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This research examines the effects of forensic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence on decisions in the courts and on the conduct of criminal investigations. To assess effects on court decisions, quantitative analyses were conducted using primary data from the State of Queensland. A control-comparison method was used to assess the effects in court, and this was made within a context of other evidentiary and extra-legal factors that had a bearing on case outcomes. These other factors included defendant confessions, independent witness testimony and fingerprint and photographic evidence. A sample of 750 cases referred by police for prosecution and finalised past the appeal stage in court, was selected for examination. Half of these cases utilised DNA evidence, while the other half, as a control group, did not. Cases were selected in four categories: sexual offences, serious assaults, homicides and property crime. Data on the cases were analysed using advanced statistical methods and predictor models were developed to demonstrate how, given case configurations, the addition of DNA evidence could potentially alter court outcomes. Results for the three serious offence types were that DNA evidence emerged as a positive predictor that prosecutors would pursue cases in court, and it demonstrated a powerful influence on jury decisions to convict. Incriminating DNA evidence demonstrated no significant effect on inducing guilty pleas from defendants for serious crimes against the person. However, it did correlate significantly to cases reaching court and to guilty pleas being entered for property offence cases. The analysis of the effects on investigations relies on data from jurisdictions other than Queensland. Secondary data and the literature were used to assess the potential for strategically using forensic intelligence, along with dedicated investigative resources, to reduce property crimes like burglaries and car thefts. In the one study available that employed adequate research methods, three patrol areas in New South Wales, where a police operation was trialled, were compared to other areas that acted as a control. The police operation aimed at 100% attendance at property crime scenes, the use of intelligence from DNA and fingerprint identifications and specialised investigative resources to reduce crime levels. While the operation failed to achieve its goal, it did provide some valuable lessons. The effectiveness of the national criminal DNA database in the UK, reputed to lead the world, was then evaluated in relation to domestic burglaries. Its Australian CrimTrac counterpart did not commence operations until March 2003, and by 2004 was not operating at maximum capacity. Because no published studies were located that measured any effects of the UK database on crime levels, the criterion selected to measure performance was the proportion of convictions achieved through the database to reported crime. For domestic burglaries, this ratio was calculated from secondary official data to be close to one percent (0.01), a figure that included the additional convictions achieved through the intelligence that the database provided. The research also examined forensic DNA in relation to issues of privacy and civil liberties. Privacy issues are discussed beginning with an historical background to the use and misuse of genetic data. This includes the searches for a 'criminal gene' and for genetic links to criminal behaviour. DNA databases are contrasted with databanks, and it is questioned, since we leave our DNA wherever we go, whether it really is private. Civil liberties issues that are discussed include whether providing DNA is a form of self-incrimination; how DNA has helped exonerate the convicted innocent; wrongful convictions based on flawed DNA evidence; whether occasional 'mass screenings' with DNA are a reversal of the onus of proof; concerns with DNA databases and 'function creep', and the planting or 'forgery' of DNA evidence including the use of amplicon contamination. In the final chapter, a balance is sought between on one hand, the goal of police and government to provide a safe society, and on the other, the rights to privacy and civil liberties expected by individuals in Western liberal democracies. The chapter addresses the issues of concern raised in the earlier chapter about privacy and civil liberties, and makes recommendations on how these may be resolved. The general approach favoured is to increase police powers in specific situations, but to couple these with the protection of individual rights through greater regulation of those powers. The research also developed a case prioritising system aimed at helping clear laboratory backlogs.

Localized crime exists all over the world; however there are certain crimes that have effects globally. These crimes are committed by organizations with worldwide networks, posing a unique problem for law enforcement. Police agencies must coordinate their international efforts with many different nations that utilize disparate legal systems in order to suppress these criminal operations. The objective of this thesis is to provide information on some of the various topics related to the issue of transnational organized crime and law enforcement's response. Literature on various areas of organized crime such as drug and human trafficking, money laundering, and corruption is presented to further understanding of these topics. Additionally, literature discussing responses to international organized crime will also be included. Two case studies are presented and analyzed to help illustrate the information found in the literature. As criminal organizations become more global, law enforcement has to respond accordingly. This thesis provides an amalgamation of scholarly research to present a broad overview of the issues related to this topic.

Chargés de mettre en œuvre la loi pénale contre les personnes soupçonnées d’infractions, les procureurs bénéficient traditionnellement d’un large pouvoir d’appréciation qui est en général encadré par la loi et par des instructions hiérarchiques que les procureurs doivent suivre lorsqu’ils prennent leurs décisions. Avec une analyse fondée sur des observations et des entretiens dans les systèmes français et anglo-gallois, cette étude comparative vise à comprendre comment les systèmes de justice pénale étudiés s’efforcent de combiner les nécessités du contrôle des autorités de poursuites dans des sociétés démocratiques modernes avec la souplesse et la réactivité nécessaires à l’application de la loi résultant de la marge d’appréciation laissée aux procureurs. Il existe actuellement peu d’études empiriques et systématiques du processus de décision des autorités de poursuites. Cette thèse montre qu’aucun des systèmes observés ne parvient à un équilibre satisfaisant entre le degré de responsabilité et le pouvoir de décision des procureurs. En France, bien que le contrôle démocratique et hiérarchique des procureurs soit bien développé en théorie, il reste limité en pratique, en raison en raison de la primauté du principe d’individualisation dans la culture juridique et du statut professionnel des procureurs comme magistrats indépendants. En Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, les procureurs font partie d’une structure particulièrement bureaucratique et centralisée qui impose une stricte uniformité des décisions de poursuites aux dépens du pouvoir de décision et de l’autonomie des procureurs dont le rôle se limite à des tâches simples et répétitives en raison de la segmentation de la procédure de poursuites. Cette structure autoritaire de contrôle, conjuguée à un équilibre historique des pouvoirs en faveur de la police, semble empêcher les procureurs de prendre des décisions qui pourraient être mal vues par leur hiérarchie ou la police. Enfin, le manque de ressources et une recherche constante d’efficacité dans chacun des systèmes juridiques étudiés ont produit une bureaucratisation de la procédure pénale, certaines tâches étant déléguées à du personnel peu qualifié et les affaires mineures étant expédiées le plus rapidement possible selon un traitement standardisé. / Tasked with enforcing the criminal law against suspected offenders, public prosecutors have traditionally enjoyed broad discretion, which is usually structured by legal and policy guidelines defining rules prosecutors should follow when making their decisions. Basing its analysis upon direct observations and interviews in the two jurisdictions under study, this comparative thesis endeavours to understand how the French and Anglo-Welsh criminal justice systems attempt to combine the necessities of accountability for public prosecution services in modern democratic societies with the flexibility and reactivity needed in the application of the law provided by prosecutorial discretion. There have been few systematic, empirical accounts of the decision-making process of these national prosecution services.This thesis argues that neither system observed achieves a satisfactory balance between accountability and discretion for public prosecutors. In France, although democratic and hierarchical accountability channels are well developed in theory, oversight is weak due to the primacy of the concept of ‘adaptation’ in the legal culture and the strong professional ethos of procureurs as independent judicial officers. In England and Wales, public prosecutors are part of a highly bureaucratic and centralised structure which strictly enforces consistency in prosecutorial decisions at the expense of much discretion and autonomy for individual prosecutors whose responsibility is limited to narrow and repetitive tasks due to the segmentation of the prosecution process. This overbearing accountability structure, coupled with a historical balance of power in favour of the police, appears to prevent prosecutors from making decisions perceived as unpopular with their hierarchy or the police. Finally, pressure on resources and a drive for efficiency in both jurisdictions have resulted in the bureaucratisation of the criminal justice process with part of the prosecution workload being delegated to unqualified staff and minor cases being processed as quickly as possible into a one-size-fits-all system.

AI är ett ämne vars framsteg i dagsläget diskuteras flitigt. En liten funktion av fenomenet AI utgörs av ansiktsigenkänning, något som även det på senaste tiden implementerats på fler områden i vårt samhälle. Då tekniken i sig är relativt ny är polismyndighetens användning av verktyget likaså. Denna studie ämnar att undersöka vilka risker och möjligheter användningen av ansiktsigenkänning i svenska brottsutredningar har. Studien bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer tillhörande de två särskilt intressanta yrkesgrupperna AI-forskare och poliser. Detta för att frambringa två olika perspektiv. I analysen av empirin knyts de framtagna konsekvenserna an med teorin sociomaterialitet. Studien presenterar ett antal risker och möjligheter som bekräftar redan identifierade konsekvenser i litteraturen. Risker och möjligheter som identifierades var relaterade till integritet, lagstiftning, bias i databaser, övertro och misstro, effektivisering, trygghetsskapande, noggrannhet och arbetsmiljö. Studien avslutas med förslag på framtida forskning. / AI is a technology which development is frequently discussed. A small part of the phenomena AI is constituted by facial recognition, a technology which is rapidly implemented in an increasing number of societal functions. Since facial recognition itself is relatively new, the utilization of it within the police authority is as well. This study intends to investigate which risks and possibilities the utilization of facial recognition has in Swedish criminal investigations. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with people divided into one of two different interesting groups: AI-scientists and employees at the Swedish police authority. This, with the intention to capture two different perspectives. In the analysis of the empirical data the identified consequences are linked to the theory sociomateriality. The study presents a number of risks and possibilities which confirm already identified consequences in literature. The risks and possibilities identified related to integrity, laws and regulations, bias in databases, over-reliance and disbelief, efficiency, security enhancing, accuracy and working environment. The study concludes with suggestions for future research.

In this research, the role of forensic science with the use of forensic photography in the crime scene reconstruction process was evaluated. The researcher identified how SAPS detectives and Crime Scene Technicians (CST‟S) are currently conducting crime scene reconstructions by adopting forensic photography; furthermore, other methods in which forensic photography could be used to conduct crime scene reconstructions were explored. The researcher made use of an empirical design, as the information available on the research topic was limited. The empirical design, together with a qualitative research approach, allowed for real-life observations. The simple random sampling method was used to select 20:10 partcipants for this research as follows: Ten (10) detectives that investigate murder cases, and another ten (10) CST‟S that conducted crime scene reconstructions in the Durban Policing Area (DPA). Data was obtained using qualitative data collection methods that included a literature study and interviews. The findings of this research provide that the value of forensic science, as well as the use of forensic photography in the crime scene reconstruction process, was established. Evidently, detectives and CST‟S are not doing everything possible to reconstruct murder crime scenes. For recommendation, this research suggests that SAPS detectives and crime scene technicians (CST'S) adopt the fundamentals of forensic science when reconstructing murder crime scenes. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This Doctoral thesis entitled the Constitutionality of Employers' Investigative Procedures and Disciplinary Hearing Processes with Specific Reference to Dismissal of Employees on the Basis of Criminal Misconducts in South Africa, focusses on individual labour law principles of fair labour practices entrenched in section 23(1) of the Constitution. The thesis deals with fairness in situation where an employee who is suspected of committing a criminal act is investigated and subsequently goes through a disciplinary hearing for dismissal. It determines the extent to which an employee’s criminal guilt is decided before dismissal. As such, the thesis is based upon South African judicial interpretation of the right to fair dismissal. In the process the thesis examines the application of principles informing the employer’s duty to provide fair reason concerning the dismissal of employees criminal suspects. In examining if employers observe constitutional transformative objective when conducting criminal investigations and disciplinary hearings - the thesis reviews the extent to which the employer respects constitutional rationales of equity based on the principles of natural justice. These natural justice principles are the basis upon which section 23(1) fairness is founded. Section 23 (1) is implemented through the LRA provisions. The thesis then concludes that, only one principle of natural justice - audi alteram partem is respected within employer flexibility-based fairness while the other principle - nemo judex in propria sua causa is ignored. It is this denial that causes serious procedural challenges in the quest for equity intended in section 23(1) fair labour practices. It is upon these foundational equity concerns that this thesis opposes the flexibility in employer’s criminal investigations and disciplinary hearing processes entrenched in item 4 (1) of Schedule 8 of the LRA fair procedure for dismissal of employees suspected of criminal acts. The thesis interlinks labour law and criminal law to advocate for the missing constitutionally justiciable fairness for employees who have committed criminal misconducts. It argues that the current judicial interpretation of labour law fairness is based upon the principle of flexibility underlying dismissals, asserting that fairness based on flexibility breeds informal procedural processes which exempt employers from observing crucial constitutional fairness principles expressed through proportionality-based prescripts. The thesis concludes that the practice of including the right against self-incrimination in employment law, done in other common law countries be introduced into the South African labour law through section 39 of the Constitution so that the identified procedural challenges are regulated. / Mercantile Law / LL.D.