Is it possible for the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia to have an extradition treaty or an arrangement whereby they can mutually secure the return of fugitives? This paper argues that such an agreement between these two strikingly different legal systems is possible. In answering this question, this paper also examines whether they can adjust their extradition systems to accommodate the emerging norms of international law and concerns about human rights. The possibility of a U.K.-Saudi Arabia extradition treaty would signal hope to the international community and could be a giant step toward an international extradition convention. The larger argument in this paper, thus, is that there is a dire need for the international community to forge an international extradition convention.1 By working with and improving the existing United Nations Model Extradition Treaty,2 such an international extradition convention is possible as demonstrated by the very specific case study between the U.K. and Saudi Arabia.

This thesis examines the current law and the new offence of corporate manslaughter alongside the health and safety regulations. This thesis contributes to the debate in three ways. Firstly, it assesses the current law and questions whether the new offence of corporate manslaughter will be effective in making companies prioritise safety over profit. Secondly, it evaluates the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and examines the ability of the Health and Safety Executive to be proactive and to provide a deterrent in advance of potential law breaking, whilst asking whether the solution might lie not in the reform of the crime of manslaughter but rather in enforcing a much tougher regulatory regime of health and safety. Thirdly, it considers the UK construction industry together with the contractual procurement methods in use, drawing on empirical data gathered through in-depth interviews with senior construction industry personnel and representatives from the Construction Workers Union (UCATT), the Institute of Directors (loD) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). There has been no substantial research that has sought to examine, as the author intends to do, injuries and deaths at work from a company perspective within two different contexts: the criminological and regulatory, whilst drawing on original empirical findings. Furthermore, scarce academic attention has been paid to the proposed new offence of corporate manslaughter. It is intended that this thesis will fill that gap and provide an up-to-date innovative contribution to the future development of this area of law.

This thesis is an exploratory study which attempts to shed light on the rhetoric, ideology and practice concerning the role of the Cyprus Attorney General's Office in prosecutions, and aims to enhance understanding of its functions. It is mainly based on empirical data gathered during a five-month period in the Office, involving observation, semi-structured interviews with Law Officers and examination of criminal files. The findings are supplemented by an examination of the internal circulars, press releases and documents of the four Attorney Generals who have served since the establishment of the Cyprus Republic; and by interviews carried out with three of those four office-holders. The Constitution, while recognising the right to private prosecutions, entrusts the Attorney General with the overall responsibility for all prosecutions and with broad powers in the execution of his functions. However, the statutory legislation has not determined the exact parameters of his broad role and has afforded great latitude to the post-holder in the specification and use of his powers. The findings of this research indicate that the Attorney General serves as the head of the prosecution system and exercises control over all prosecutions in the jurisdiction, although he is closely dealing with only the most serious cases, and those regarded as exceptional, complex, or in need of particular attention. Although his Office does not have an immediate investigatory role, its broad powers regarding investigations provide an obstacle to the absolute control of the investigative stage by the police. The Attorney General determines and formulates the prosecution policy of his Office, and also the overall prosecution policy in the jurisdiction. Furthermore, he provides a central and relatively tight control of all diversionary decisions. One of the most crucial functions that the Law Office appears to perform is that it serves as forum of appeal where all prosecutorial actions (or inaction) by other prosecuting agencies can be reviewed: the public require the Law Office's intervention in cases that do not usually belong to its workload, when they judge that they are not being handled properly by the police; they ask for its intervention when investigations are not carried out properly; and they apply for a review or overturn of police prosecutorial decisions.

The protection of the financial interests of the European Communities ('PIF'), as a political/legal endeavour presents unique features. Firstly it is central to the future of the Communities; increasingly it has been perceived as an essential ingredient to preserve the credibility of the 'European Project'. Secondly it has opened up a penal-administrative space at EC level, which many regard as a fore-runner to a European Criminal Legal Space - a vision fraught with difficulties. Notwithstanding the high profile of 'PIF', on the whole progress in fraud control has been uneven, due to the sectoral approach adopted. On the expenditure side of the budget, the most regulated area remains the part of the EA66F-Guarantee Section Fund, whilst Structural Funds remain fairly un-policed. Of late it has been recognized that procurement fraud, involving the corruption of officials who work with Structural Funds, is rife in many Member States, and legislative solutions have been sought at EC level. On the income side of the budget, the control of VAT fraud rests mainly with the Member States. Other duties have become increasingly difficult to collect in view of the near-collapse of the transit system: solutions advocated include the computerisation of the transit system and various improvements in Customs' modi operandi. All Member States have experienced difficulties in recovering EC funds obtained through irregularities: a case study is offered, which compares the British and Danish approaches to the recovery of EC funds. In relation to VAT and excise regimes, the organisation of Customs, and recovery of funds, greater integration would be more effective that Commission supervision of the Member States.

This thesis investigates whether the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants contains the necessary rules to fulfil its principal purposes—namely, to combat and prevent migrant smuggling and to protect the rights of smuggled migrants. To that end, the thesis examines the rules of the Protocol that regulate the legal definition of the smuggling of migrants, the legal features of smuggling organisations, the obligations and rights of States parties, and finally the rights of smuggled migrants. This thesis uses the legal doctrinal approach, and in doing so critically examines the interpretations of the Protocol provided by primary and secondary sources. This thesis finds that the Protocol fails to provide a clear and comprehensive framework of rules capable of effectively achieving its purposes. It argues that there are deficiencies within the existing rules of the Protocol that address the legal issues aforementioned. The thesis proposes a number of amendments that can address these deficiencies. One of the key contributions of this work is the provision of a guide for States on how to interpret and implement the rules of the Protocol. Furthermore, it assists the international community – in particular the Conference of the Parties – in improving and strengthening the rules of the Protocol to ensure the combating of migrant smuggling and the protection of the rights of smuggled migrants.

Slander and sedition represented pervasive and dangerous forces in the early modern period. Accordingly, they were subject to laws governing language and methods of censorship and repression. Academic interest in Elizabethan slander and sedition has long been divided into studies which focus on the power relations which underpin slanderous literary texts, the ways in which institutions of authority defined and sought to suppress transgressive material, or the role which slander played in the religious invective which blossomed during the late sixteenth century. The present study will compare and contrast the diverse approaches to slanderous activity in relation to the Elizabethan law courts, the theatre and the Church. In so doing, attention will not only be given to language which was idenfitied as slanderous or seditious by the Elizabethan state, but to the diverse methods by which those who engaged in illicit discourses mitigated, resisted and fought accusations of slander. As a result, it will be argued that the malleable principle of the common law, uncertain methods of theatrical and press censorship, the dangers of voicing political dissidence even when couched in the rhetoric of counsel, and increasing attempts at controlling printing presses ultimately led to an appropriation of the term 'libel' as a distinct, political mode of anonymous, often handwritten expression At heart, this study, therefore, provides a comprehensive examination of the legal, theatrical and dramatic conditions which gave rise to the flagrantly slanderous political discourses of the seventeenth century, in which a wealth of renewed scholarly interest has blossomed.

In the traditional paradigm of criminal law and punishment, which is based on retribution and desert, mercy is seen as the whim of a sympathetic judge. Forgiveness is the private, emotional response of a victim, and, as such, has no place in the law. Justice requires that criminal law is fair, rationally objective and proportionate. Compassionate judges who show mercy to an offender fail to make a ‘just’ decision, as mercy does not treat like cases alike. A victim who wishes to forgive may do so privately, but compassion or revenge alike will be excluded from any sentencing decision. Despite this, there is evidence of forgiveness and mercy at work, albeit in limited ways. Restorative justice practices, sympathetic to forgiveness, are incorporated into recent sentencing guidelines. Victim personal statements are now a right, not a rarity, and they are sometimes used to express forgiveness. Some criminal defences closely resemble forgiveness by any other name. Judges engage in merciful sentencing, and the compassionate emotions have been recognised in guidelines for prosecutors on ’mercy killing’. These concepts are frequently confused with mitigation and lenient sentencing. This thesis will argue that there is a role for forgiveness in the criminal justice system, and that the gap between the private ethics of forgiveness and public mercy is narrowing. The traditional approach is to argue that Kantian retributivism must be redrawn. Forgiveness needs better definition if it is to be acknowledged in the criminal justice system at all. A total paradigm shift is unnecessary, but we can draw inspiration from alternative theoretical bases for criminal punishment, which view the subject differently. Forgiveness does not take place through a ‘one-off’ act but is rather through a process. The criminal justice system must accommodate those who wish to express it. This idea is not founded on reason alone, but recognises the offender as an interdependent subject. If the offender is regarded as responsible to others, and reasoned objectivity is not the only basis on which we can assess his guilt, or contemplate punishment, then forgiveness is possible and compatible with the demands of justice. This justice can accommodate the spirit of forgiveness, rather than automatically excluding it.

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The purpose of this thesis is to provide a study of a much neglected concept in international law, namely the criminal offence. The work consists of four parts which incorporate ten chapters. Part I introduces the study by examining the way in which the concept of criminal offence has developed through the various recognised sources of international law. The difficulties involved in distinguishing the criminal offence from other unlawful acts in international law, as well as the problem of defining the concept, are issues which are addressed in Part II, Part III examines seventeen classified criminal offences and practices in international law in order to determine the juridical indicia of the concept. Finally, Part IV addresses the legal consequences engendered by the concept of criminal offence, namely international criminal responsibility. Individual as well as State criminal responsibility in international law are discussed, particularly, in the light of the substantial contributions made by the International Law Commission in this field.

The International Criminal Court is the first permanent international criminal institution to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes. Due to its treaty-based nature, the ICC's function depends on the extent to which states cooperate with the Court. In order to encourage states to do so, the main obstacles to ratification, which arise from the differences between the Rome Statute and national legal systems, should be examined. Hence, the focus of this thesis is to specifically address the legal and political obstacles to the accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Rome Statute and to suggest ways of resolving them. This thesis examines the relationship between the IRI and the ICC in such a way that their convergence can be encouraged. Since the jurisdictional foundations upon which the ICC is built stem from national legal systems, this research also examines the foundations in question in the light of Iranian law. The importance of this work has two main aspects. Firstly, the IRI is located in a region of the world in which there is a growing tendency towards the commission of crimes that fall within the ICC's jurisdiction. This research may help to remove some of the obstacles to the accession of the IRI to the ICC Statute and to pave the way to the IRI's accession. Secondly, while the ICC Statute relies on principles derived from human sources, the Constitution of the IRI reflects a theological system in which all aspects, including national law, are firmly directed by divine Islamic sources. The efforts made to encourage a compromise between the ICC Statute and the legal system of Iran, which are based on two different sources, is the unique characteristic of this study, which distinguishes it from any other prior works in the field.