1 Hearing in the civil proceedings - Abstract The diploma thesis deals with the course of hearing from its order, through the initiation to the end and issuance of the decision on the merits, since only properly run hearing is a guarantee of fair and complete hearing on the merits without delay. At the same time, the thesis pays attention to the principles that relate to hearing and whose observance ensures the participants right to a fair trial. The thesis will deal with the course of hearing both in adversarial and inquisitorial proceedings. The first chapter defines the concept of civil proceedings, hearing, and it is consequently stated by whom the proceedings are governed. The second chapter discusses the principles of hearing that are part of the right to a fair trial. It is a principle of public, oral and straightforward. When dealing with the principle of public, there is a certain amount of space devoted to the reasons for which the public can be absolutely or partially excluded from the hearing. The chapter also deals with the possibilities to ensure a dignified and undisturbed course of hearing, including ways and restrictions on the acquisition of audio and video recordings and transmissions from hearings. The longest and the most comprehensive chapter in the thesis is the third chapter, in...

La politique criminelle est liée à un mode de fonctionnement particulier rattaché aux différences conceptuelles et structurelles des systèmes pénaux. Ainsi les solutions au phénomène criminel sont spécifiques à un mode de construction sociale dont la cohérence et l’efficience exigent la compatibilité de la conception de la politique criminelle avec le système pénal.La construction d’une justice pénale se distingue par sa configuration exclusive et par une lecture particulière des institutions qui la compose. Elle se réalise à travers un enchainement intellectuel spécifique qui intègre sa filiation historique, politique et sociale pour former un ensemble de références communes. / The conceptual and structural differences between penal systems and the operating mode of the criminal policies linked to these differences.The solutions to the criminal phenomenon are specific to a social construction model, which its consistency and efficiency require the compatibility of the criminal policy and the penal system.The construction of a criminal justice is distinguished by the exclusivity of its configuration and by a particular lecture of its institutions. It is performed throw an intellectual chaining that incorporates its historical, political and social filiations to realize a set of common references.

Parler de négociation en matière pénale peut, de prime abord, semblerantinomique. Issue par tradition du modèle accusatoire de justice pénale, la logiqued’intégration du consensus dans le champ de la répression s’observe pourtant dans lesystème procédural à l’égard de procédures dont le fonctionnement est entièrementconditionné par l’aveu. Instrument au service de la répression des pratiquesanticoncurrentielles, du traitement du contentieux de masse ou de la lutte contre lacriminalité organisée, la négociation se présente aujourd’hui comme un processus dont lelégislateur ne peut plus faire l’économie. De ce constat est née la volonté d’appréhender lephénomène au moyen d’une définition qui permet d’une part, de mieux cerner l’articulationdes diverses modalités de la négociation avec les modes de réponse pénale traditionnels,d’autre part d’en apprécier les conséquences notamment au regard des principes directeursde la matière. Plaçant l’autorité de poursuite au rang d’acteur principal du système judiciaire,le processus de négociation nécessite l’élaboration d’un cadre juridique strict afin d’assurerla garantie des droits fondamentaux du justiciable. Si l’échange qui s’établit entre l’autoritéde poursuite et la personne mise en cause révèle l’existence d’un accord, l’étude dufonctionnement concret des procédures de négociation ne permet pas de conclure à laréalité d’un contrat. Illustration de la logique probatoire à l’oeuvre dans le système répressifnord-américain, le développement de la négociation doit s’inscrire dans le respect d’unéquilibre entre les impératifs d’efficacité et le respect des principes qui confèrent à la justicepénale française son identité. / One can have reservations about the idea of negotiation in criminal law. Yet, theinitiative of reaching consensus in the field of repression – an initiative that derives from thetraditional adversarial model of criminal justice – can nevertheless be observed in theprocedural system with regard to procedures the implementation of which is entirelydetermined by the confession. The negotiation has been used to curb anti-competitivepractices, to handle class action lawsuits or to fight organized crime, and has definitelybecome a key process for lawmakers to consider. This observation has led to an examinationof this phenomenon through a definition which shall help to understand, on the one hand, thearticulation of the many forms of negotiation with the standard criminal procedure, and on theother, to appraise its consequences, especially those that are in conformity with the mainguiding principles of criminal justice. By placing the prosecution at the center of the justicesystem, plea-bargaining requires a strict legal framework to protect the basic rights of peoplesubject to trial. If discussions between the prosecution and the defendant have brought tolight some sort of agreement, the study of the inner workings of the bargaining procedureshas not exposed the existence of a contract. This dissertation aims to demonstrate that thecurrent development of plea-bargaining, a process which is illustrative of the probationaryrationale of the repressive North American criminal justice system, calls for some balancebetween the imperatives of efficiency and the respect of the distinctive characteristics of theFrench justice system.

With the establishment of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions), the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Departmental Investigating Unit (DIU), questions were asked as to whether this is a creation of new units of the Police Service. These questions were exaggerated by the fact that the media uses the term "Scorpions" whenever the Scorpions, the AFU, SIU and the DIU perform their functions. South African legislation that governs organised crime does not demarcate activities to be dealt with by the SAPS, AFU, DIU, Scorpions and the SIU. The Constitution of South Africa lays down the objects of the police, but it is silent about the objectives of the Scorpions, AFU, SIU, DIU and other investigative institutions except that it only mentions the creation of a single National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). A literature study was used as the basis for this study. In addition, unstructured interviews and observation were used to gather evidence from the relevant stakeholders. An analysis of the SAPS Detective Service, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Scorpions, the Departmental Investigating Unit (DIU) of the Department of Correctional Services and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), was done in order to establish the overlapping of functions. Indeed, overlapping was discovered between the Scorpions and the SAPS Detective Service, the AFU and the SIU, as well as between the SAPS and the DIU. In order to make a proper finding, an analysis was done of anti-corruption agencies in Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi and Hong Kong. The findings indicate that the better way of fighting corruption, fraud, economic and financial crimes, is through the establishment of a single agency that will work independently from the police, with a proper jurisdiction. / Criminology / D.Litt. et Phil.(Police Science)

Increasing use is being made of various types of scientific evidence in court. The general requirement for the admissibility of such evidence is relevance. Although expert evidence is considered to be opinion evidence, it is admissible if it can assist the court to decide a fact in issue; provided that it is also reliable. In South Africa, the initial wide judicial discretion to either admit or exclude unconstitutionally obtained evidence, has developed into a more narrowly defined discretion under the final Constitution. Examples of scientific evidence, namely, DNA evidence, fingerprints, psychiatric evidence, bite-mark evidence and polygraph evidence are considered and problems inherent in the presentation of such evidence in courts in various jurisdictions are highlighted. An investigation of the presentation and evaluation of evidence in both the accusatorial and inquisitorial systems seems to indicate that the adversarial procedure has a marked influence on the evaluation of evidence / Criminal & Procedural Law / LL.M. (Law)

La personne qui a osé porter atteinte à une valeur pénalement protégée par la société mérite-t-elle, de la part de celle-ci une quelconque défense? Pendant longtemps, cette défense a fait l'objet de controverses, si certains y étaient favorables, d'autres y étaient résolument hostiles. Le compromis a consisté à refuser les droits de la défense dans l'enquête policière en adoptant un système inquisitoire et à les consacrer largement dans la phase de jugement avec un système accusatoire. Cette mixité de la procédure semble a priori répondre aux intérêts antagonistes au cœur de la procédure pénale. Mais, à l’aune des droits fondamentaux et sous l’influence des dispositions internationales et européennes, cette conception de la procédure devient inadaptée. Les droits de la défense, droits du procès équitable, ne doivent plus faire l’objet de limitations, ils doivent gouverner toute la procédure, de l’enquête policière jusqu’à la phase de jugement. Comment des droits qui ne s’appliquaient initialement que devant une juridiction indépendante et impartiale vont-ils faire irruption dans l’enquête policière sans l’existence d’un juge présentant des garanties équivalentes à celles de la juridiction de jugement ?Si le législateur a d’abord introduit les droits de la défense dans la phase de l’instruction pénale, le déclin de cette dernière au profit de l’enquête policière devrait le pousser à procéder à leur extension. C’est ce qu’il a d’ailleurs commencé à faire, mais de manière timorée. L’effectivité des droits de la défense dans l’enquête policière nécessite non seulement de procéder à leur élargissement, mais aussi de mettre en place un juge indépendant et impartial chargé de garantir leur pleine application comme dans la phase de jugement. Une juridictionnalisation de l’enquête policière est aujourd’hui un impératif. / Did the person who dared to infringe a value criminally protected by the society deserve any defense from that latter? This defence has been controversial for a long time, while some have been in favor, others have been resolutely hostile. The compromise consisted in refusing the rights of the defense in the police investigation by adopting an inquisitorial system and devoting them largely in the judgment phase with an adversarial system. This diversity of the procedure seems a priori to answer the conflicting interests at the heart of the criminal proceedings. But in the light of fundamental rights and under the influence of international and European provisions, this conception of procedure becomes inappropriate. The rights of the defense, as well as the rights to fair trial must no longer be limited, they must govern the entire procedure from the police investigation to the trial stage. How would rights that initially applied only before an independent and impartial jurisdiction break into the police investigation without the existence of a judge providing guarantees equivalent to those of the trial court? If the legislator first introduced the rights of defense in the criminal investigation phase, the decline of the latter in favor of the police investigation should push him to extend them. In fact, this is what he has started to do, but in a timorous way. Not only does the effectiveness of the rights of the defense in the police investigation require to be enlarged, but it also allows putting in place an independent and impartial judge responsible for ensuring their full implementation as in the trial stage. A jurisdictionalization of the police investigation is now a requirement.

With the establishment of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions), the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Departmental Investigating Unit (DIU), questions were asked as to whether this is a creation of new units of the Police Service. These questions were exaggerated by the fact that the media uses the term "Scorpions" whenever the Scorpions, the AFU, SIU and the DIU perform their functions. South African legislation that governs organised crime does not demarcate activities to be dealt with by the SAPS, AFU, DIU, Scorpions and the SIU. The Constitution of South Africa lays down the objects of the police, but it is silent about the objectives of the Scorpions, AFU, SIU, DIU and other investigative institutions except that it only mentions the creation of a single National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). A literature study was used as the basis for this study. In addition, unstructured interviews and observation were used to gather evidence from the relevant stakeholders. An analysis of the SAPS Detective Service, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Scorpions, the Departmental Investigating Unit (DIU) of the Department of Correctional Services and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), was done in order to establish the overlapping of functions. Indeed, overlapping was discovered between the Scorpions and the SAPS Detective Service, the AFU and the SIU, as well as between the SAPS and the DIU. In order to make a proper finding, an analysis was done of anti-corruption agencies in Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi and Hong Kong. The findings indicate that the better way of fighting corruption, fraud, economic and financial crimes, is through the establishment of a single agency that will work independently from the police, with a proper jurisdiction. / Criminology and Security Science / D.Litt. et Phil.(Police Science)

Increasing use is being made of various types of scientific evidence in court. The general requirement for the admissibility of such evidence is relevance. Although expert evidence is considered to be opinion evidence, it is admissible if it can assist the court to decide a fact in issue; provided that it is also reliable. In South Africa, the initial wide judicial discretion to either admit or exclude unconstitutionally obtained evidence, has developed into a more narrowly defined discretion under the final Constitution. Examples of scientific evidence, namely, DNA evidence, fingerprints, psychiatric evidence, bite-mark evidence and polygraph evidence are considered and problems inherent in the presentation of such evidence in courts in various jurisdictions are highlighted. An investigation of the presentation and evaluation of evidence in both the accusatorial and inquisitorial systems seems to indicate that the adversarial procedure has a marked influence on the evaluation of evidence / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL.M. (Law)

L’analyse des procédures de reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité en droit français et en droit anglais peut, de prime abord, sembler poser un certain nombre de difficultés. En effet les modèles inquisitoire et accusatoire de justice pénale, de par leurs spécificités, ne paraissent se prêter que difficilement à une telle étude comparée. Cependant cette affirmation n’est plus à l’heure actuelle, en raison notamment de la construction européenne, entièrement exacte. Les modèles de justice pénale dans la plupart des Etats de droit ne répondent plus à la dichotomie initialement posée et tendent progressivement à converger vers un modèle commun au sein de procédures pénales mixtes fondées essentiellement sur les principes du contradictoire et du procès équitable. C’est dans ce contexte qu’il convient de se pencher sur la notion de reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité. Celle-ci tend à s’affirmer au gré des réformes législatives, devenant ainsi un véritable outil de politique criminelle visant à davantage d’efficacité de la procédure pénale, par une plus grande célérité dans le traitement des affaires pénales. Toutefois, en France comme en Angleterre, le recours croissant aux procédures de reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité nécessite une modification structurelle et organisationnelle de la justice pénale. En conséquence et s’agissant de l’évolution globale des systèmes de justice pénale, une tendance générale se profile érigeant l’autorité des poursuites au rang de pivot central du processus judiciaire. Des garanties doivent donc être offertes afin de conserver une procédure pénale d’équilibre, à la fois efficace et légitime. / The analysis of guilty plea procedures, in French and English laws, seems, on a prima facie ground, to raise some issues. The inquisitorial and the accusatorial model of criminal justice do not, due to their respective specificities, easily leave a breathing space for any comparative study. Yet, taking into account the European expansion, this assertion does not remain, nowadays, entirely true. Models of criminal justice, in most States governed by the rule of law, do not longer meet the initial dichotomy and gradually tend to be unified towards a standard model within “mixed” criminal justice systems essentially based on the adversarial and fair trial principles. In this perspective, the notion of pre guilty plea needs to be clarified. This notion asserts itself alongside with legislative reforms, thus becoming a genuine tool of criminal policy aiming at a better efficiency in the criminal process through a more prompt handling of criminal offences. Nevertheless, both in France and in England, the increasing resort to pre-guilty plea procedures requires a structural and organisational modification of criminal justice. As a consequence and regarding the global evolution of criminal justice systems, a general tendency has emerged introducing Public Prosecution authorities as the linchpin of the process. Safeguards should be provided in order to maintain a well-balanced criminal justice process, both efficient and legitimate.

Le 21 mars 2001, la loi relative aux droits des victimes d'infraction pénale 2001-5751 est adoptée. Fruit des mouvements féministes et des associations d'aide aux victimes, cette loi marque la reconnaissance par les institutions judiciaires et législatives de la nécessité d'adopter des droits en faveur des victimes d'infraction pénale en général et d'agression sexuelle en particulier. Elle institue, entre autres, le droit au respect, l'accès à l'information durant la procédure, la défense de la vie privée et le droit à la sécurité (face aux accusés ou à leur famille) des victimes d'infraction. Par ailleurs, cette loi énonce que les victimes d'agression sexuelle bénéficient de droits qui leurs sont propres, notamment celui de présenter leur avis à certains stades de la procédure pénale. Pourtant, cette loi ne possède pas de portée juridique obligatoire. La victime d'infraction pénale reste à l'écart de la justice pénale israélienne, sans véritable rôle autre que celui de témoin. Ce faible rôle de la victime semble reposer sur la particularité du système pénal israélien, qui respecte la tradition accusatoire. Selon ce modèle, le procès pénal oppose deux parties, l'accusation et la défense, qui doivent répondre d'un conflit devant une institution judiciaire impartiale, appelée à trouver la vérité à partir de la présentation de leurs arguments et de leurs preuves. Dans ce contexte, la victime n'est pas partie. Ce modèle s'oppose à la tradition inquisitoire, dans laquelle, la présence d'un juge actif participant à l'instruction et d'un juge de l'audience impartial et indépendant semble plus favorable à la participation de la victime. Pourtant, l'influence de ces modèles est moindre que par le passé, tout d'abord parce qu'il n'existe plus de système purement accusatoire ou inquisitoire, ensuite parce que les systèmes judiciaires respectant la tradition accusatoire dans leur pays ont adapté leur structure aux intérêts de la justice, mais aussi aux droits des victimes, notamment grâce à l'intégration des notions de procès équitable et de Due Process of Law. En Israël, cette évolution est plus mitigée. Ainsi, si le système judiciaire israélien reconnaît la victime comme sujet de la procédure, dans la pratique la rencontre avec les acteurs judiciaires est loin d'être facile, tout particulièrement lorsqu'il s'agit d'une victime d'agression sexuelle. En effet, ce type d'infraction repose souvent sur des préjugés et des stéréotypes contre les femmes. Le parcours de la victime d'agression sexuelle commence par le dépôt de plainte et la rencontre avec la police. Il se poursuit par la rencontre avec le procureur durant la phase d'enquête. N'étant pas représentée, c'est souvent seule ou assistée de simples bénévoles qu'elle se présente devant les acteurs de la justice. Lorsque la plainte n'est pas classée sans suite, le parcours de la victime continue par la rencontre avec le(s) juge(s) au cours du procès, durant lequel elle est interrogée par le procureur et contre-interrogée par l'avocat de l'accusé. Cette étape représente une nouvelle épreuve, et peut provoquer une victimisation secondaire, notamment lorsque l'avocat de l'accusé tente de la déstabiliser par ses questions. Ce parcours se termine par la sentence et par l'obtention, si la cour compétente le décide, d'une indemnisation au profit de la victime. L'enfant-victime bénéficie d'une procédure spécifique adaptée à ses besoins. Pourtant, qu'elle soit adulte ou enfant, la victime reste passive et subordonnée aux autres acteurs judiciaires pratiquement à toutes les étapes de la procédure. La victime d'agression sexuelle pourra-t-elle trouver une place active dans le cadre de la procédure pénale traditionnelle ? L'influence des autres systèmes juridiques qui ont su s'adapter pour intégrer le droit des victimes, et l'émergence de nouvelles pratiques telles que la justice restaurative pourraient permettre une évolution concernant le traitement de la victime d'agression sexuelle. / On the 21st of March 2001, the "Rights of Victims of Crime Law", which acknowledges the existence of victims in the criminal procedure, was passed. This law, which is the fruit of the intervention of the feminist and the human rights movement, finally recognizes the necessity of granting rights to victim of crime in general, and the victim of sexual offences in particular. The "Rights of Victims of Crime Law" included a series of rights for victims during the different stages of the criminal proceedings such as free access to information, the protection of their privacy and the right to be protected inside and outside of the court from intimidation by offenders and their families. Likewise, victims of sexual offences may receive information, and express their opinions, under specific conditions at different stages during the trial and in cases where a plea bargain is struck between the offender and the prosecutor. Despite this new law, the victim's participation in the process remains symbolic. The victim remains on the sidelines of the Israeli criminal justice system, with no active role at any stage of the criminal process. The only real players are the public prosecutor, the accused and his or her lawyers. It seems at first glance that the fact that the victim does not participate in the criminal process is based on the characteristics of the Israeli criminal system as an adversarial system. As an adversarial system of law, the Israeli criminal system consists of two parties only, which are equal: the prosecution and the accused seeking to resolve a dispute before a passive judge, interested in discovering the procedural truth. In this system, there are two parties, the defense and the prosecution, the victims only representation being as a witness. However, we have seen that during the last thirty years, in countries utilizing a similar legal system, a clear evolution in victims' rights based on the Due Process of Law and a fair trial for the accused and for the victims of sexual abuse. In some of these countries, victims have profited from an effective role during the proceedings. The journey of the victims of sexual offences in the criminal court, from the filling of a complaint with the police, to the meeting with the prosecutor and judges, until the sentence, is not easy, considering that he or she is not represented by a lawyer. Moreover, the domain of sexual offences is laden with stereotypes that the victims have to deal with. If "The Rights of Victims of Crime Law", try to ease the process for victims, the victims' participation is weak and depends on the will of the prosecutor. Moreover, the opinion of the victim does not have any bounding value. In fact, this law does not provide standing or remedies for victims rights violation. The traditional Israeli criminal system does not satisfy the need for victims of sexual assault to express human feelings during the stages of the criminal process, and may lead in certain case to secondary victimisation. Therefore, it is interesting to consider if the Israeli criminal prooceedings could be influenced by other systems of law which have succeeded in granting effective rights to victims, and whether the social and juridical evolution of Israeli society might offer progressively a forum to victims, notably with the utilization of restorative justice.