The Issue of Pre-trial Detention in Criminal Procedure This thesis deals with the topic of the institute of pre-trial Detention. Personal freedom is a fundamental human right, but it is not unlimited. It is the detention that significantly affects this right. Both in the case of legislative process and in the application of legal instruments, it is necessary to insist on the greatest possible emphasis on the rights of persons against whom criminal procedure is being conducted. The thesis is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter describes the general features of detention, especially the concept of detention, the conditions under which detention can be applied and the principles influencing the detention. The second chapter deals with the international and constitutional legal framework of detention. Topics of presumption of innocence and limits of restriction of personal freedom. The third part is devoted to a summary of the historical development of the detention in the Czech lands from the 19th century to the present day. Chapter four is focused on material aspect of law concerning detention. The individual reasons for detention are discussed, as well as the institutes alternative to detention. Special mention is given to electronic control in cases where the detention was replaced by...

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Bibliography: leaves 43-46. / An exploratory study of factors that caregivers felt helped their child, in preschool at the time of the detention, to cope with a parent's detention was conducted. It is part of a broader study looking at the consequences for these children of the parent's detention. Semi-structured, depth interviews were conducted with the prime caregivers of the child, in 1986 and then a follow-up study was done in 1988. The original sample contained 19 subjects between the ages of two and six years, from a range of contexts. In the follow-up study 13 caregivers were re-interviewed. The research was done in cooperation with community groups who provided the contacts and gave direction. Caregivers reported a wide range of factors which they felt assisted coping, with varying levels of success. Results are reported in brief before a more detailed discussion is entered into, including case reports. The most commonly cited factor was the availability and use of social support and support structures, which appeared to be extensive in most cases. Family centered coping strategies were reported to be important where they were applied, particularly if the family was able to sit down as a whole and address the problems it faced. Politically centered strategies were also used. The focus in these was on obtaining information on detention so as to make sense of the situation and the use of political structures to give vent to emotions. Other aspects of coping not covered by the above areas include strategies such as keeping a regular routine. As was found in the 1986 study (Skinner and Swartz,L., 1989), security of life following the detention was found to be important in assisting the child to come to terms with the previous stressor.

Doctor Legum - LLD / The prevalence of corporal punishment and life imprisonment sentences for children in Africa is tied to their legal history. Colonialism had an extensive impact on the criminal law of most African States, including the handling of children in conflict with the law. African States adopted models of juvenile justice which were a result of social, economic and political circumstances occurring in Europe at that time. However, these circumstances were not necessarily similar to the circumstances prevalent in African States at the same time, neither was the image of the colonial country’s child similar to that of the African child. The coming into force of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by all nations, except the United States, created a uniform platform for all State Parties to create separate justice systems for dealing with children in conflict with the law and abolish inhuman sentences such as life imprisonment and corporal punishment. In light of the obligation to abolish inhuman sentences and create separate systems for dealing with children in conflict with the law, this thesis discusses Zimbabwe and Botswana’s compliance with these obligations. The thesis proposes a sentencing guideline for children in conflict with the law in Zimbabwe and Botswana. The study also proposes an alignment of the national laws of these two countries on sentencing children to reflect their international obligations.

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Yes / The rule of law, that is, the fair, competent, effective, and predictable application of laws that enhance, rather than undermine, social accountability and fundamental human rights, is a core function of the state, and forms part of its social contract with the citizenry. However, ensuring that a government upholds the rule of law requires a number of checks and balances. Some of this accountability and enforcement function lies with the other branches of government: oversight of the executive by the legislative branch through its committees and reports, and by the judiciary, which has its own proactive powers and can be petitioned by citizens and their representatives. But this republican structure can still be unresponsive or resistant to scrutiny, particularly when elites across the branches of government are indifferent to, or collude in, maintaining chronic problems in the justice system. Active non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are therefore recognised as a crucial component in the effective application of the rule of law due to their independence from government and their often-different perspective on the impact of unevenly applied and unjust laws and law enforcement through direct contact with the victims of arbitrary treatment. This chapter explores ways in which NGOs (both international and local) can contribute to strengthening rule of law through a case study of how the Open Society Institute and its Justice Initiative (OSJI) and a network of Brazilian NGOs developed a campaign to reduce the excessive use of pre-trial detention. It demonstrates how NGOs can fulfil important watchdog functions and are able to change laws, policies and practices that significantly improve the rule of law by working strategically with one another, with international partners and with sympathetic state actors.

Yes / This chapter focuses on the forms of legality and illegality produced by, and within, prison systems in Latin America where prison populations have risen five-fold, leading to a serious structural crisis in the criminal justice system. The chapter develops the concept of “prisoner capture”, a double-sided phenomenon of illegality in the state’s practices of detention, on the one hand, and informal, or parallel, governance exercised by those that it detained, on the other. State authorities held tens of thousands of people in extended and legally unjustifiable pretrial detention, and frequently denied convicted prisoners their legal rights, including timely release. This officially sanctioned form of kidnapping created such overcrowding and under-investment in prisons that national, constitutional, and international minimum norms on detention standards were routinely, systematically and grossly violated. These multiple illegalities on the part of the state in turn encouraged the emergence of prisoner self-defence and self-governance organizations. This resulted in “prisoner capture” of a different kind, when inmates took over the day-to-day ordering of prison life. In turn, this produced a parallel normative and pseudo-legal world in which inmates adjudicated on and disciplined other inmates in the absence of state officials within the prison walls. The chapter further examines what the study of Latin American prisons and penal practices can add to the field of socio-legal studies in the region and the implications of this phenomenon of prison capture for the dominant socio-legal literature on prisons and imprisonment.

Recent efforts of Federal and local agencies to regulate nonpoint source pollution have resulted in an increase in the construction of water quality ponds. Such detention facilities help control nonpoint source pollution by capturing stormwater runoff and detaining the water, which provides time for suspended pollutants to settle out. In the process, flood peaks are typically attenuated, thus reducing the risk of flooding downstream. Detention ponds typically are implemented as land is developed from its natural rural condition to a more impervious urban condition. The purpose of this research was to develop an improved methodology for the sizing of detention facilities for small urban watersheds. This research evaluated the tools used to determine the quantity of stormwater runoff from such watersheds, mainly through a detailed evaluation of computer models used to simulate rainfall and runoff processes. The EPA SWMM, HEC-I, and VTPSUHM are the computer models used in the analyses. Development of a watershed monitoring program on the Virginia Tech campus provided a foundation of gaged data used for calibration of computer models. The discussion on watershed monitoring presents information on the selection of equipment and installation locations, as well as potential problems in obtaining field data. Sensitivity analyses identified the parameters most sensitive to change for a highly impervious watershed. Finally, the rainfall distribution assumption and modeling approach in the design storm are examined. Each analyzed component of the detention facility design process will enhance the overall design of urban detention facilities. / Master of Science