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The sexual abuse of children is becoming an increased tendency in South Africa. Sexual abuse of children is therefore one of the most difficult issues to prove in a court of law because there are usually only two witnesses: the child and the alleged offender. The child’s testimony is the most important and most often the only evidence of a crime that has been committed. The overwhelming result of sexual abuse in children is the experience of loss and powerlessness. The judicial process can aggravate the child’s feeling of loss and helplessness or be part of the healing process by empowering his/her self-esteem. The trial allows the child the opportunity to experience that justice had been served, but this can only happen when the child has been supported during the court procedure and treated with respect and dignity. Public prosecutors are the people who represent the complainant’s case in court on behalf of the State. It is therefor of utmost importance that public prosecutors and magistrates dispose of the necessary knowledge of the child as witness in court to ensure that the course of the legal process is in the best interest of the child. The foundings of this study proved that the knowledge base of public prosecutors and magistrates inadequate is in many ways. Recommendations were made in anticipation of an improved knowledge base for public prosecutors and magistrates. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

An agreement on guilt and punishment The presented thesis deals with the relatively new institute of the criminal procedure, namely the agreement on guilt and punishment (hereinafter also referred to as "agreement") that was implemented into Czech law by an amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure, namely by the Act no. 193/2012 Sb., effective from 1 September 2012. The introductory chapter deals with a closer description of the agreement on guilt and punishment. The author presents first available definitions of the agreement and points up its questionable classification as one of the so called "deviations" from the regular criminal procedure. The thesis evaluates the harmonization of this institute with the basic principles of criminal procedure, the fulfilment of which is decisive for the typical character of the continental criminal procedure. In this chapter, the thesis also deals with the question whether the agreed sanction is capable of fulfilling the purpose of punishment as such. The second chapter of the thesis is focused on the prerequisites that are necessary for the prosecutor and the accused to be allowed to enter into the agreement on guilt and punishment. Further, the chapter elaborates on the negotiation process and legal requisites of the agreement. Last but not least, the...

This thesis focuses on a relatively new manner of looking into the discretionary decisions implemented bypowerful social actors - judges, prosecutors, and police officers- resulting in detremential effects for African Americans in the criminal justice system. While it is common to look into inequality in the system, there has not been much research done on the frame of thinking of these actors when making these decisions. This study will develop the concept of the "white framing model" while simultaneously demanding change.The white framing model will be developed by linking four theoretical concepts the white racial frame, systemic racism, interest convergence, and Eurocentric law. This thesis found the thinking of these actors from this frame has resulted in surmountable amounts of discrimination and a disproportionate amount of African Americans in prison. Seventy percent of African Americans have reported an experience of a discriminatory nature compared to 36% reported by their white counterparts in their lifetimes. These discriminatory acts are often experienced through interaction with law enforcement agencies that are in place to provide social order. Further results show the overall consequences for black men were being imprisoned 11.8 times more than whites. This study provides evidence that uncovers the covert racist nature of the criminal justice system that can be ignored by the untrained eye. Future work will involve change in policies, people holding these positions, and implementation of these solutions. These policy implementations include demanding a critical mass of African Americans to occupy powerful social positions, and the implementation of programs to reflect assistance for people of color. These solutions will not only provide a representative sample in criminal justice positions, but also make a difference in a system that is often unjust to people of color.

The sexual abuse of children is becoming an increased tendency in South Africa. Sexual abuse of children is therefore one of the most difficult issues to prove in a court of law because there are usually only two witnesses: the child and the alleged offender. The child’s testimony is the most important and most often the only evidence of a crime that has been committed. The overwhelming result of sexual abuse in children is the experience of loss and powerlessness. The judicial process can aggravate the child’s feeling of loss and helplessness or be part of the healing process by empowering his/her self-esteem. The trial allows the child the opportunity to experience that justice had been served, but this can only happen when the child has been supported during the court procedure and treated with respect and dignity. Public prosecutors are the people who represent the complainant’s case in court on behalf of the State. It is therefor of utmost importance that public prosecutors and magistrates dispose of the necessary knowledge of the child as witness in court to ensure that the course of the legal process is in the best interest of the child. The foundings of this study proved that the knowledge base of public prosecutors and magistrates inadequate is in many ways. Recommendations were made in anticipation of an improved knowledge base for public prosecutors and magistrates. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Master Paper consist of an introduction, three supplementing each other parts, which first part determined position of prosecutor among system of state powers separation more in theoretic aspect, second part – in process aspect, third part gave some specific features of prosecutor powers, those analysis conclusion is given. At the end of the work the list of used literature, and a summary in Lithuanian and English languages is presented. Meaning to discover in which aspect and volume of work the status or prosecutor will be investigating, a conception of principle of state powers separation and the main features of powers at first in work was discussed. An analysis of prosecutor status among system of state powers separation makes the main part of work. At first analyzed position of prosecutor among system of state powers separation in theoretic aspect, development of status of prosecuting magistracy and relation between prosecuting magistracy and other powers in Lithuania position, examples of status of prosecutor among system of state powers separation in other countries, experience determining this relation, - that taking into account that it could be possible more comprehensively disclosed status of prosecutor and position at first among system of government powers separation and among system of other justice institutions. Two research social test of subjects of Master Paper made easer this work. At the second part of work analyzed powers of prosecutors in... [to full text]

Prosecutors are powerful actors in the criminal justice system. Scholars make the argument that prosecutors exercise far more control over criminal matters than any other agency (Thomas and Fitch, 1976, p. 509; McDonald, 1979, p. 18-19, Wickersham, 1931) . Over time, various changes have augmented prosecutorial power, ranging from the decision to make the office of the prosecutor an elected one, thereby affording prosecutors independence in carrying out their duties (Misner, 1996, p. 729), to the advent of determinant sentencing, resulting in shifting sentencing discretion away from the courts to the prosecutor (Vorenberg, 1981, p. 1525, 1529). This research hypothesized that community prosecution represents another development that will result in increasing the influence of the office of the prosecutor. Traditionally, prosecutors have been oriented toward successful case disposition. The case-by-case methodology has involved little contact with the community. In addition, the prosecutorial focal point is on felony cases, while lower level offenses generally receive little time or attention. The emergence of community prosecution challenges the traditional prosecution role and its emphasis on the more serious matters and winning cases, and promises positive effects for the "communities" targeted. Through a case study of its application in Kings County, New York, this dissertation explores community prosecution and its impact on the role of the prosecutor and for the community, in the context of a community court implemented in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Focusing on the Red Hook example, the study drew on three principal sources of data to examine the community prosecution innovation, including: a) arrest data, aggregated monthly, for the three police precincts that handle cases originating in Red Hook, covering the years 1998 through 2001 (46 months per precinct, n=138 ); b) precinct level arrest and court case filings for criminal incidents that took place in Red Hook and other Kings County locations for two distinct time periods (the third quarter of 1998, (n = 19,296) and the first quarter of 2001, (n = 22,988)); and c) court case data from the Red Hook Community Justice Center (hereafter, RHCJC) 2000 through 2001 (51 weeks, n=4,088). Several different types of complementary analyses, including HLM, contrasted changes in case types and defendant characteristics in the study locale over time associated with this community-oriented form of prosecution. The analyses also compared these changes to the caseloads from neighboring communities that did not have access to this innovation, where cases were processed in the traditional manner. Specific hypotheses tested about the effects of the community prosecution innovation included the following: 1) Implementation of the community prosecution initiative via the community court will result in an increase in the volume and/or proportion of arrests for minor offenses in precincts operating within the community court's jurisdiction. That increase will not be experienced by precincts not involved with the court. 2) The community prosecution strategy will draw defendants into the Red Hook criminal justice system who would not otherwise have been involved in the system, specifically including greater proportions of young minority males and individuals with no prior criminal histories. This research also involved a limited inquiry into how community members were responding to the community prosecution initiative. Given the purpose of community prosecution, to engage the community in handling its unique crime problems in an effort to make them feel safer, it was of interest to know whether there was any evidence that this happened in Red Hook. To that end, the research drew upon qualitative data, including: a) a series of non-probability based community surveys performed within the Red Hook jurisdiction in 1999 (n=980), 2000 (n=1,744) and 2001 (n=1,169) and b) two focus groups (n=12; n=18) conducted by this researcher in May of 2003. These other data sources provided context, allowing for better understanding the results of the analyses. Findings indicated slight effects of community prosecution in the anticipated direction: The volume of arrests from the Red Hook precincts (Data Set 1) increased slightly after the court was implemented. In addition, findings from the RHCJC caseload (Data Set 3) indicated that post-implementation, misdemeanor cases increased slightly but significantly. Comparisons of the post-implementation caseload filed from Red Hook precinct arrests with the control group (consisting of pre-implementation, Red Hook filings and both pre-and post-implementation filings from the arrests made by the rest of the Kings County precincts (Data Set 2)) indicated that the caseload proportion of misdemeanors in post-implementation Red Hook filings increased significantly when compared with the control group filings. In addition, analysis of Data Set 2 (comparison of caseload characteristics) indicated both a significant increase in the proportion of the post-implementation, Red Hook cases made up of Hispanic defendants, and a significant increase in the caseload proportion consisting of defendants with no prior record of criminal convictions. The primary findings from the qualitative data (Survey and Focus Group Data) indicated that community respondents appeared to be more satisfied with the court system and seemed to feel safer after the RHCJC was implemented. There was also some indication of race based differences in responses: White respondents seemed generally more positive about perceived post-implementation changes in Red Hook than minority respondents. / Criminal Justice

Crown selected youth diversion has received little academic attention in Canada. As a process that channels offenders out of the formal legal system, diversion purports to achieve contradictory self-serving system and offender-based goals. Using 50 randomly selected prosecution files – half of which the Crown diverted and half of which the Crown prosecuted – a mixed method investigation of diversion assesses cases through quantitative content analysis and grounded theory method. Based on the quantitative analysis, it is argued that there is an emerging patterned nature of Crown selected diversion that is not completely benign. This patterned nature of diversion unearths a distinctive discourse of diversion/non-diversion. Qualitatively, it is argued that the cases are organized around three temporal moments that create an area for distinctions to be made in terms of threat, responsibility, (in)tolerableness and recourse. Seemingly, there is a persistent paradoxical existence of the diversion process that emerges from the case files.

The aim of this paper entitled "The Role of the State Prosecutor in Preparatory Criminal Proceedings" is to perform a comprehensive analysis, based on the valid legislation, of the individual actions taken by the State Prosecutor during the preparatory stage of criminal proceedings and to identify their possible shortcomings. The paper consists of five chapters followed by annexes. Chapter 1 presents a comprehensive history of the State Prosecutor's office since its inception to the present with a special emphasis on its historical development in what is now the Czech Republic. Chapter 2 discusses the essentials of public prosecution that come into play during the preparatory stage of criminal proceedings. Chapter 3 deals with the present-day legislation regulating the State Prosecutor's office. It is comprised of three parts. The first part discusses the constitutional foundations of the State Prosecutor's office in the Czech law. The second part provides specifications of the basic organizational structure of the State Prosecutor's office, whereas its responsibilities are described in the third part. Chapter 4 represents the most significant part of this paper. It discusses the responsibilities of the State Prosecutor's office in the preparatory stage of proceedings. The topic presented in this...

The role of public prosecutor in the preparatory criminal proceedings The thesis on The role of public prosecutor in the preparatory criminal proceedings attempts to comprehensively analyse the role and activities of the public prosecutor in the criminal proceedings. The public prosecutor is the significant subject and also the party in the criminal proceedings. His role in the criminal proceedings is irreplaceable and he is able to fundamentally affect the preparatory criminal proceedings through his activities. It depends on him whether the accused will be bring to court or the case will be already terminated in the preparatory criminal proceedings. The paper is dividend into four chapters. The first chapter outlines the historical development of the public accusation in the Czech lands from the the beginning until the present. As the thesis deals with the role of public prosecutor in the preparatory criminal proceedings, so the second chapter deals with the preparatory criminal proceedings and it describes its aim, kinds, periods and functions. The third chapter deals with the role and the competence of the public prosecution in the Czech legal system. There are defined basic principles and rules of the activities of the individual public prosecutors. The fourth chapter represent the very core of...