committing cybercrimes.

Dysfunction of Mexico in terms of Personal Security

The article refers to the currently shaped issues of human personal safety in relation to threats arising from events and situations. At the same time, it points out that an exhaustive expression of the need for security is rather unfeasible because this scope in personal view will be categorized by: physiological properties, age, environmental and situational conditions, knowledge, and socio-cultural conditions, as well as life experiences. The author focuses in particular on the analysis of organized crime in Mexico and the impact of these structures on the personal safety of people, social, ethnic, and professional groups, indicating their causes. The rooting or deepening of the indicated social problems and the lack of perspectives to improve them means that the main assumptions of the security strategy, including among others public safety improvement programs, and thus personal safety, is a very complex and extended process. The analysis of the functioning of the Mexican state in the security sphere clearly shows that in this respect state institutions transfer this issue to the citizen. Fears for their safety result from the presence of criminal structures, shocking ones, their uncompromising attitude, sense of impunity, and ruthlessness towards anyone who has been defined by "crime syndicates" as a threat to their existence.

Beyond the boundary: the sandpapergate scandal and the limits of transnational masculinity

The public outrage expressed when Australian cricket players admitted to cheating during a Test match by using sandpaper to alter the surface of the match ball was, for some observers, matched by an incredulity captured in variants of the question, ‘how did they think they could get away with it?’ Drawing upon insights from recent work within masculinity studies, this essay offers an explanation into how the players could overlook the severity of their action as both an affront to the code of cricket and in regard to the response it would bring. The players are seen to be functionaries within an organizational network of ‘transnational men’, which characteristically tends to provide those within its institutional framework with a sense of impunity towards ethically questionable conduct. The essay also provides a means for questioning the wider cultural and organizational environment that gave rise to the Sandpapergate episode, by considering cricket as an ‘unsustainable institution of men’.

Amnesty institute in criminal law ofUkraine: problems and development prospects

The article considers the problems that arise in the process of application of amnesty acts, as well as the prospects for the development of the institution of amnesty in the criminal law of Ukraine. The current legislation governing the application of amnesty is analyzed, in particular, the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine "On Amnesty", the Law of Ukraine "On Amnesty in 2016", etc., based on which shortcomings and ways to improve legal regulation in this area were identified.In particular, it is noted that amnesty, unlike other types of release from punishment, can be considered a kind of "forgiveness" of a person who has committed a criminal offense and was found guilty. The application of amnesty is not connected by the legislator with the manifestations of positive post-criminal behavior of the convict, nor with the terms that have passed since the commission of the criminal offense, as well as the change of any other circumstances. At the same time, a person who has committed a criminal offense and received a "pardon" from the state must prove that he or she is worthy of such trust and the decision to release him or her will not create a sense of impunity. It is possible to ensure the realization of this goal and significantly increase the effectiveness of the amnesty through the effective use of the institution of probation.It is established that the existing shortcomings of the amnesty mechanism, in some cases, lead to its unjustified non-application to persons subject to amnesty, and in others - release from serving the sentence of accused and convicted persons to whom the amnesty does not apply. The expediency of introducing the practice of release from serving a sentence on the basis of the law on amnesty only under certain conditions, for example, with the consent of the victim to such release is substantiated. It should also be an important condition for the suspect to express a wish to have an amnesty applied to him, to admit his guilt and to reimburse or undertake to reimburse the damages caused by him or to remedy the damage caused by the criminal offense before the trial.

Psychological Aspects of Corruption in Public Administration: Case-Study of Ukraine

The purpose of this research was to explore the psychological aspects of corruption in public administration through a combination of methods such as the non-systematic review, a semi-structured interview, a survey questionnaire, and observations of the anti-corruption court hearings. The study employed a case research design using the exploratory research strategy. It relied on a combination of data collection methods. The study was designed as a flow of three basic stages such as identification of psychological factors of corruption, validation of factors, and assessment of relative importance of every factor using the Triangular Assessment Method. It provided first-hand evidence and cases for the course in “Psychological, Behavioural and Economic Triggers of Corruption.” The IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0.0.1. Software was used to process the yielded data. The study found that civil servants’ ambitions to get rich quick, their low self-esteem, psychological dependencies, community-accepted image, sense of impunity were the major psychological aspects pushing the people to corruption in Ukraine. It was also found that the sense of impunity could be considered to be the primary psychological impact factor stimulating corruption actions by the civil servants, specifically. The self-esteem could be regarded as a second important psychological factor of corruption in public administration, which is related to the persons’ vision of their role in the community. The third important factor was ambitions driven by ‘easy money’ and status. The last two factors such as psychological dependencies, the community-accepted image were judged to be the least important ones. Further in-depth research is needed to identify the gender difference in the psychological aspects of corruption in public administration.

O Caso Plan de Sánchez e a tutela dos direitos fundamentais da Etnia Maia Achí na Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos

Nesse artigo será analisado o caso do massacre de cerca de 268 pessoas da Etnia Maia Achí, em Plan de Sánchez, na República de Guatemala, ocorrido em 1982 e o julgamento daquele Estado pela Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos realizado em 2004. Na sua sentença, a Corte, por unanimidade, responsabilizou o Estado, determinou reparações materiais e o estabelecimento de uma política de respeito aos direitos fundamentais no país. Contudo, a punição dos responsáveis, apesar dos esforços, ficou aquém do esperado, ressaltando a sensação de impunidade dos autores desse genocídio. Utilizou-se na pesquisa o método dedutivo-normativo, com técnica histórica.

JUSTICE FOR THE RICH, JUDGEMENT FOR THE POOR: ‘ELITE IMMUNITY’, RAMPANT IMPUNITY AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

Na Nigéria, hoje, alguns aspectos de nossa constituição dão cláusula de imunidade aos titulares de cargos políticos, o que os impede de serem processados em um tribunal de justiça por supostas ofensas contra o estado cometido durante o mandato até depois de seu mandato. Esta cláusula de imunidade levou a uma taxa alarmante de ilegalidade executiva e corrupção oficial nos corredores do poder pela classe dominante política nigeriana, uma vez que eles abusam continuamente desses privilégios com alto senso de impunidade. Seus associados e amigos também desfrutam de imunidade não oficial, enquanto exibem de forma imprudente as leis existentes. Isso, muitas vezes, fica sem qualquer forma de punição para dissuadir outros criminosos em potencial. Muitas vezes precipita mais abuso na política. No entanto, enquanto os tribunais nigerianos tratam de maneira jocosa e aparentemente implacável com os pobres, os ricos são privilegiados e na maioria das vezes evitam a justiça. Embora a constituição nigeriana garanta justiça e igualdade para todos os cidadãos, muitas pessoas, especialmente os pobres e vulneráveis, ainda não conseguem ter acesso à justiça no país. Enquanto os pobres são apodrecidos na prisão por muitos anos, esperando o julgamento, um mecanismo de pouso suave é planejado para os ricos – apenas para devolver uma fração do dinheiro roubado e ir para casa. Este estudo, portanto, questiona o conteúdo e o contexto da imunidade de elite e sua cultura de impunidade que permeia o ambiente político na Nigéria.

«Красный бандитизм» как социально-политический феномен начала 1920-х годов (по материалам Северного Кузбасса)

The relevance of the study is due to the presence of conflicts in the social and civil spheres of life both in modern Russia and in the world. A historical excursion into the problem under consideration will help to identify the causes of the confrontation in social conflicts, to develop measures aimed at eliminating and overcoming them. The article discusses the issues associated with the emergence of red banditry in the northern part of the modern Kemerovo region after the end of the Civil War. New archival materials are being introduced into scientific circulation. The novelty of the study is that based on the analysis of the data, the conclusions of researchers involved in the history of red banditry in Siberia are corrected. The author dwells on the facts of the manifestation of red banditry in the Mariinsky district of Tomsk province, reveals the essence of this phenomenon. It is proved that the causes of this phenomenon, in addition to the negative reaction of the Soviet government to the Kolchak regime, the low level of political and spiritual culture of representatives of the new government, the strong influence of partisans, the emergence of a sense of impunity and permissiveness, included such reasons as personal contempt and hostility between ordinary residents, as well as basic desire to appropriate another's property.

ECONOMIC SAFETY IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS

Raiderism is a type of offense that doesn’t have an exact definition in the law system. The main goal of the publication is to investigate the topicality of the fraudulent version – the raiderism and research historical interrelationships in the aspect of normative acts, as well as to study the nature of raiderism by analyzing a specific example. This example, like many others, fully confirms the hypothesis of the existence of raiderism, the problem of preventative identification of the profile of riders, as well as the imperfections of normative acts. In author’s opinion, it is possible to identify the most common types and by providing appropriate solutions to the regulatory of the area – raiderism can be localized quickly, but perpetrators can be held liable for their actions. Undoubtedly, effective regulatory regulation will also act as a deterrent to the spread of raiderism, as the inability to react effectively and the relative sense of impunity serve as catalyst for the raiders – the injured party needs to make great efforts and, despite the losses caused by the raiders, must be financially capable of proving the perpetrator’s offense in long term.

New Reality – New Problems. Financial Crime in Greater Poland in the Years 1945-1970

Abstract Systemic transformation in Poland after the Second World War led to deep transformations within the economy. It did not, however, change the way people thought. Despite the chaos of the post-war period, in which all the negative features shaped in the period of occupation manifested themselves, it seemed that the conceptual leaders of the Polish political and economic life would create new quality. However, it soon turned out that old habits die hard and the system created by communists opened a field for many abuses. This was accompanied by a sense of impunity, as the most prominent personalities in a given region were also involved in economic scandals. All this resulted in the creation of “cliques” in which both prominent Party activists and people put by the Party in high positions (usually also members of the Polish United Workers’ Party, PUWP) played important roles. On the one hand, after 1956, surveillance by the Security Office (UB) or Security Services (SB) was not that strict anymore, and on the other, the so-called “private initiative” started to develop fast – therefore the more “entrepreneurial” individuals started to exploit the situation and gain wealth. Abusing one’s position to organize large-scale thefts was considered relatively normal. This happened in various forms: sometimes directly, but more often by supporting or even organizing private projects with the use of the national, though unsupervised, supply of raw materials or products. This way, the Party members grew richer at the expense of the companies they worked for. This business was relatively widely tolerated by ordinary citizens, who saw it as an excuse to also “organize” goods individually for their own purposes in the companies which employed them. This common belief that “everybody steals” allowed people to justify their own dishonesty. Any attempts to fight this problem failed to produce satisfactory results. The diagnosis, even if correct, had to face reality, in which the pursuit of a better quality of life by the Party elites collided with the officially promoted ascetic lifestyles of the “ideological communists”, who, like Władysław Gomułka, did not understood the new times.

Political Connections and Insider Trading

This paper investigates whether directors’ political connections aect their behavior in financial markets. We conjecture that directors feel protected by their political connections, which translates in lower perceived enforcement probability. We use the French 2007 presidential election as a plausibly exogenous change in the value of political connections in a dierence-in-dier ences research design. Specifically, we examine the behavior of directors of publicly listed companies that are connected to the future President—through campaign donations or direct friendships—compared to other directors before and after the election. We find larger two-day cumulative abnormal returns around the disclosure of purchases by politically-connected directors, suggesting that they are more likely to trade on private material information. Furthermore, we observe that the probability to break the disclosure time limit increased significantly for connected directors after the election. Overall, our results indicate that politicallyconnected directors have a sense of impunity and engage in fraudulent behavior.

Disorder perception is the adaptive interpretation of social cues, not just a sensitivity to randomness.

Disorder perception is the adaptive interpretation of social cues, not just a sensitivity to randomness.

Ending the 'Catch and Release' Game: Enhancing International Efforts to Prosecute Somali Pirates Under Universal Jurisdiction

While successful hijackings and ransoms off the coast of Somalia have recently receded, the inability of the international community to provide an effective and consistent legal deterrent to pirate activity remains. The prevailing policy of “catch and release” enables pirate activity to persist in international waters – allowing criminals to roam the seas as a constant threat to commercial shipping and with a sense of impunity. The text herein explores the weaknesses of the international legal regime in combating maritime piracy, focusing on the inability and unwillingness of states to prosecute captured pirates under universal jurisdiction.This essay highlights that one of the greatest impediments to prosecutions is a lack of legal capacity by states to charge and punish individuals for the crime of piracy. An absence of domestic legislation either criminalizing piracy or providing for the exercise of universal jurisdiction directly prohibits certain nations from bringing to justice many of the pirates captured on the high seas. This thesis also presents evidentiary issues as a crucial factor in the persistence of the “catch and release” policy. Accordingly, this text explores how the adoption of “equipment articles” could mitigate some of these issues and facilitate the prosecution of maritime piracy. Furthermore, the essay directly addresses how equipment articles and domestic legislation would be added to the current international legal framework.This text first examines the relevant international law that both defines piracy and provides for its criminalization and punishment by individual states. In order to ground the successes and failures of international prosecution efforts in their all-important context, this essay also explores the characteristics of Somali piracy, including the root causes of pirate activity and the mechanics of piracy operations. Likewise, this text surveys the conventional efforts to combat piracy in the region and the interaction between naval personnel and captured piracy suspects. Additionally, this essay focuses on the legal capability of states to arrest and prosecute pirates that are captured on the high seas.While the conclusions in this essay are specifically tailored to the pirate activity off the coast of Somalia and the unique characteristics of this incidence, wider implications for the deterrence of global maritime piracy can be gleaned from the analysis and arguments herein.

Links Between Criminal Justice Procedure and Torture: Learning from Russia

This article aims to establish the causes behind the sense of impunity that pervades the institutions of Russian law enforcement in the context of interrogations in pretrial detention. This sense of impunity is critical, for it creates a climate in which torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment is used as a tool to expedite the investigative process and guarantee the success of the subsequent prosecution. This study argues that impunity for torture by law enforcement officials in Russia is fostered by three discernible factors. First, the Criminal Code inadequately articulates the prohibition of torture. Second, the Code of Criminal Procedure contains substantive shortcomings that create a structure that both incentivizes torture and discourages investigation into allegations of torture. And, third, allegations of ill treatment and torture that are raised during trial trigger no substantive investigative actions. The combined effect of these factors is that the state, in effect, fosters the law enforcement officers’ sense of impunity. This article analyzes these shortcomings through the lens of international human rights law, contributing to the ongoing scholarly inquiry into the relationship between European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence and the domestic law of states within the Council of Europe.

The (not always sweet) uses of opportunism: Post-communist political parties in Poland

The author argues that political opportunism, an attitude common among communist party members before 1989, turned into both the blessing and the curse for post-communist parties in Poland. Once hopeful of secure careers in the authoritarian structures of the old regime, after the regime breakdown communists found themselves in a situation where the only chance for such a career could be associated with the party reinventing itself as a player in the field of pluralist democracy. Opportunistic attitudes of communist apparatchiks and nomenklatura members were instrumental in transforming them, individually and collectively, into effective actors in market economy and competitive politics. Yet the same attitudes doomed the post-communists once the opportunities associated with access to political power opened up widely. The same people who in the 1990s were so apt in turning the rules of democratic game into their collective advantage, in the 2000s acted with a sense of impunity and lack of any consideration for political accountability that in democracies arrives at the end of any election cycle. Plagued by corruption scandals, they lost their popular base: the economically disadvantaged groups to nationalistic populists, the urbane libertarians to liberal democrats.

Czynniki kryminogenne przestępczości podatkowej

In his article, Wilk looks at the common phenomenon of illegally reducing tax obligations. The publication points out the regularity of tax crimes, which take an increasingly organised form. It also mentions a law formulated by finance theoreticians, the ‘law of increasing resistance to taxes’, which is a consequence of the law of constantly rising public spending. The author refers to the importance of complying with the tax law for the proper functioning of the state, as an introduction to the analysis of the reasons why citizens evade their obligation to pay tax dues. As one motivation, Wilk cites a psychological reluctance to pay taxes that manifests as a natural instinct. He also discusses the definition of the concept of tax, which is characterised by coercion in the form of the threat of legal sanction. Another reason, according to the author, may be a lack of identification with one’s own state and its authority. Further causes of tax evasion, according to the analysis presented, are ethical in nature. In the article, there are references to the teachings of the Catholic Church about the justice of levying tax and historical examples of tax discrimination against certain social groups. The economic determinants of tax crimes include a desire to obtain financial benefits, constantly changing market conditions, and links between the world of politics and the economy. Wilk also presents the views of economists who point to the positive effects of a shadow economy’s functioning. The article also discusses the legal reasons for tax fraud, such as legal loopholes leading to VAT fraud, carousel fraud connected with the movement of goods within the EU, or the numerous preferences, allowances, and exemptions from tax obligation. Furthermore, the author mentions the multiplicity of legal regulations, frequent amendments of tax law, and antagonistic relations between the tax authorities and taxpayers. In conclusion, the author recalls the institution of active repentance – the possibility of filing a correction to a tax return – even after a potential tax inspection has been carried out. Wilk is convinced that such a regulation does not encourage fraudsters to disclose irregularities on their own accord, but only strengthens their sense of impunity, which has a criminogenic effect.

Human rights in conflict

The language of war has a recognised and intimate relationship with the abuse of a core set of civil and political rights. Detention without trial, arbitrary arrest, disappearance, torture and the like soon result once a political authority decides to describe a conflict in which it is involved as ‘war’. National or regime security takes centre stage, security ideologies play a stronger role, and the means employed push at the boundaries of the acceptable. This close association between conflict and human-rights abuse, if no other reason, should make us pause before we too readily resort to the language of war. The Cold War and the current ‘global war on terror’ – to use the US term – are no exceptions to this general finding. Disappearance, torture and extra-judicial killings have been features of both. The struggle against terrorism has generated a sense of impunity for actions that threaten many different groups.

Zimbabwe: health and human rights versus African solidarity

Despite respected human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International meticulously cataloguing a plethora of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe over the past few years and repeatedly appealing for international intervention the African Union and in particular South Africa have responded indifferently. This reaction seemingly encouraged Zimbabwe to act with a sense of impunity culminating in its punishing mass-eviction campaign in urban areas started on May 19 2005. Despite the obvious suffering this campaign is inflicting African leaders disturbingly turned a blind eye once again. Now a UN investigation team ordered by an African UN Secretary-General and headed by a respected African UN official has found that the eviction campaign in Zimbabwe has resulted in some 700 000 people losing their homes sources of livelihood or both and a further 2.4 million people being affected in some way. In the absence of western involvement and in light of such a damning report initiated and authored by such respected African figures the world will now judge whether Africa’s leadership will still deem the preservation of African solidarity at the executive level more important than the promotion and protection of health and human rights of the vulnerable at the grassroots level. A failure by African leaders to immediately prioritise the interests of the vulnerable will further tarnish Africa’s image and threaten health and human rights reform across the entire African continent. (excerpt)