Michelle Madden Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562169
- eISBN:
- 9780191705298
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562169.001.1
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw support for domestic violence prosecutions? This book defends the claim that (within the realm of justified/permissible action) prosecutors ...
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What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw support for domestic violence prosecutions? This book defends the claim that (within the realm of justified/permissible action) prosecutors should respond effectively; which is to say that ceteris paribus domestic-violence prosecutors should respond as feminists. This claim is intended as a provocative formulation of the proposition that domestic violence prosecutors should act for reasons generated by the value of reconstituting their states (and communities) as less patriarchal. In defending this claim, the book first sets out a general theory of prosecutorial practical reasoning and then considers the prosecution of domestic-violence offences in particular. Along the way, it provides an original account of the nature of prosecutorial action, the values that can be realized through such action, and the relationship between these values and the practical reasoning of criminal prosecutors. Moreover, it provides analyses of two key concepts — domestic violence and patriarchy — and explains the relevance of the latter to a proper understanding of the former. Putting these insights to work in answering the question stated above, this book provides an account of what prosecutors would be justified in doing in such cases and what prosecutors should do in order to be effective as domestic violence prosecutors. Later chapters apply this general framework in addressing the rights and duties of domestic violence victims to participate in criminal prosecutions and responding to some general objections that might be raised against envisioning the role of domestic-violence-prosecutor-as-feminist.Less
What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw support for domestic violence prosecutions? This book defends the claim that (within the realm of justified/permissible action) prosecutors should respond effectively; which is to say that ceteris paribus domestic-violence prosecutors should respond as feminists. This claim is intended as a provocative formulation of the proposition that domestic violence prosecutors should act for reasons generated by the value of reconstituting their states (and communities) as less patriarchal. In defending this claim, the book first sets out a general theory of prosecutorial practical reasoning and then considers the prosecution of domestic-violence offences in particular. Along the way, it provides an original account of the nature of prosecutorial action, the values that can be realized through such action, and the relationship between these values and the practical reasoning of criminal prosecutors. Moreover, it provides analyses of two key concepts — domestic violence and patriarchy — and explains the relevance of the latter to a proper understanding of the former. Putting these insights to work in answering the question stated above, this book provides an account of what prosecutors would be justified in doing in such cases and what prosecutors should do in order to be effective as domestic violence prosecutors. Later chapters apply this general framework in addressing the rights and duties of domestic violence victims to participate in criminal prosecutions and responding to some general objections that might be raised against envisioning the role of domestic-violence-prosecutor-as-feminist.
Penney Lewis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199282289
- eISBN:
- 9780191705441
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282289.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
That childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of society's most pressing concerns is not in doubt. Not only is serious harm, both mental and physical, frequently caused to the victim, but families and ...
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That childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of society's most pressing concerns is not in doubt. Not only is serious harm, both mental and physical, frequently caused to the victim, but families and society also suffer. Prevalence studies suggest that the majority of cases either never come to light or are only disclosed years after the event. There are a wide variety of psychological explanations for delayed reporting. Recent years have seen a growing number of criminal prosecutions for sexual offences against children which are alleged to have occurred many years before the prosecution takes place. Both the prosecution and defence may be disadvantaged by delay. The book examines the problems associated with criminal prosecutions commenced many years after the abusive incidents were alleged to have occurred; the response of the criminal justice system in the major common law jurisdictions to such challenging cases both before, during, and after the trial; and how the system should respond in order to ensure that the defendant receives a fair trial, while recognising the reasons why complainants may delay reporting abuse for many years. The book is multi-jurisdictional in scope, focussing on those common law jurisdictions which have experienced a large number of such prosecutions: England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.Less
That childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of society's most pressing concerns is not in doubt. Not only is serious harm, both mental and physical, frequently caused to the victim, but families and society also suffer. Prevalence studies suggest that the majority of cases either never come to light or are only disclosed years after the event. There are a wide variety of psychological explanations for delayed reporting. Recent years have seen a growing number of criminal prosecutions for sexual offences against children which are alleged to have occurred many years before the prosecution takes place. Both the prosecution and defence may be disadvantaged by delay. The book examines the problems associated with criminal prosecutions commenced many years after the abusive incidents were alleged to have occurred; the response of the criminal justice system in the major common law jurisdictions to such challenging cases both before, during, and after the trial; and how the system should respond in order to ensure that the defendant receives a fair trial, while recognising the reasons why complainants may delay reporting abuse for many years. The book is multi-jurisdictional in scope, focussing on those common law jurisdictions which have experienced a large number of such prosecutions: England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Alexandra Barahona de Brito
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280385
- eISBN:
- 9780191598852
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280386.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This book analyses the Uruguayan and Chilean experiences with the transitional politics of truth and justice regarding past human rights violations. These policies are shaped by the legacy of ...
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This book analyses the Uruguayan and Chilean experiences with the transitional politics of truth and justice regarding past human rights violations. These policies are shaped by the legacy of repressive rule, and the dynamics of the politics of transition and of the balance of power under the new democratic governments peculiar to each country. The issue is central to the politics of transition for ethical, symbolic, practical and political reasons: politically it is the most explosive transitional issue; on a practical level, only official acknowledgement can resolve pending legal questions for survivors and families of victims; ethically, it is hard to generate democratic consensus or social endorsement for social reform without involving principles and ideals that appeal to the underlying values and aspirations of the citizenry. Dealing with legacies of state repression permits the beginning of the process of ‘deconstruction of cultures of fear’ without which democratization cannot occur. This is not only desirable and necessary; some kind of truth telling policy has proved to be both required and feasible in a wide range of contemporary regime transitions. However, justice is not always possible: limitations on prosecutions are more self-imposed than 'structural', more political than institutional, and clearly there is a tension between the conditions necessary to ensure accountability and those that govern periods of transition. Unconsolidated democracies are not able to practise the politics of a consolidated democracy; the politics of consolidated democracies includes the capacity to call the powerful to account. This is perhaps the yardstick with which to measure consolidation. Instead of practising the politics of consolidated democracy, what these countries have to engage in is the politics of democratic consolidation. Although truth and justice policies may remain relevant after the transition and 'leak into' the politics of democratization, (where they can continue to be a source of conflict in the judicial system and of latent or overt painful and deep-seated social animosities), the resolution of the issue in the formal political arena can and does make it marginal in terms of day-to-day politics. Consolidation depends more crucially on the reform of key institutions that permitted abuse and impunity: the thorough reform of the judiciary and of the forces of repression. If a government does not undertake a proper reform of the institutions that made abuse and impunity possible, the democracy it presides over will be lame and incomplete.Less
This book analyses the Uruguayan and Chilean experiences with the transitional politics of truth and justice regarding past human rights violations. These policies are shaped by the legacy of repressive rule, and the dynamics of the politics of transition and of the balance of power under the new democratic governments peculiar to each country. The issue is central to the politics of transition for ethical, symbolic, practical and political reasons: politically it is the most explosive transitional issue; on a practical level, only official acknowledgement can resolve pending legal questions for survivors and families of victims; ethically, it is hard to generate democratic consensus or social endorsement for social reform without involving principles and ideals that appeal to the underlying values and aspirations of the citizenry. Dealing with legacies of state repression permits the beginning of the process of ‘deconstruction of cultures of fear’ without which democratization cannot occur. This is not only desirable and necessary; some kind of truth telling policy has proved to be both required and feasible in a wide range of contemporary regime transitions. However, justice is not always possible: limitations on prosecutions are more self-imposed than 'structural', more political than institutional, and clearly there is a tension between the conditions necessary to ensure accountability and those that govern periods of transition. Unconsolidated democracies are not able to practise the politics of a consolidated democracy; the politics of consolidated democracies includes the capacity to call the powerful to account. This is perhaps the yardstick with which to measure consolidation. Instead of practising the politics of consolidated democracy, what these countries have to engage in is the politics of democratic consolidation. Although truth and justice policies may remain relevant after the transition and 'leak into' the politics of democratization, (where they can continue to be a source of conflict in the judicial system and of latent or overt painful and deep-seated social animosities), the resolution of the issue in the formal political arena can and does make it marginal in terms of day-to-day politics. Consolidation depends more crucially on the reform of key institutions that permitted abuse and impunity: the thorough reform of the judiciary and of the forces of repression. If a government does not undertake a proper reform of the institutions that made abuse and impunity possible, the democracy it presides over will be lame and incomplete.
Ted Gest
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195103434
- eISBN:
- 9780199833887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195103432.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
By 1980, the violence rate had reached its highest level in memory, including a modern record of more than 23,000 homicides. The victor in the presidential race that year, Ronald Reagan, was ...
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By 1980, the violence rate had reached its highest level in memory, including a modern record of more than 23,000 homicides. The victor in the presidential race that year, Ronald Reagan, was surrounded by key supporters and advisers who wanted to make crime a high administration priority. The administration named a violent crime task force that called in August 1981 for a stronger federal role and changes in the law to favor the prosecution side. Three years later, a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats used a parliamentary maneuver to enact the most far‐ranging federal anticrime law in 16 years. Key players in pushing the anticrime agenda included Republicans like Edwin Meese, a longtime Reagan aide who later became Attorney General; Representative Dan Lungren of California, and prosecutor/crime victims advocate Lois Herrington; on the Democratic side were Senators Joseph Biden of Delaware and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Representative William Hughes of New Jersey. An important provision of the law was a requirement that “sentencing guidelines” restrict federal judges’ power to set penalties in criminal cases. Others created a federal fund to support programs that aided crime victims and set up a “forfeiture” procedure by which law enforcers could seize the assets of suspects and convicts.Less
By 1980, the violence rate had reached its highest level in memory, including a modern record of more than 23,000 homicides. The victor in the presidential race that year, Ronald Reagan, was surrounded by key supporters and advisers who wanted to make crime a high administration priority. The administration named a violent crime task force that called in August 1981 for a stronger federal role and changes in the law to favor the prosecution side. Three years later, a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats used a parliamentary maneuver to enact the most far‐ranging federal anticrime law in 16 years. Key players in pushing the anticrime agenda included Republicans like Edwin Meese, a longtime Reagan aide who later became Attorney General; Representative Dan Lungren of California, and prosecutor/crime victims advocate Lois Herrington; on the Democratic side were Senators Joseph Biden of Delaware and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, and Representative William Hughes of New Jersey. An important provision of the law was a requirement that “sentencing guidelines” restrict federal judges’ power to set penalties in criminal cases. Others created a federal fund to support programs that aided crime victims and set up a “forfeiture” procedure by which law enforcers could seize the assets of suspects and convicts.
Rachel Sieder
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240906
- eISBN:
- 9780191598869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240906.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter considers the role of ‘memory politics’ – understood as the combination of official and unofficial attempts to deal with the legacy of past violations – in the struggle for ...
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This chapter considers the role of ‘memory politics’ – understood as the combination of official and unofficial attempts to deal with the legacy of past violations – in the struggle for democratization in Central America: official initiatives can include truth commissions, amnesty dispensations, criminal investigations and prosecutions, and a range of institutional reforms aimed at redressing the previous failure of the state to guarantee human rights; unofficial initiatives developed by civil society actors to confront the past can include investigations of violations, legal actions, and different kinds of commemorative acts and exercises in collective memory. Memory politics operates at multiple levels and involves a diversity of agents, including local communities, national and international non-governmental human rights organizations (HROs), governments, the media, and, in the case of Central America, the UN; however, it is suggested here that its long-term effects in any national context depend on the interaction between official and unofficial efforts to address the legacies of the past. The experiences of memory politics analysed in this chapter are those of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the three Central American countries that during the 1990s undertook official processes of investigating past violations of human rights. The precise nature of memory politics and the impact it has had varied considerably in these three countries, and it is suggested that four interrelated factors are central to explaining differences between the respective national experiences: the first is the specific political and social legacies of human rights abuse in each country; the second concerns the circumstances of the transition from war to peace, specifically the prevailing balance of forces and the trade-off between truth and justice that this engendered in each case; the third is the role of local HROs and civil society in general in the politics of memory; and the fourth is the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in efforts to uncover the truth about the past and to address the consequences of violations. The first three sections of the chapter compare the legacies of human rights abuses, the transitional trade-offs between truth and justice, and the role of civil society organizations and international actors in the memory politics of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala; the final section considers the impact of memory politics on the prospects for democracy in these countries.Less
This chapter considers the role of ‘memory politics’ – understood as the combination of official and unofficial attempts to deal with the legacy of past violations – in the struggle for democratization in Central America: official initiatives can include truth commissions, amnesty dispensations, criminal investigations and prosecutions, and a range of institutional reforms aimed at redressing the previous failure of the state to guarantee human rights; unofficial initiatives developed by civil society actors to confront the past can include investigations of violations, legal actions, and different kinds of commemorative acts and exercises in collective memory. Memory politics operates at multiple levels and involves a diversity of agents, including local communities, national and international non-governmental human rights organizations (HROs), governments, the media, and, in the case of Central America, the UN; however, it is suggested here that its long-term effects in any national context depend on the interaction between official and unofficial efforts to address the legacies of the past. The experiences of memory politics analysed in this chapter are those of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the three Central American countries that during the 1990s undertook official processes of investigating past violations of human rights. The precise nature of memory politics and the impact it has had varied considerably in these three countries, and it is suggested that four interrelated factors are central to explaining differences between the respective national experiences: the first is the specific political and social legacies of human rights abuse in each country; the second concerns the circumstances of the transition from war to peace, specifically the prevailing balance of forces and the trade-off between truth and justice that this engendered in each case; the third is the role of local HROs and civil society in general in the politics of memory; and the fourth is the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in efforts to uncover the truth about the past and to address the consequences of violations. The first three sections of the chapter compare the legacies of human rights abuses, the transitional trade-offs between truth and justice, and the role of civil society organizations and international actors in the memory politics of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala; the final section considers the impact of memory politics on the prospects for democracy in these countries.
Maria Tereza Sadek and Rosângela Batista Cavalcanti
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199256372
- eISBN:
- 9780191602368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256373.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter examines the performance of the Public Prosecution — a Brazilian institution tasked with exercising oversight and control over public administration — and its impact on democracy. It is ...
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This chapter examines the performance of the Public Prosecution — a Brazilian institution tasked with exercising oversight and control over public administration — and its impact on democracy. It is argued that the institution is still attempting to define itself both internally and externally. Work by the Public Prosecution has generated significant response from groups who feel that their interests are being threatened. Amendments have been proposed in Congress to restrict the Public Prosecution’s autonomy.Less
This chapter examines the performance of the Public Prosecution — a Brazilian institution tasked with exercising oversight and control over public administration — and its impact on democracy. It is argued that the institution is still attempting to define itself both internally and externally. Work by the Public Prosecution has generated significant response from groups who feel that their interests are being threatened. Amendments have been proposed in Congress to restrict the Public Prosecution’s autonomy.
Alexandra Barahona de Brito
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280385
- eISBN:
- 9780191598852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280386.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
In this second chapter of Part III of the book (Truth and Justice under Successor Democratic Regimes), an examination is made of how the issues of truth and justice were dealt with under democratic ...
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In this second chapter of Part III of the book (Truth and Justice under Successor Democratic Regimes), an examination is made of how the issues of truth and justice were dealt with under democratic rule from 1990 to 1996 in Chile (the governments of Aylwin 1990–93 and of Frei 1993–96). The different sections of the chapter are: Introduction; Truth Telling in Chile: The Jewel in the Concertaciin’s Human Rights Crown; Releasing the Political Prisoners: Hostages to the Conflict over Justice; Reparations and Symbolic Justice by Individual Prosecution; The Frei Administration and the Continuing Struggle for Justice, 1993–96; and Conclusion.Less
In this second chapter of Part III of the book (Truth and Justice under Successor Democratic Regimes), an examination is made of how the issues of truth and justice were dealt with under democratic rule from 1990 to 1996 in Chile (the governments of Aylwin 1990–93 and of Frei 1993–96). The different sections of the chapter are: Introduction; Truth Telling in Chile: The Jewel in the Concertaciin’s Human Rights Crown; Releasing the Political Prisoners: Hostages to the Conflict over Justice; Reparations and Symbolic Justice by Individual Prosecution; The Frei Administration and the Continuing Struggle for Justice, 1993–96; and Conclusion.
Keith Hawkins
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199243891
- eISBN:
- 9780191714184
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243891.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This is a book about the life of the legal system. Its object is to illustrate a way of thinking about decision-making using the example of prosecution cases in a regulatory agency. The study focuses ...
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This is a book about the life of the legal system. Its object is to illustrate a way of thinking about decision-making using the example of prosecution cases in a regulatory agency. The study focuses on the processes of the law, rather than occupational health and safety regulation per se, for the way in which prosecution is used in the enforcement of regulation reflects processes generally observable in the legal system. The book addresses the creation and shaping of legal cases and their attrition, and the processes involved in prosecuting. It develops and applies a theory of decision-making, connecting broad features in the environment of a legal bureaucracy with the details of decisions made in individual cases. What are the conditions under which legal officials elect the public and consequential course of prosecution? Using a naturalistic approach, a detailed, multilevel analysis is made of the ways in which regulatory officials respond to a range of events arising from activities in the workplace that have resulted in death or injury, and the ways in which these officials handle occupational risks. Such matters are not often the stuff of criminal trial. The book shows that the moral status of violations is central to the decision to prosecute, set in the context of the moral and political ambivalence within which regulatory agencies work. It argues that this ambivalence leads to a particular level of prosecution and determines the kinds of case that are selected for prosecution. The book is therefore a study in the use of discretion by legal actors.Less
This is a book about the life of the legal system. Its object is to illustrate a way of thinking about decision-making using the example of prosecution cases in a regulatory agency. The study focuses on the processes of the law, rather than occupational health and safety regulation per se, for the way in which prosecution is used in the enforcement of regulation reflects processes generally observable in the legal system. The book addresses the creation and shaping of legal cases and their attrition, and the processes involved in prosecuting. It develops and applies a theory of decision-making, connecting broad features in the environment of a legal bureaucracy with the details of decisions made in individual cases. What are the conditions under which legal officials elect the public and consequential course of prosecution? Using a naturalistic approach, a detailed, multilevel analysis is made of the ways in which regulatory officials respond to a range of events arising from activities in the workplace that have resulted in death or injury, and the ways in which these officials handle occupational risks. Such matters are not often the stuff of criminal trial. The book shows that the moral status of violations is central to the decision to prosecute, set in the context of the moral and political ambivalence within which regulatory agencies work. It argues that this ambivalence leads to a particular level of prosecution and determines the kinds of case that are selected for prosecution. The book is therefore a study in the use of discretion by legal actors.
J. G. F. Powell
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter enquires into the objects of attack in Juvenal's second satire — traditionally called ‘philosophers’, ‘moralists’, or ‘hypocrites’ — and identifies them as élite Romans who prosecuted in ...
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This chapter enquires into the objects of attack in Juvenal's second satire — traditionally called ‘philosophers’, ‘moralists’, or ‘hypocrites’ — and identifies them as élite Romans who prosecuted in the law courts, especially the adultery court recently revived by Domitian. Juvenal's attack is seen within the tradition of hostility to prosecutors (delatores) in Graeco-Roman culture, in general, and in other literature of the period (Martial, Pliny the Younger, and, especially, Tacitus). The text of the second satire is examined in detail and numerous references to history, law, and rhetoric are eludicated. The interpretation aims to restore greater internal coherence to the satire and place it more securely than hitherto in its social and historical context. The truth or otherwise of its allegations (and thus its status as evidence for Roman sexual practices) emerges as less important. Improved interpretations are also proposed for four other passages of Juvenal that mention prosecutors (1.33-5, 3.116-20, 4.46-56, 10.69-72).Less
This chapter enquires into the objects of attack in Juvenal's second satire — traditionally called ‘philosophers’, ‘moralists’, or ‘hypocrites’ — and identifies them as élite Romans who prosecuted in the law courts, especially the adultery court recently revived by Domitian. Juvenal's attack is seen within the tradition of hostility to prosecutors (delatores) in Graeco-Roman culture, in general, and in other literature of the period (Martial, Pliny the Younger, and, especially, Tacitus). The text of the second satire is examined in detail and numerous references to history, law, and rhetoric are eludicated. The interpretation aims to restore greater internal coherence to the satire and place it more securely than hitherto in its social and historical context. The truth or otherwise of its allegations (and thus its status as evidence for Roman sexual practices) emerges as less important. Improved interpretations are also proposed for four other passages of Juvenal that mention prosecutors (1.33-5, 3.116-20, 4.46-56, 10.69-72).
Michelle Madden Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562169
- eISBN:
- 9780191705298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562169.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This introductory chapter explains the context in which the author of this book became intrigued by the moral questions raised by domestic-violence prosecution and the tools employed in this book to ...
More
This introductory chapter explains the context in which the author of this book became intrigued by the moral questions raised by domestic-violence prosecution and the tools employed in this book to explore such questions. It unpacks some underlying assumptions which animate the book's approach to this topic and explains the book's methodology of feminist practical reasoning. Importantly, this chapter sets out the central question that motivates the investigation undertaken in this book: What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw their support for the prosecution of domestic violence cases? Finally, the chapter provides an analysis of different types of victim withdrawal from prosecutions and provides a brief introduction to the debates surrounding so-called ‘victimless’ prosecution of domestic violence.Less
This introductory chapter explains the context in which the author of this book became intrigued by the moral questions raised by domestic-violence prosecution and the tools employed in this book to explore such questions. It unpacks some underlying assumptions which animate the book's approach to this topic and explains the book's methodology of feminist practical reasoning. Importantly, this chapter sets out the central question that motivates the investigation undertaken in this book: What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw their support for the prosecution of domestic violence cases? Finally, the chapter provides an analysis of different types of victim withdrawal from prosecutions and provides a brief introduction to the debates surrounding so-called ‘victimless’ prosecution of domestic violence.
Michelle Madden Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562169
- eISBN:
- 9780191705298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562169.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter returns to the question which motivates the book's investigation: What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw their support for the prosecution of domestic-violence cases? In ...
More
This chapter returns to the question which motivates the book's investigation: What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw their support for the prosecution of domestic-violence cases? In answering this question, the chapter ties together the analyses and arguments set forth in Part II of the book with the account of domestic violence and patriarchy set forth thus far in Part III. Specifically, it argues that within the realm of justifiable (permissible) prosecutorial action, public prosecutors should respond in a way that constitutes the effective prosecution of domestic violence. In practical terms, the chapter seeks to demonstrate why it is important for prosecutors to make a distinction between cases of domestic violence in its strong sense and weak sense and to act on the reasons generated by this distinction.Less
This chapter returns to the question which motivates the book's investigation: What should public prosecutors do when victims withdraw their support for the prosecution of domestic-violence cases? In answering this question, the chapter ties together the analyses and arguments set forth in Part II of the book with the account of domestic violence and patriarchy set forth thus far in Part III. Specifically, it argues that within the realm of justifiable (permissible) prosecutorial action, public prosecutors should respond in a way that constitutes the effective prosecution of domestic violence. In practical terms, the chapter seeks to demonstrate why it is important for prosecutors to make a distinction between cases of domestic violence in its strong sense and weak sense and to act on the reasons generated by this distinction.
Michelle Madden Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562169
- eISBN:
- 9780191705298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562169.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter considers the rights and duties of domestic-violence victims with respect to participating in the prosecution of domestic-violence cases. First, it revisits and expands upon the ...
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This chapter considers the rights and duties of domestic-violence victims with respect to participating in the prosecution of domestic-violence cases. First, it revisits and expands upon the distinction briefly sketched in Chapter 5 between ‘reasons to do it yourself’ and ‘reasons to help someone else do it’ in order to identify the kinds of reasons which might ground a better understanding of the rights and duties of victims in the context of criminal prosecutions. Second, it considers the nature and scope of victims' rights to participate in domestic-violence prosecutions. Third, it considers whether victims ever have a duty to participate in domestic-violence prosecutions. Finally, the chapter argues that prosecutorial enforcement of this duty through legal mechanisms such as subpoena enforcement and contempt of court is unlikely ever to be justified, and even where justified, is self-defeating to the project of feminist prosecution defended in this book.Less
This chapter considers the rights and duties of domestic-violence victims with respect to participating in the prosecution of domestic-violence cases. First, it revisits and expands upon the distinction briefly sketched in Chapter 5 between ‘reasons to do it yourself’ and ‘reasons to help someone else do it’ in order to identify the kinds of reasons which might ground a better understanding of the rights and duties of victims in the context of criminal prosecutions. Second, it considers the nature and scope of victims' rights to participate in domestic-violence prosecutions. Third, it considers whether victims ever have a duty to participate in domestic-violence prosecutions. Finally, the chapter argues that prosecutorial enforcement of this duty through legal mechanisms such as subpoena enforcement and contempt of court is unlikely ever to be justified, and even where justified, is self-defeating to the project of feminist prosecution defended in this book.
Keith Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199239757
- eISBN:
- 9780191705151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239757.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter presents an overview of the criminal justice system during the early 19th century. Stark mismatches became increasingly identifiable between evolving social and political expectations ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the criminal justice system during the early 19th century. Stark mismatches became increasingly identifiable between evolving social and political expectations and the capacity of the criminal justice system to meet such expectations. Urbanization, often accompanied by social dislocation, generated widespread perceptions of relentlessly rising rates of crime, a belief bolstered by the early deployment of officially produced criminal statistics. Concerns over the ability of a formally severe punishment regime, and most especially the capital threat and transportation, to suppress a vast range of criminality soon broadened into official scrutiny of the whole loose structure of prosecution and punishment. Increasing general pressure and willingness to resolve social problems through some state agency was manifest in some, but not all, areas of the criminal justice system. As for the criminal law itself, a combination of judicial resistance and parliamentary indifference thwarted sustained attempts at fundamentally reshaping both its form and much of its substance.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the criminal justice system during the early 19th century. Stark mismatches became increasingly identifiable between evolving social and political expectations and the capacity of the criminal justice system to meet such expectations. Urbanization, often accompanied by social dislocation, generated widespread perceptions of relentlessly rising rates of crime, a belief bolstered by the early deployment of officially produced criminal statistics. Concerns over the ability of a formally severe punishment regime, and most especially the capital threat and transportation, to suppress a vast range of criminality soon broadened into official scrutiny of the whole loose structure of prosecution and punishment. Increasing general pressure and willingness to resolve social problems through some state agency was manifest in some, but not all, areas of the criminal justice system. As for the criminal law itself, a combination of judicial resistance and parliamentary indifference thwarted sustained attempts at fundamentally reshaping both its form and much of its substance.
Keith Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199239757
- eISBN:
- 9780191705151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239757.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter shows that throughout the 19th century, significant changes occurred in the roles and personnel of law enforcement, along with a drip feed of ameliorative state measures. Such ...
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This chapter shows that throughout the 19th century, significant changes occurred in the roles and personnel of law enforcement, along with a drip feed of ameliorative state measures. Such developments took place against a background of several decades of the steady push of reformers, successfully resisted by defenders of the status quo. Aside from a victim's personal inclination and means, the likelihood of prosecution turned substantially on the attitudes and practices of local magistrates and constabulary. The period also saw fundamental changes in criminal trials on indictment, both in respect of the roles of the dramatis personae and the rules which regulated them. This was true of the judge, prosecution, and most especially the defendant. It was a process of change, in large measure wrought by the relatively small but slowly swelling ranks of lawyers participating in trials from the early 18th century, initially almost exclusively acting for the prosecution.Less
This chapter shows that throughout the 19th century, significant changes occurred in the roles and personnel of law enforcement, along with a drip feed of ameliorative state measures. Such developments took place against a background of several decades of the steady push of reformers, successfully resisted by defenders of the status quo. Aside from a victim's personal inclination and means, the likelihood of prosecution turned substantially on the attitudes and practices of local magistrates and constabulary. The period also saw fundamental changes in criminal trials on indictment, both in respect of the roles of the dramatis personae and the rules which regulated them. This was true of the judge, prosecution, and most especially the defendant. It was a process of change, in large measure wrought by the relatively small but slowly swelling ranks of lawyers participating in trials from the early 18th century, initially almost exclusively acting for the prosecution.
Susan Martin and Amber Callaway
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199600458
- eISBN:
- 9780191723544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600458.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory, International Relations and Politics
Human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It affects millions of people around the globe and reaps billions in profits. Trafficking is generally ...
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Human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It affects millions of people around the globe and reaps billions in profits. Trafficking is generally thought of as the movement of a person from one country to another. However, trafficking within countries is also common, and perhaps occurs to an even greater extent than transnational trafficking. The international regime to address human trafficking issues has evolved during the past decade, with the adoption and entry into force of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (hereafter called the Palermo Protocol) in 2003, which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. A complex set of institutional frameworks have developed as well, offering a wide array of programmes to address the three basic components of an anti-trafficking strategy: prosecution of traffickers, prevention of trafficking, and protection of trafficking victims. Gaps still exist, however, in the organizational capacities to address prevention and protection issues. As with other international regimes focused on movements of people, the legal frameworks and institutional responses tend to be focused only on those who have been forced to cross borders. While constraints of sovereignty undoubtedly make it far more difficult to address internal trafficking, a more comprehensive approach to combating this phenomenon requires broader international attention to this form of trafficking.Less
Human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It affects millions of people around the globe and reaps billions in profits. Trafficking is generally thought of as the movement of a person from one country to another. However, trafficking within countries is also common, and perhaps occurs to an even greater extent than transnational trafficking. The international regime to address human trafficking issues has evolved during the past decade, with the adoption and entry into force of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (hereafter called the Palermo Protocol) in 2003, which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. A complex set of institutional frameworks have developed as well, offering a wide array of programmes to address the three basic components of an anti-trafficking strategy: prosecution of traffickers, prevention of trafficking, and protection of trafficking victims. Gaps still exist, however, in the organizational capacities to address prevention and protection issues. As with other international regimes focused on movements of people, the legal frameworks and institutional responses tend to be focused only on those who have been forced to cross borders. While constraints of sovereignty undoubtedly make it far more difficult to address internal trafficking, a more comprehensive approach to combating this phenomenon requires broader international attention to this form of trafficking.
Michelle Madden Dempsey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562169
- eISBN:
- 9780191705298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562169.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This concluding chapter addresses broad questions regarding the use of prosecution (and criminal law more generally) to address violence against women. Along the way, it addresses the critique that ...
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This concluding chapter addresses broad questions regarding the use of prosecution (and criminal law more generally) to address violence against women. Along the way, it addresses the critique that the criminal law is too ‘blunt an instrument’ to address problems such as domestic violence adequately, and the possibility that feminist prosecutorial action may spark a backlash. The claim defended throughout this book (and reinforced through the arguments of this chapter) is that we do not need to reject criminal prosecution as a viable part of the feminist struggle against domestic violence and patriarchy more generally. Rather, there is good reason to believe that feminist engagement with the criminal justice system is a potentially valuable path to the creation of a more feminist state, a more feminist community, and the end of domestic violence as we know it.Less
This concluding chapter addresses broad questions regarding the use of prosecution (and criminal law more generally) to address violence against women. Along the way, it addresses the critique that the criminal law is too ‘blunt an instrument’ to address problems such as domestic violence adequately, and the possibility that feminist prosecutorial action may spark a backlash. The claim defended throughout this book (and reinforced through the arguments of this chapter) is that we do not need to reject criminal prosecution as a viable part of the feminist struggle against domestic violence and patriarchy more generally. Rather, there is good reason to believe that feminist engagement with the criminal justice system is a potentially valuable path to the creation of a more feminist state, a more feminist community, and the end of domestic violence as we know it.
Aryeh Neier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691135151
- eISBN:
- 9781400841875
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691135151.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Migration Studies (including Refugee Studies)
This chapter discusses that a major goal of the international human rights movement has been to secure accountability for especially grave abuses. This focus has led to the so-called “truth ...
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This chapter discusses that a major goal of the international human rights movement has been to secure accountability for especially grave abuses. This focus has led to the so-called “truth commissions” in many countries, principally in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, but also in several countries of Asia and in Morocco; prosecutions of literally scores of former heads of state before national courts in various parts of the world; increased use of the principle of universal jurisdiction in prosecutions, mainly in Europe, against those accused of gross abuses committed in other countries; and, what is likely to be the most lasting and significant means of securing accountability, the establishment of several international criminal tribunals to prosecute and punish those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.Less
This chapter discusses that a major goal of the international human rights movement has been to secure accountability for especially grave abuses. This focus has led to the so-called “truth commissions” in many countries, principally in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, but also in several countries of Asia and in Morocco; prosecutions of literally scores of former heads of state before national courts in various parts of the world; increased use of the principle of universal jurisdiction in prosecutions, mainly in Europe, against those accused of gross abuses committed in other countries; and, what is likely to be the most lasting and significant means of securing accountability, the establishment of several international criminal tribunals to prosecute and punish those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Allan A. Tulchin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199736522
- eISBN:
- 9780199866229
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736522.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter charts the conversion of Nîmes’s early Protestants using a variety of measures: rising heresy prosecutions; emigration to Geneva; and changing formulas in notarial acts. It also charts ...
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This chapter charts the conversion of Nîmes’s early Protestants using a variety of measures: rising heresy prosecutions; emigration to Geneva; and changing formulas in notarial acts. It also charts gathering resentment against the French crown. As rising grain prices made life difficult for Nîmes poor, its elite were forced to endure tax increases, pay forced loans, and also bribes to the crown and royal officials. By 1559, especially given Henri II’s largely unfavorable peace treaty with the Hapsburgs, there was considerable discontent with royal policies.Less
This chapter charts the conversion of Nîmes’s early Protestants using a variety of measures: rising heresy prosecutions; emigration to Geneva; and changing formulas in notarial acts. It also charts gathering resentment against the French crown. As rising grain prices made life difficult for Nîmes poor, its elite were forced to endure tax increases, pay forced loans, and also bribes to the crown and royal officials. By 1559, especially given Henri II’s largely unfavorable peace treaty with the Hapsburgs, there was considerable discontent with royal policies.
Andrew Lintott
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199216444
- eISBN:
- 9780191712180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216444.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The quaestio de repetundis was the first permanent criminal tribunal (quaestio perpetua) to be established (149 BC), and in many ways the model for later tribunals of this kind established during the ...
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The quaestio de repetundis was the first permanent criminal tribunal (quaestio perpetua) to be established (149 BC), and in many ways the model for later tribunals of this kind established during the Republic. Originally designed to allow the pursuit and recovery of what had been illegally taken by Romans in authority, the court developed into a general tribunal for the prosecution of corrupt behaviour by magistrates in office and their subordinates, and for the receipt of bribes by senatorial jurymen. However, the nature of the court changed considerably during Cicero's lifetime. His speeches in the court and the comments by Asconius cast light on these changes and, in conjunction with the statute, are important evidence for the legal historian. These speeches also constitute almost a separate branch of Cicero's forensic activity with its own special problems to overcome and frequently with an accompanying political agenda. This chapter examines Cicero's one prosecution, that of Verres, as a forensic process. The bulk of the texts, the second action, do not represent speeches actually delivered in court. However, apart from providing a mine field of historical information, they lead to conclusions about Cicero's forensic strategy and performance throughout the trial, many of which are of general application to prosecutions in this court.Less
The quaestio de repetundis was the first permanent criminal tribunal (quaestio perpetua) to be established (149 BC), and in many ways the model for later tribunals of this kind established during the Republic. Originally designed to allow the pursuit and recovery of what had been illegally taken by Romans in authority, the court developed into a general tribunal for the prosecution of corrupt behaviour by magistrates in office and their subordinates, and for the receipt of bribes by senatorial jurymen. However, the nature of the court changed considerably during Cicero's lifetime. His speeches in the court and the comments by Asconius cast light on these changes and, in conjunction with the statute, are important evidence for the legal historian. These speeches also constitute almost a separate branch of Cicero's forensic activity with its own special problems to overcome and frequently with an accompanying political agenda. This chapter examines Cicero's one prosecution, that of Verres, as a forensic process. The bulk of the texts, the second action, do not represent speeches actually delivered in court. However, apart from providing a mine field of historical information, they lead to conclusions about Cicero's forensic strategy and performance throughout the trial, many of which are of general application to prosecutions in this court.
Catherine Kovesi Killerby
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199247936
- eISBN:
- 9780191714733
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199247936.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter examines the provisions made for the enforcement of sumptuary law, the instances of prosecutions that have so far been discovered, and the possible reasons for the ultimate failure of ...
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This chapter examines the provisions made for the enforcement of sumptuary law, the instances of prosecutions that have so far been discovered, and the possible reasons for the ultimate failure of sumptuary legislation. It shows that rulers employed various methods in order to ensure that all the relevant members of the population were aware that sumptuary laws were in force and what these laws prohibited, and that they were properly enforced. It adds that the majority of prosecutions that were discovered dealt with women who had violated the clothing laws. It argues that the primary cause of failure of sumptuary laws was associated with the job for which the legislation was designed. It explains that legislative regulation of fashion proved impossible to the legislators for they still had to identify luxurious clothing by employing specific fashion terminology. It also presents several criticisms made against sumptuary laws.Less
This chapter examines the provisions made for the enforcement of sumptuary law, the instances of prosecutions that have so far been discovered, and the possible reasons for the ultimate failure of sumptuary legislation. It shows that rulers employed various methods in order to ensure that all the relevant members of the population were aware that sumptuary laws were in force and what these laws prohibited, and that they were properly enforced. It adds that the majority of prosecutions that were discovered dealt with women who had violated the clothing laws. It argues that the primary cause of failure of sumptuary laws was associated with the job for which the legislation was designed. It explains that legislative regulation of fashion proved impossible to the legislators for they still had to identify luxurious clothing by employing specific fashion terminology. It also presents several criticisms made against sumptuary laws.
