Type Of Offense Research Articles

Criminal enforcement of intellectual property rights: an overview and comparative analysis of the Balkans

Abstract Criminal enforcement plays an important role to safeguard both the private rights and the public interests against counterfeiting, piracy and other unlawful activities related to the infringement of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Owing to the international obligations outlined in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), infringement of IPRs has been criminalized by all member states and criminal procedures shall apply accordingly under the conditions determined in their national laws. This article aims to present an overview and comparative analysis of the criminal law protection of IPRs in the Balkans to point out the main difficulties faced by the criminal courts in their practice. In particular, attention focuses on trade mark rights as a case study. The article examines the relevance of criminal law within the context of international obligations and domestic legal frameworks by providing a detailed legal analysis of the corresponding criminal law provisions in the Balkan countries. In this regard, the article identifies the elements required for the investigation and prosecution of such type of offences by evidencing the practical issues and difficulties of law enforcement agencies where they need to prove the intention of deceiving consumers as a necessary element to hold a person criminally responsible. Overall, the article explores the practical significance of criminal law in the enforcement of IPRs as an effective tool in deterring and prosecuting IP crimes, as well as provides some important steps to improve criminal law tools in the Balkans.

The german «model» of criminal-legal protection of the circulation of medicines and the circulation of medical products: concepts and structure

The article examines the German «model» of criminal law protection of circulation of medicines and circulation of medical products. A number of obligations assumed by Ukraine after the conclusion of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, on the other hand, are analyzed. In particular, obligations related to the legal protection of medicines and medical products.
 The subject of the authors’ consideration is the European standards of the «model» of criminal law protection of circulation of medicines and circulation of medical products against their counterfeiting (falsification), which Ukraine is obliged to take into account (according to the Medicrime convention).
 The criminal legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany is studied, as it provides the most complete protection of the circulation of medicines and the circulation of medical products. The German Medicines Act (1976) and the German Medical Products Act (2002) were developed by the authors.
 The German approach in defining the concept of medicinal products in the Law on Circulation of Medicinal Products is presented, which, according to the authors, is important because it «contradicts» the approach laid down in the Medicrime Convention.
 The article pays attention to the types of German criminal offenses that encroach on the established order of circulation of medicinal products and the types of criminal offenses that encroach on the established order of circulation of medical products.
 The authors find that the main advantages of the German «model» are the detailed inclusion of the provisions of the regulatory legislation, which ensures the circulation of medicinal products and the circulation of medical products, in the content of the structural elements of a specific type of criminal offense: a) in the content of objective and subjective signs of the corresponding composition of the act (on one «level» of the structure of the criminal offense), as well as b) the illegality of these criminal offenses (on another «level» of the structure).
 The content of “the circulation of medicines” and “the circulation of medical products”, provided for in the relevant provisions of the German Law on the circulation of medicines and the Law on medical products, is analyzed.

Characteristics of Illicit Access to Data and Crimes against Information Systems in Hungary between 2013 and 2021

Aim: The aim of the study is to present the results of the research carried out by the National Institute of Criminology on the implementation of the Criminal Code. Chapter XLIII of the Criminal Procedure Code was conducted by the National Institute of Criminology.Methodology: The study was conducted using the methodology of data collection, data analysis, criminal file analysis.Findings: The domestic regulatory environment adequately covers a wide range of cyber-attacks. Hungarian characteristics can be seen in the broader perspective of current international and European developments in cyber security and cybercrime. The data show a steady but not uniform increase in the number of reports of such crimes, as more and more people use various information systems in their daily lives, while neglecting, in whole or in part, measures to ensure their safe use. The conclusion of the national survey is that there are several types of offences which are basically well defined. It may be a challenge for law enforcement to keep track of new types of offences and to classify individual offences.Value: Conclusions and recommendations on the specifics of the offences covered by Chapter XLIII of the BPC; the (new) Criminal Code since its entry into force, there has been no research of this scope and content on the topic, including criminal document analysis, in Hungary.

THE «HUMAN DIMENSION» DOCTRINE HUMAN AND CITIZEN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS IN UKRAINE

The article is devoted to the doctrine of the «human dimension», the essence of human and citizen rights and freedoms. In the course of the study, it was substantiated that nowadays in Ukraine the problem of real provision of human and citizen rights and freedoms, which is connected with the insufficient level of observance of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law by the state, as well as the insufficient level of their protection, is gaining special importance from various types of offenses. The analysis of the systematic study shows that the problem of ensuring and protecting human rights in Ukraine is complex and multifaceted, and the creation of additional guarantees and mechanisms for the realization of individual rights and freedoms is a priority task of the state at the current stage and in modern historical crisis realities. It is proved that in independent Ukraine today the theory of recognition of human dignity is extremely popular, which is an integrative property of human nature and is one of the institutional sources of his basic rights. It is predicted that in the near future all doctrinal positions in the field of ensuring and protecting the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen will require appropriate normative and legal regulation, in particular, constitutional. The problem of ensuring human rights at the end of the 20th - at the beginning of the 21st century became one of the most urgent problems of humanity. It is the person in the theory and practice of constitutionalism who occupies the main place, because he is the main reference point for the development, improvement and implementation of the theory and practice of further development. The issues of human and citizen rights and freedoms in Ukraine are of particular interest not only to legal theorists, but also often become a topic of research among practitioners from various fields of law and among different countries.

Avoiding plagiarism in higher education: legal interpretation and controversies

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are intrinsically connected. The paper examines EU law in this area, depicts different types of plagiarism and copyright offences as well as different types of penalties. The focus is on higher education plagiarism and the use of several types of anti-plagiarism software to tackle that problem. Several controversies have been examined and recommendations offered on avoiding some of the common problems.

Disparities in Sex-Specific Arrest Rates: Does Offense Type and Neighborhood Context Matter?

We investigate differential effects of neighborhood structure on the arrest rates of men versus women. Given potential disparities in the use of discretion by offense severity, we disaggregate crime to aggravated assaults, burglaries, and drug offenses. We employ negative binomial regression models to predict the number of arrests by sex for each crime type, and test for significant differences within and between sex across offense severity. We find few differences within and across sex, however, levels of disorder and the racial composition of a neighborhood are important structural factors in understanding arrests by sex and across offense type. Neighborhood composition is associated with differential rates of arrest by sex and across offense severity, which has implications for gender disparities in the criminal justice system.

Court-ordered inpatient psychiatric care in Switzerland: determinants of length of stay and treatment outcome.

IntroductionIn several European countries, offenders with decreased or abolished responsibility and high risk of recidivism due to long-lasting mental disorders are compulsory admitted for court-ordered treatments (COT) that take place in high and medium-security hospitals. As a rule, length of stay in these structures is very long implying major restrictions for the inmate and high societal cost. Despite intensive research, the predictors of length of stay and treatment outcome in long stay forensic services is still matter of debate.MethodsWe report here a detailed analysis of the demographic, psychiatric and offense predictors of length of stay and discharge locations of 204 mentally disordered offenders convicted to COT in a new medium-security forensic psychiatry clinic in Geneva, Switzerland. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were performed to determine time to release. Length of stay was predicted by Cox regressions, and discharge locations were predicted by multinomial logistic regressions.ResultsThe typical inpatient was a 35-age single male re-offender, submitted to COT after a conviction for physical violence (78.9%) or property violation (64.2%), with drug trafficking (52.9%), in relation to psychotic (67.2%), antisocial or borderline personality disorder (35.8%) with comorbid substance use disorders (60.3%). Sex offenses were found in 24.5% of cases and were associated with Cluster B personality disorders. The median length of stay was of 2.5 years and was independent of demographic variables, severity of crime recidivism and psychiatric diagnosis. Longer COT at admission, and type of offense (in particular drug traffic and sexual violence) predicted longer stays. At discharge, 32.8% of cases were transferred to sheltered educational housing, 23.1% to open low-security wards, while 30.6% returned to regular prisons and 9.7% to their country of origin.DiscussionYounger age and conviction for property violation rather than physical violence increased the chances to be discharged to sheltered educational housing. Longer COT at admission, personality disorders, and conviction for sexual offense increased the risk to return to prison. These data suggest that sex offenses determine not only longer stays under COT but also drastically decreases the chance of freedom for inmates with Cluster B personality disorders.

The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Different Types of Offending Behavior: An Examination Across Two Generations of British Males.

Research has established a relationship between trauma exposure, often conceptualized as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and offending, with some evidence suggesting that both trauma and offending can be transmitted from one generation to the next. Further, while some evidence suggests that experiencing a high number of ACEs is associated with different types of offenses, it is not known whether these associations are similar across generations. The current study aims to address this gap in knowledge by examining the effects of ACEs on different offense types across two generations, utilizing data from a longitudinal study of British male participants and their male children. Results suggest that high ACE scores are associated with several offense types within generations, but the effect of parental ACEs on the subsequent generation's offending was weak. Alongside a discussion of these findings, study limitations and future research directions are also presented.

Debut crimes and chronic offenders in Queensland

We investigate whether the type of crime committed early in an individual's career has a bearing on patterns of subsequent offending (the so-called debut hypothesis) in an Australian setting. Police-recorded crime data from 2008 to 2020 were used and partitioned into cohorts based on the year of the first offence. We computed, for each cohort, the rate at which individuals progressed to established criminal careers conditioned by their first recorded offence. Individuals who commit burglary, vehicle theft, or robbery as their first recorded offence were observed to become chronic offenders at higher rates than those who commit other types of first offences. We also demonstrated that this relationship exists for other dimensions of the criminal career and is time stable. The policy implications of our findings suggest that a combination of opportunity reduction and diversionary policies has the potential to substantially reduce the prospects of chronic criminal careers and their societal impact.

Ethnicity, gender and community sentences

ObjectivesThis paper presents findings from administrative data analysis examining differences between ethnic groups and men and women in the number and type of requirements that make up community sentences as well as the effectiveness of different requirements in terms of successful completion of the sentence.
 MethodsThe paper presents findings from analysis of the Data First probation and criminal justice linked datasets. The analysis will focus on whether:
 
 there are differences between ethnic groups and men and women in the number and type of requirements that make up community-based orders (rehabilitation, unpaid work, curfew and accredited programmes)
 some requirements are more effective in terms of successful completion of the order.
 
 The paper presents findings from regression analysis used to examine the above relationships while controlling for other relevant variables such as age, number of previous convictions and offence type.
 FindingsGraphs will be used to set out differences between broad ethnic groups and men and women in the total number of requirements which make up community-based orders and the proportion of offenders from each group which receive each of the main types of requirement namely: rehabilitation; unpaid work; curfew; and accredited programmes. Graphs will also be used to set out differences between the different order requirements in terms of successful completion. The paper will also present findings from regression analysis which will identify differences after taking account of other factors. The findings will of necessity be based on broad ethnic groups as it is unlikely that there will be sufficient numbers of people within more narrow ethnic groups to meet statistical disclosure criteria.
 ConclusionThere is a lack of information on relationships between ethnicity, gender and community sentences. Better understanding of these relationships has been identified as crucial by HM Inspectorate of Probation. This paper provides more information on these relationships enabling policy decisions to be better targeted to provide equality of outcomes.

Education and social care predictors of offending trajectories: A UK administrative data linkage study

ObjectivesThe age-crime curve indicates that criminal behaviour peaks in adolescence and decreases in adulthood, but longitudinal studies suggest that this curve conceals distinct patterns of (re)-offending or trajectories. Some trajectories (e.g., life course persistent offenders) are reported to have distinct risk factors and more negative outcomes than others (e.g., adolescent limited offenders).
 MethodsThe current study had two main objectives: (1) To use UK administrative crime data to identify trajectories of (re)-offending; and (2) To prospectively identify (re)-offending trajectories using longitudinal administrative education and social care data. This project uses linked UK administrative data containing the anonymised education and social care records for individuals born between September 1985 and August 1999, which have been linked to later official crime records up to the end of 2017. To identify offending trajectories, we used information on offence type, age of first conviction/caution, age of last recorded conviction/caution and offending history at three age points (Juvenile: 10-17 years; Young adult: 18-20 years; Adult: 21-32 years).
 ResultsLatent Class Analyses with and without ‘Gender’ and ‘Ever served a custodial sentence’ as covariates was conducted to identify trajectories of (re)-offending. We are currently developing statistical models to see if we can use prospective longitudinal education and social care factors to discriminate between these trajectories. In my talk, I will share findings on the offending trajectories identified and present some early results on the key education and social care drivers of the offending trajectories.
 ConclusionFindings from this study has the potential to provide deeper insights into how these education and social care factors might affect (re)-offending patterns. This could inform education, social care and criminal justice system responses to offending behaviours which seek to reduce offending and its associated social and economic costs.

The time is now: Preventing unnecessary criminalisation of children in care

ObjectivesNewly linked administrative datasets allow us to explore the relationship between ethnicity, care experience and youth justice involvement. This data reveals huge disparities in the youth justice system, highlighting the need for urgent policy reform to prevent unnecessary criminalisation of children in care and care leavers. MethodsUsing linked administrative datasets from the Ministry of Justice and Department for Education, this paper takes a birth cohort approach to understanding youth justice involvement. It draws on National Pupil Database, Children Looked After and Police National Computer records from 2006 to 2017. Firstly, this paper will use descriptive statistics to highlight disparities in the extent of youth justice involvement among care-experienced individuals compared to non-care-experienced individuals and how this varies by ethnic group. Focusing on three offence types, the paper will then draw on mixed effects models to assess the likelihood of receiving a harsh sentence. ResultsThe paper will show that the extent of youth justice involvement among individuals who have been in care (i.e. foster care, children’s homes and kinship care) is much greater than previously thought. It will demonstrate that youth justice involvement is especially common among ethnic minority care-experienced individuals, particularly those who identify as Black or mixed ethnicity. The paper will highlight how care experience increases a person's risk of receiving a custodial sentence and may also affect their risk of getting a longer custodial sentence. Findings will be situated within the broader literature on in-care criminalisation (e.g. Walklate & Fitz-gibbon, 2021), calling attention to institutional and structural influences on justice systems involvement. ConclusionThe paper will show how linked administrative data can generate new insights which can inform policy and practice across both systems of care and justice. In doing so, it will make the case for a statutory duty of preventing unnecessary criminalisation of children in care and care leavers."

Offences in the sphere of virtual assets turnover and analysis of their qualification

With the advent of new forms of interaction, virtual goods and services, a new field for committing offences in the field of virtual assets turnover is emerging. This encourages scientists and law enforcement agencies to actively research this area and develop effective mechanisms to respond to emerging challenges that have not yet been properly reflected in legislation. The purpose of this study was to explore the issue in depth by analysing specific offences related to virtual assets, including but not limited to theft, fraud, corruption, and tax evasion. The methods of scientific cognition employed for the study include analysis of legal regulation, modelling methods, analogies, systemic and structural, comparative legal, as well as methods of scientific abstraction and generalisation. Based on the results of the study, the study identified the main types of offences in the field of virtual assets and unifies them. The study identified the shortcomings in the current legal regulation that contribute to these problems. Proposals were formulated for amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the qualification of new types of offences committed in the field of virtual assets turnover based on research of current trends, international practices, and analysis of the current state of Ukrainian legislation. The study also showed that the available legal instruments often fail to ensure adequate detection and prosecution of new forms of offences, which makes it necessary to reform legislation to adapt to the current dynamic environment. The practical significance of this study was to identify the current problems of legal regulation of the circulation of virtual assets, and to develop recommendations for improving the qualification of offences in this area

The forensic information identification based on machine learning algorithms

Investigating crimes in selected areas, studying their occurrence and appropriate graphical visualization may be an important supportive information for police units. Nowadays, the available IT tools can improve the work of law enforcement agencies. For this purpose, in this work, we propose an exploration approach which allows for analyzing crime events that are recorded in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Based on the collected data, seven types of offenses are recorded. First, they are analyzed in terms of time verifying whether any type of event depends on the day of the week or a period of the day. Then the distribution of the crimes is examined by spatial clusterization and kernel density estimation methods. As a result of the analysis, it is shown when and where the citizens of the considered city are subject to the highest crime rate.

Administrative Liability for Discrediting the Activities of Public Authorities

The subject of the analysis is the relations and activities of law enforcement agencies related to the qualification of administrative offenses aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and state authorities in the context of unfriendly relations and armed confrontation between individual countries. Forces of the Russian Federation and public authorities in the conditions of unfriendly attitudes and armed confrontation of certain countries. The purpose of the study is to clarify the phenomenon of verbal and intensional offences of psycho-emotional type, the peculiarities of construction, design and deconstruction of the main elements of the composition of this type of administrative offences. Clarification of the criteria for the separation of conditionally lawful and categorically unlawful act expressed as a negative statement or aggressive unstable attitude of the psychological state of the person who committed an administrative offence also is the purpose of this paper. The research methods are based on the application of the legal text and correlation of the context of circumstances from the positions of the main provisions of propositional logic (derivation of categorical judgements about the meaning of certain terms with uncertain semantics (discrediting, publicity, targeting, etc.)). The doctrine of multiple predicates (which allowed building of matrix structures of admissibility of imputation of an unlawful act to a subject with a certain legal status only, as well as situational negation of admissibility of its imputation, if a full map of the subject's legal status is not available) is also used in the present research. Besides, design of modal constructions (rules of qualification of administrative offences of psycho-emotional type), as well as the logic of evaluations (in terms of weak and strong statements about prohibited or permissible statements about the activity of representatives of the authorities in certain conditions or in certain ways) is used as effective research method . The main conclusions of the study are expressed in the assertion of the priority establishment of amenability and punishability for offences related to the formation of destructive anti-cultural stereotypes, false ideological attitudes, belittling of the traditional way of life and denial of vital foundations of Russian society, the need to eliminate legal constructions with vague and unclear content. Increased attention should be paid to the semantic analysis and targeting of the offender's phrases precisely to replace the upheld public position with egoistic aspirations and planting the priority of personal misconceptions. It is necessary to introduce a separate category of rules of information and semantic analysis when imputing this or that administrative offence.

Recidivism in a juvenile court‐sponsored delinquency prevention program

AbstractPrevious research on the rates of juvenile re‐offending have been found to be as high as 66% when measuring recidivism by rearrest and as high as 33% when measuring re‐offending by reconvictions within one to three years of release. However, accurately estimating a national juvenile recidivism rate is problematic. This is even more complicated when attempting to determine recidivism for delinquency prevention programs. One of the oldest, and perhaps most successful of these programs, is the Oakland County (Michigan) Youth Assistance Program (OCYA), which began in 1953. The present paper is an attempt to quantify the recidivism rate for youngsters referred to OCYA in a different sample. This study drew on the entire OCYA database from 2004 to 2014 with a random sample of 1540 cases selected. Demographic information of the selected youths, their number of caseworker contacts, the type of offense, and their recidivism record were evaluated using SPSS statistical software. Results showed a relatively low recidivism rate, but participation in OCYA face‐to‐face caseworker contacts or auxiliary programs had no predictive value in forecasting recidivism.

Violence in first-episode psychosis: evidence from an early intervention in psychosis programme.

Psychotic disorders are frequently associated with a public perception of dangerousness and belligerence. This situation has contributed to the social stigmatisation of people with severe mental illness and the resulting discrimination that this scenario entails. Despite efforts to demystify such disorders, the association between violent behaviour and psychosis remains unclear. To explore the incidence of the main types of violent offences in a cohort of patients presenting with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Participants were recruited from the First Episode Psychosis Intervention Program (CRUPEP) cohort between 2009 and 2016. The main clinical variables were collected, including medical-forensic records of participants registered at the Basque Institute of Forensic Medicine (BIFM), to identify any violent acts in which participants were involved, either as victims or as offenders. Overall, 79.5% (n = 182) of the participants had no record of violent crime or offence recorded in the BIFM. Annual crime rates for the 2009-2016 period show a decreasing trend in both the general population (IRR = 0.981, 95% CI 0.978-0.983, P < 0.001) and in the FEP group (IRR = 0.019, 95% CI 0.012-0.028, P < 0.001); this pattern is more pronounced in the FEP group. Victimisation accounted for the vast majority of reported incidents; nevertheless, participants who had committed violent offences were mostly involved in intrafamily violence. Individuals with FEP were not involved in a higher number of crimes than the general population. The types of violent acts committed by people with FEP were heterogeneous, with extreme violence being particularly uncommon.

From IDA to IIROC: Has self‐regulation in the Canadian investment industry evolved?

AbstractThis article analyzes the enforcement practices of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and compares them with its predecessor, the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA). The study collected data from IIROC's tribunal cases decided between June 2008 and December 2019 and compared them with data on the IDA's enforcement of complaints from 1984 to 2008. The findings reveal no statistically significant difference in the fines imposed by the two regulatory bodies. Furthermore, IIROC has refrained from issuing lenient penalties such as retaking examinations/courses or mandating terms and conditions for offenders. The results also indicate no significant impact on the number or distribution of offense types committed in the industry over time. Most notably, the Ontario Securities Commission, the Canadian Securities Regulators, and the new Self‐Regulatory Organization of Canada should consider these findings when formulating policies concerning the role of self‐regulation in the financial markets.

Pengaruh Religiusitas Terhadap Rasa Bersalah Pada Warga Binaan Di Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Perempuan Kelas IIA Martapura

This study aims to examine the influence of religiosity on guilt feelings among female inmates in Class IIA Women's Penitentiary Martapura. The research involved 213 female inmates aged between 15 and 50 years old. The participants' guilt feelings were measured using a guilt feelings scale, while their religiosity was assessed using a religiosity scale. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The findings indicated a significant positive correlation between religiosity and guilt feelings, suggesting that higher levels of religiosity were associated with increased guilt feelings. Regression analysis further confirmed the influence of religiosity on guilt feelings. The study also explored the influence of age, types of offenses, sentence duration, and length of incarceration on guilt feelings and religiosity. The results revealed variations in guilt feelings and religiosity based on these factors. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between religiosity and guilt feelings among female inmates, emphasizing the importance of religious factors in the correctional context.

Language cases against UU ITE in Indonesia

Since the law's enactment in 2008, language cases against the Undang-Undang Informarmasi dan Transaksi Electronic Republik of Indonesia (hereafter UU ITE), also known as the Electronic Information and Transaction of Republic of Indonesia Law, have risen year after year. One source of language cases against the law is social media messages, which are the result of their users' lack of legal and intellectual comprehension. Defamation, hate speech against specific persons or SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, intergroup), threats, decency, and obscenity are all prevalent components of the unpleasant content of legal-related social media text messages. The issues addressed in this study are (1) the category of language offence and (2) the microlinguistic and macrolinguistic analysis of the text type of offence. The objective, which is supported by a qualitative descriptive method within the Forensic Linguistics approach, is to identify a system of violations that could be justified based on linguistic facts. The findings demonstrate that texts with the potential to become legal cases can be proven by microlinguistic facts like word choices and grammatical structure, while macrolinguistic facts can support the microlinguistic elements like disregard for language ethics, lack of social media literacy, and lack of editing steps before text publication.