Gays, lesbians,and laws that criminalise homosexuality in Africa have been the subject of heated public debate in recent times.Criminalisation and attempts at re-criminalisation of homosexuality in some African countries have generated a lot of debate on the issue.The central theme in these debates has been the justification and maintenance of sodomy laws, as against the argument for the repeal of these laws because it violates the rights of gays and lesbians. / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Letitia Van Der Poll, Faculty of Law, University of Western Cape, South Africa. 2010. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This thesis examines the concept of solidarity and how it can contribute to the understanding of the criminalisation of those who provide humanitarian assistance to undocumented migrants in Europe. It also looks at acts of resistance against such criminalisation. Alternative explanations are explored on the basis of theories of solidarity, previous research and collection of material from international and European institutions on the legal situation within the European Union. Particular attention is given to illustrative cases focusing primarily on the more or less publicly acceptable provision of healthcare and the less publicly acceptable provision of housing. Criminalisation can be understood in the light of exclusive solidarity only for those with citizenship or residence permit and as a part of immigration enforcement by deterring those who want to help and therefore discouraging irregular migrants from staying in the EU. Resistance against such criminalisation is built locally, on the basis of solidarity with undocumented migrants that are relatable and familiar, which also explains why solidarity is harder to achieve on a national and European level. Resistance against criminalisation is also built on faith, dignity and other grounds such as cost-benefit estimates for cities tackling issues such as social inclusion and public health.

The aim of my research has been to explore, in the area of probation, the influence of the shift away from traditional social work values towards an emphasis on punishment, enforcement and the management of risk. In particular my focus has been on how this shift has influenced the methods by which practitioners undertake their role, with an increasing focus on risk assessment removing them from the principles engendered within their professional disciplines and further away from an empathetic and meaningful relationship with their clients. I examine the consequences of this shift through the ways in which criminal justice legislation, policy and practice have developed and impacted upon particular categories of offenders. The theoretical orientation of my work involves a dual focus on the deconstruction of the client and the practitioner. The former is redefined from welfare citizen to carrier of risk and criminogenic needs, while the latter is fragmented and deskilled into an operator of routine risk assessment and prediction techniques. I argue that an important outcome of these procedures is the deployment of a concept of 'pre-emptive criminalisation'. My research work, which is the basis of this submission, comprised three components: a comparative study of three mental health White Papers, a research study of the working of OASys (the Offender Assessment System) and a study of the effectiveness of risk assessment in the parole process. The research techniques involved mainly the reading of policy documents and the content analysis of OASys reports. My findings, detailed in my various publications, include an argument that the effectiveness of risk predictions involve precisely the type of high level practitioner skills now being undermined by deskilling and also illustrate the role of such risk predictors in the pre-emptive criminalisation of clients. The thesis concludes with an acknowledgement of the limitations of the type of research I have conducted and suggestions for directions in which it might be further developed.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The principle of subsidiarity in a criminal law Summary The Master's degree thesis analyzes the principle of subsidiarity in a criminal law as an actual topic beacause this principle is included in the new czech penal code in art. 12 para 2: "The crime responsibility and its consequences can be applied only in social harmful cases if an application of an other kind of a law responsibility is insufficient." However before the new penal code was passed the czech Constitutional Court and Supreme Court had dealed with the principle of subsidiarity in a criminal law in their judgments. The first chapter reports on a general definition of the principle of subsidiarity and the ultima ratio principle and concludes that the phrasing in the citied art. 12 para 2 is too "thin" because the criminal law should be subsidiary not only to the other law but also to the all social tools. The second chapter deals with the principle of subsidiarity as a rule for an interpretation. In the new czech penal code this principle can be used only for the interpretation of these words describing crimes which are not expressed to unequivocal. The next chapter refers to the german "theory of law goods" (Rechtsgutstheorie) and the term social harm. The judgements of the german Constitutional Court are taken into consideration. The...

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Based on a discourse analysis of Swedish public investigations regarding immigration detention, this thesis examines the discourses around ‘foreigners’ therein. Rejected asylum-seekers awaiting deportation have gone from being systematically detained in prisons by the police, to instead be confined in detention centres administered by the Swedish Migration Board. Yet, an increased criminalisation is evident. Focusing, in particular, on the legal ambiguity that authorises the detention system to further detain and criminalise asylum seekers, it is argued that the practice of detention can be seen as ‘exceptional’ where discourses of care, suspicion and fear constitute subjectivities such as the ‘identity-less foreigner’, the ‘vulnerable foreigner’, and the ‘dangerous foreigner’.