COOPERATING DEFENDANT Abstract The aim of the thesis is to present and analyse the current legislation of the cooperating defendant in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into 6 chapters. The first part is focused on defining the terms crown witness and cooperating defendant. In the second chapter, the author deals with organized crime, because the main purpose of the institute of a cooperating defendant is to combat this phenomenon. The third chapter describes the current legal regulation of the institute of a cooperating defendant. The changes made by Act No. 333/2020 Sb. with effect from 1st October 2020 are also mentioned. The last part of this chapter is devoted to the issue of protection of a cooperating defendant in the Czech legal system. In the fourth chapter, the problematic points of the current legislation are highlighted and are followed by the de lege ferenda considerations. The fifth chapter deals with available data regarding the use of the institute of cooperating defendant in practice, i.e. specifically the frequency of use of this institute, in which crimes it occurs the most and what punishments are imposed on cooperating defendants. In the last chapter, the author deals with the institute of a cooperating defendant in the Italian legal system. It describes the legislation of the...

The aim of the thesis is an analysis of the topical legal form of the cooperating defendant. It is divided into 5 chapters. In the first chapter there are given concepts of the crown witness and the cooperating defendant, added deliberation of de lege ferenda. In the second chapter the author gives particular principles of the prosecution and describes in what way the institution of the cooperating defendant influences them. The third chapter is devoted to the organized crime and the legal means which are applied to its prosecution. In the fourth chapter the modification of the institution of the cooperating defendant is decribed in detail. In this chapter the author points out the importance of the confession of the status of the cooperating defendant , the motivation, the verbal testimony, the protection of the cooperating defendant. Further the author takes a possible application of the institution of the hidden witness for cooperating defendant into consideration. In the last chapter the author gives cases, where an aplication of the institute of cooperating defendant is used. In the case studies the author especially aims at the testimony of cooperating defendent. The admission of the status of the cooperating defendant and what kind of punishment was given to the cooperating defendant in...

The aim of this thesis is the analysis of a cooperating defendant as a legal instrument of combating organized crime not only in the law regulations of the Czech Republic, but also in the laws of other European countries. This thesis also outlines the origin and development of this institution, both in the international context and in the context of the Czech legislation, including amendments and proposals de lege ferenda. In my work I am also comparing the Czech legislation with specific national legislations. I also mention some interesting legal cases that relate to these issues and present the views of the scientific capacities and respected experts. The thesis is divided into five chapters, which are complemented by introduction and conclusion. The first chapter deals with the historical development of the institute, both in the Czech Republic and in the territories of other states. The second chapter deals with the Czech legislation, the introduction of the institute, and amendments regarding also the laws outside of the Criminal Procedure Code. I also bring up some of the views of experts who evaluate the institute from various angles and express their opinion de lege ferenda. The third chapter presents the problems of organized crime, a topic closely related; institute of cooperating...

Cooperating defendant Abstract The cooperating defendant represents a relatively new instrument of Czech criminal law, it was introduced into the Czech legal system with effect from 1 January 2010. The main purpose of this legal instrument is to fight organized crime, which is characterized by its high social danger and is extremely difficult to combat for law enforcement agencies due to the considerable sophistication of the internal hierarchy of organized criminal groups. The legal instrument consists of the cooperation of the defendant with a public prosecutor, who designates them as a cooperating defendant in the indictment in exchange for information capable of making a significant contribution to the uncovering of organized criminal groups. The cooperating defendant is rewarded for their cooperation with a mitigation of their sentence and the sentence may even be dropped altogether. The first chapter of this thesis analyzes the terms of cooperating defendant and crown witness, describes the process of introducing the legal instrument of cooperating defendant into the Czech legal system and also mentions some similar legal instruments. The second chapter deals with the current legislation, some of its shortcomings and their possible solutions. The third chapter lists some of the most important benefits...

Cooperating defendant Abstract This thesis on Cooperating defendant is focused on the development of this institute, its connection to organized crime and relevant international and Czech legislation. The thesis consists of the introduction, five chapters, that each presents individual topics in detail, and the conclusion. The first chapter analyses historical development of the institute of crown witness and its connection to the institute of cooperating defendant, the context of adoption of this institute into the Czech legislation and the subsequent amendment of the relevant provisions. At the same time, it summarizes the planned changes concerning the institute of cooperating defendant within the framework of recodification of criminal procedure. The second chapter analyses organized crime in connection to the institute of cooperating defendant. It focuses on the occurrence of organized crime in the Czech Republic, its specific features and legislation, the purpose of which is to fight organized crime. The third chapter is focused on the international legislation of the institute of cooperating defendant, which is mainly defined by international organizations, such as the UN, the European Union and the Council of Europe. The current legal regulation of the institute of cooperating defendant is analysed...

This diploma thesis deals with position of a witness in criminal proceeding. The first part, it defines a conception of a witness; focuses on legal process aspects of position of a witness and also on capability to act as a witness in criminal proceeding. The second part, is given attention to performing evidence by witness, to rules of examination of a witness, including rules of examination of witnesses less than 15 years old. The third part defines rights and duties of a witness in criminal proceedings as they result not only from Criminal Procedure Act but also from constitutional principles. There is closer focus on witness' duty to testify, to liability to participate in confrontation and recognition (as special kinds of evidence). Another focus is on some witnesses' rights: rights to deny giving testimony and right to legal help and mainly to right to afford security of a witness. The last, four part deals with institute of crown witness (accomplice witness). This institute is not included into Czech legal system yet.

Kronvittnessystem har vid ett flertal tillfällen diskuterats i svensk politik som en möjlig åtgärd i arbetet mot organiserad brottslighet. Ett kronvittne är en person som vittnar om sin egen eller andras brottslighet och på grund av detta erhåller ett mildare straff för sina brott. Flera andra länder använder sig av kronvittnessystem på grund av de nyttor som finns med det, men forskning visar att det även finns problem med systemet. Syftet med denna studie är att besvara frågan vad kriminella personer har för uppfattning om att kronvittna i ett kronvittnessystem. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med före detta kriminella med erfarenhet av organiserad brottslighet. Resultaten visade att det fanns många aspekter av att kronvittna som skulle leda till problem. Det mest framträdande resultatet var bilden av det hot och våld som blir en effekt mot den person som kronvittnar, samt mot denna persons familj och vänner. Det rådde stor konsensus om att ett kronvittnessystem är farligt för människor och för med sig svåra konsekvenser. Resultaten pekar på att kriminella personer inte vill se ett kronvittnessystem införas i Sverige. / Crown witness systems have previously been discussed in Swedish politics as a possible way to fight organized crime. A crown witness, or supergrass, is a person who in return for giving information about his or her own crime or another person’s crime, is rewarded with a penalty discount. Many other countries use crown witness methods because of the positive things with doing so, but studies also show that there are problems with such a procedure. The purpose of this study is to answer the question what opinions criminals have about being a crown witness/accomplice witness within a crown witness system. The method that was used was interviews with former criminals who had experience regarding organized crime. The results showed that there are many aspects of testifying as a crown witness that would lead to problems. The most important result was that the crown witness and its family and friends would as an affect of the testimony be subjects of threats and violence against them. It was agreed that a crown witness system is dangerous for people and lead to severe consequences. The results indicate that criminals do not want to see a crown witness system be incorporated in Sweden.