Magister Legum - LLM / This thesis examines the sexual rights violation in Eastern DRC, which has been described as the worst in the world. The sexual violence against women and children in this country is systematic and widespread and perpetrated by armed groups, and increasingly also by civilians. The prosecution of sexual offences should contribute to the reduction of these offences, but the Congolese state prosecutes very few cases. The resulting impunity became an obstacle to the state to stop sexual violence, which become unable to overcome the obstacles to prosecutorial action. The successful prosecution of sexual offenders in Eastern DRC faces many obstacles and requires an exceptional jurisdiction which must provide a minimum of better freely conditions to the prosecutors and better unrestrained justice access to the victims. The enforcement of the international instruments of justice will be possible only by this jurisdiction. The victims of sexual violence need more confidence in the jurisdiction which is really working for them to attain justice.

In 2014, the Swedish Government decided to review the sexual offences legislation, in order to introduce a consent-based regulation. The main argument in support of a consent-based legislation is that it will change the norms and attitudes regarding gender and sexuality, thereby decreasing the occurrence of sexual violence in society. A consent-based legislation emphasizes the importance of sexual consent within sexual relations, thus giving such legislation a potential to construct a more just and gender-equal sexual culture. Sexual consent is, however, not reducible to a simply “yes” but rather consisting of different elements and dependent on the context in which it is communicated. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the sexual consent is constructed in the publications included in the legislative process and analyze this construction from a heteronormative perspective.  Using the sexual script theory developed by John Gagnon and William Simon demonstrates how sexual consent is constructed in terms of which subject consents to what acts in what context and to what purpose. Analysing the construction of sexual consent from a heteronormative perspective demonstrates how the consent-based legislation both challenge and reproduce normative ideas of sex and sexual culture.  Examining the construction of sexual consent through script theory demonstrates how heteronormative understandings of sexual acts and subjects influence the understanding of which subjects are able to consent to what actions. The construction of consent is characterized by a division between the legislative understanding of sexual offences as a crime against a genderless individual, and a gendered understanding of sexual violence as a part of men’s violence against women. In theory, there is a clear understanding of the difference between consensual and non-consensual sex, but when situated in a heteronormative context these two becomes harder to separate. Therefor, the potential of challenging normative understandings of sexuality of gender seems limited, even though it takes further research in order to establish the actual effects of the legislation.

No description available.

The International Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC) is a new permanent international judicial tribunal which plays an important role in combating international crimes and dispensing justice. It was established in 1998 by the international community after much effort and compromise. It is designed to be an independent international body, with the autonomy to determine its budget and control its funding. This study discusses how the ICC acts as a mechanism to create a nexus between international criminal and humanitarian law by prosecuting crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, that fall within its jurisdiction. The study seeks to show that the international jurisdiction of the ICC is a potential safeguard against arbitrary national criminal procedures in respect of those who are accused of committing serious international crimes. The ICC's jurisdiction is complementary to that of national courts that are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute these crimes. National judicial systems are still required to play a primary role in combating international crimes and it is important that states, organisations and individuals assist the ICC if it is to become an effective deterrent to perpetrators of international crimes. The rationale behind the ICC's establishment is that the international community is under a legal obligation to prosecute violations of international law in either national or international courts. The study also analyses the role of the ICC in balancing the rights of the victims and the rights of the accused by applying the guarantees and safeguards for conducting fair trials set out in the Rome Treaty. In this way, it seeks to show that prosecuting and punishing perpetrators of international crimes is an important contributing factor in the creation of a human rights' culture, while also serving as a deterrent to prospective violators of international human rights and humanitarian law. / Thesis (LL.M)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

The diploma paper deals with the offences problems negotiated over a proposal that record features of domestic violence. The theoretical part concentrates on a brief interpretation of the Offence Law, particularly on the dealing with offences process. The research section of the paper contains the analysis proposed offences in municipalities with extended competencies in Liberec district in the period of time of 2009. It has been reflecting administrative bodies actions before the start of offence procedures in particular case and with this connected cases as well. Hereinafter it has been dealing with analyzing to what extent the involved bodies are informed by the administrative bodies about further options helping ``preventing the domestic violence{\crqq}. Furthermore it has been dealing with issues how the administrative bodies proceed in cases when families are having children. The conclusion of the paper is devoted to the accomplishment classification of the research targets. Facts established during the research show the problematic aspects of the administrative sentences in negotiating over proposed offences. The established facts initiate discussion about possible ways how to dealing with such problematic cases.

South Africa, notwithstanding her comprehensive legislation, has disturbingly high figures of child sexual violence. These crimes and the low conviction rates should put any role-player within the field of sexual violence to shame. Concerns are raised that, unless trained professionals deal with child sexual abuse victims, we will fail to protect children from abuse and fail in our quest for justice. The South African police, in its efforts to prioritize crimes against women and children, employed forensic social workers. This article presents the results of an explorative study of the role and responsibilities of the forensic social worker in the SAPS. Data was collected from three groups of participants (forensic social workers, state prosecutors and police investigating officers) according to a mixed method approach. Both qualitative (semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (statistical data) methods were therefore employed. The forensic process is designed to answer a question of relevance to the legal system, which makes the role of the forensic social worker very specific. If roleplayers in the field of child sexual offences, however, are not entirely familiar with what forensic social work entails, it could not only complicate matters for the forensic social workers, but it could also mean that their services are not used optimally and effectively. The findings of the study indicate that forensic social workers make a valuable contribution to the successful investigation of child sexual offences; however, in the absence of adequate continuous trainin training, supervision and consultation, they could fail in providing a proficient service. / Thesis (MSW (Forensic Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

South Africa, notwithstanding her comprehensive legislation, has disturbingly high figures of child sexual violence. These crimes and the low conviction rates should put any role-player within the field of sexual violence to shame. Concerns are raised that, unless trained professionals deal with child sexual abuse victims, we will fail to protect children from abuse and fail in our quest for justice. The South African police, in its efforts to prioritize crimes against women and children, employed forensic social workers. This article presents the results of an explorative study of the role and responsibilities of the forensic social worker in the SAPS. Data was collected from three groups of participants (forensic social workers, state prosecutors and police investigating officers) according to a mixed method approach. Both qualitative (semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (statistical data) methods were therefore employed. The forensic process is designed to answer a question of relevance to the legal system, which makes the role of the forensic social worker very specific. If roleplayers in the field of child sexual offences, however, are not entirely familiar with what forensic social work entails, it could not only complicate matters for the forensic social workers, but it could also mean that their services are not used optimally and effectively. The findings of the study indicate that forensic social workers make a valuable contribution to the successful investigation of child sexual offences; however, in the absence of adequate continuous trainin training, supervision and consultation, they could fail in providing a proficient service. / Thesis (MSW (Forensic Practice))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Analizuodami įvairių Lietuvos bei užsienio mokslininkų darbus nusikalstamos veikos kvalifikuotos sudėties tema pastebėtina, kad išsamesnių tyrimų nėra atlikta. Taigi, darbas, pasitelkus baudžiamojoje teisėje įprastus tyrimo metodus (lyginamąjį, analitinį, istorinį, lingvistinį bei kritikos) skirtas išnagrinėti kvalifikuotų sudėčių teorinius pagrindus bei jų probleminius aspektus, atskleisti kvalifikuojančių požymių ypatumus, jų išsidėstymą baudžiamojo kodekso tekste, atsižvelgiant į baudžiamajame įstatyme pateiktas formuluotes, nustatyti ribas tarp paprastų, kvalifikuotų ir privilegijuotų sudėčių, numatyti kvalifikuotų sudėčių tobulinimo tendencijas. Taip pat buvo siekiama apžvelgti istoriškai kitusį požiūrį į kvalifikuotas sudėtis. Daugiausia dėmesio šiame darbe yra skiriama kvalifikuotoms nusikaltimų sudėtims, atkreipiamas dėmesys į kvalifikuotos sudėties konstrukcijų ypatumus. Taip pat šiame darbe yra atkreiptinas dėmesys, kad kvalifikuotas sudėtis turi ne tik nusikaltimai, bet ir daroma prielaida, kad kvalifikuotas sudėtis turi ir baudžiamieji nusižengimai, pateikiamos šių sudėčių diferencijavimo galimybės. Darbe pateikiamas ne tik teorinis probleminių klausimų aspektas, bet ir atkreiptinas dėmesys į teismų praktikoje iškylančius sunkumus aiškinant kvalifikuojančių požymių turinį bei veikų kvalifikavimo ypatumus. / The title of the master‘s thesis – qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences. While analyzing various research projects of Lithuanian and foreign scientists on the subject- matter of qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences, it was observed that more comprehensive research was not performed. Thereby, this paper, invoking common research methods usable in criminal law (such as comparative, analytical (and/or periphrastic), historical, linguistic and the method of critique), is designed to consider theoretical fundamentals of qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences as well as their problematic aspects; to educe the peculiarities of qualifying features as well as their arrangement in the text scrip of the Criminal Code, considering to the statements, introduced in the legislation of the criminal law; to determine boundaries between simple, qualified and/or privileged corpus delicti of criminal offences; to improve qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences. Equally, it was pursued to review historically changeable approach to qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences. The maximum attention in this paper is granted to qualified corpus delicti of criminal offences as well as to the peculiarities of the structure of qualified corpus delicti. It should be noted that not only criminal offences have qualified corpus delicti, but also it is presumed that misdemeanors might have qualified corpus delicti as well. There are also introduced the possibilities of... [to full text]

Disertacijoje, remiantis Vilniaus pavieto pavyzdžiu, nagrinėjami smurtiniai bajorijos nusikaltimai ir bausmės XVIII a. Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje. Darbe atkleidžiama nusikaltimų struktūra: statistika, priežastys, erdvė, socialinė aukų bei nusikaltėlių sudėtis, smurto laipsnis, bausmių teorija ir praktika. Per bajorijos kaip valdančiojo luomo nusikalstamumo tyrimą siekiama pažvelgti į to meto visuomenę, tiriami jos konfliktai ir jų sprendimų būdai, bajorijos santykiai tarpusavyje ir su kitais luomais. Pagrindinis darbo šaltinis – Vilniaus pavieto pilies ir žemės teismų knygos. Disertacijoje nagrinėjami smurtiniai nusikaltimai: gyvybės atėmimo, kūno sužalojimo, skausmo suteikimo nusikaltimai (nužudymai, sumušimai, dvikovos ir kiti), nelegalus įkalinimas, seksualinė prievarta, valdų antpuoliai, miesto namų užpuolimai, plėšimas. Tiriamos garbės atėmimo, ištrėmimo, bokšto kalėjimo, mirties bausmės. Nustatyta, kad aukščiausias nusikalstamo pakilimas buvo penktame ir devintame XVIII a. dešimtmečiuose, mažiausiai nusikaltimų užfiksuota aštuntame dešimtmetyje. Daugiausia nusikaltimų vyko kaimo erdvėje. Paskutiniame amžiaus trečdalyje nusikaltimų Vilniuje skaičius smarkiai išaugo. Nustatyta, kad dažniausi nusikaltimai buvo gyvybės atėmimo, kūno sužalojimo, skausmo suteikimo nusikaltimai bei valdų antpuoliai, kiti buvo retesni. Nors Lietuvos Statuto nuostatos buvo griežtos, teisminė ir policinė kontrolė šalyje nebuvo stipri. Daugelis nusikaltimų nebūdavo išaiškinami, o... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Based on the example of Vilnius district, the thesis attempts to analyse violent crimes and punishments of the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 18th century. It reveals the structure of crimes: statistics, motives, criminal environment, social composition of victims and criminals, level of violence, theory and practice of punishments. The study of criminal conduct of the nobility as the leading social class provides the opportunity to take a glance at the society of that time; the thesis analyses its conflicts and ways of their solving, relations within the noble class and with other social classes. The major source of the thesis is castle court and land court books of Vilnius district. The thesis analyses violent crimes: homicide, bodily injury, pain infliction (murders, contusions, duels and others), illegal imprisonment, sexual violence, estate raids, city household attacks, robbery. Sentences of deprivation of honour, exile, tower imprisonment, capital punishment fall under the scope of the thesis. It has been determined that the peak of criminal conduct was reached in the 1740s and 1780s, whereas the lowest number of crimes was recorded in the 1770s. The rural environment featured a higher prevalence of criminal activity. However, a number of crimes committed in Vilnius significantly increased in the final third of the century. The study revealed that the most common crimes were homicide, bodily injury, pain infliction and domain raids; others were less... [to full text]

Based on the example of Vilnius district, the thesis attempts to analyse violent crimes and punishments of the nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 18th century. It reveals the structure of crimes: statistics, motives, criminal environment, social composition of victims and criminals, level of violence, theory and practice of punishments. The study of criminal conduct of the nobility as the leading social class provides the opportunity to take a glance at the society of that time; the thesis analyses its conflicts and ways of their solving, relations within the noble class and with other social classes. The major source of the thesis is castle court and land court books of Vilnius district. The thesis analyses violent crimes: homicide, bodily injury, pain infliction (murders, contusions, duels and others), illegal imprisonment, sexual violence, estate raids, city household attacks, robbery. Sentences of deprivation of honour, exile, tower imprisonment, capital punishment fall under the scope of the thesis. It has been determined that the peak of criminal conduct was reached in the 1740s and 1780s, whereas the lowest number of crimes was recorded in the 1770s. The rural environment featured a higher prevalence of criminal activity. However, a number of crimes committed in Vilnius significantly increased in the final third of the century. The study revealed that the most common crimes were homicide, bodily injury, pain infliction and domain raids; others were less... [to full text] / Disertacijoje, remiantis Vilniaus pavieto pavyzdžiu, nagrinėjami smurtiniai bajorijos nusikaltimai ir bausmės XVIII a. Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje. Darbe atkleidžiama nusikaltimų struktūra: statistika, priežastys, erdvė, socialinė aukų bei nusikaltėlių sudėtis, smurto laipsnis, bausmių teorija ir praktika. Per bajorijos kaip valdančiojo luomo nusikalstamumo tyrimą siekiama pažvelgti į to meto visuomenę, tiriami jos konfliktai ir jų sprendimų būdai, bajorijos santykiai tarpusavyje ir su kitais luomais. Pagrindinis darbo šaltinis – Vilniaus pavieto pilies ir žemės teismų knygos. Disertacijoje nagrinėjami smurtiniai nusikaltimai: gyvybės atėmimo, kūno sužalojimo, skausmo suteikimo nusikaltimai (nužudymai, sumušimai, dvikovos ir kiti), nelegalus įkalinimas, seksualinė prievarta, valdų antpuoliai, miesto namų užpuolimai, plėšimas. Tiriamos garbės atėmimo, ištrėmimo, bokšto kalėjimo, mirties bausmės. Nustatyta, kad aukščiausias nusikalstamo pakilimas buvo penktame ir devintame XVIII a. dešimtmečiuose, mažiausiai nusikaltimų užfiksuota aštuntame dešimtmetyje. Daugiausia nusikaltimų vyko kaimo erdvėje. Paskutiniame amžiaus trečdalyje nusikaltimų Vilniuje skaičius smarkiai išaugo. Nustatyta, kad dažniausi nusikaltimai buvo gyvybės atėmimo, kūno sužalojimo, skausmo suteikimo nusikaltimai bei valdų antpuoliai, kiti buvo retesni. Nors Lietuvos Statuto nuostatos buvo griežtos, teisminė ir policinė kontrolė šalyje nebuvo stipri. Daugelis nusikaltimų nebūdavo išaiškinami, o... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]