#12 The Drug Market in Bulgaria

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2003

The Center for the Study of Democracy has undertaken a special inquiry into the topic of drug abuse - which was fueled by the drug epidemic of the late 1990s and has grown to become a real social threat - and the problem of drug dealing, which is a major mechanism for the generation of organized crime in Bulgaria. This report addresses drug supply and demand in Bulgaria with the ambition of mapping a vast information void and identifying the basic mechanisms and stakeholders of the drug market. However, the peculiarities of drug diffusion and consumption do not allow the use of the standard suite of economic research tools and vehicles throughout the study. This analysis has been divided into three sections. The first addresses the genesis of drug distribution, while the second describes its structure and functioning. The findings about supply presented in the first two parts are based on a series of in-depth interviews with dealers of different groups of drugs, long-term drug users, with police and security officers (experienced in combating drug traffic, drug production, and drug dealing), doctors, and civil organizations engaged in treatment services to drug addicts. Section 3 highlights drug demand, and brings into play the findings of the First National Population Survey on Drug Consumption in Bulgaria conducted by Vitosha Research. For the purpose of this study, CSD and Vitosha Research used the research tools of the European Monitoring Center on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). While paying attention to a variety of views, the team of authors has tried to find common ground upon which to evaluate the actual number of drug users in the country. Even if population-based surveys are often unreliable due to stigmatized and hidden patterns of drug use, they are the type of surveys that provide a comprehensive representation of the situation in the country, as well as reference material for later in-depth studies.In addition, a series of indirect variables, tailored to Bulgarian circumstances, were drawn up to register psychoactive substance use. Two more surveys, of the qualitative type, were conducted: one among heroin addicts and frequent users of soft drugs, and another among experts and treatment agencies. This report was developed by the CSD as part of project evaluating the patterns of drug supply and demand in Bulgaria.

#15 Transportation, Smuggling and Organized Crime

Author(s): Tihomir Bezlov,Philip Gounev,Emil Tzenkov,Petkan Iliev / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2004

The report analyses the participation of transportation companies in smuggling practices, more specifically: • it examines and describes a range of companies and individuals involved in organized crime groups whose main business is the trafficking of consumer goods. • it also gives and overview of the criminal and semi-legal networks involved in smuggling Chinese and Turkish goods. • it presents new data on oil and oil products smuggling. • it examines the role of duty-free shops and their involvement in illicit cigarettes imports.

#17 Police Stops and Ethnic Profiling in Bulgaria

Author(s): Tihomir Bezlov,Martin Dimov,Philip Gounev,Nikoleta Yordanova / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2006

Between June and December 2005 the Center for the Study of Democracy and Vitosha Research, supported by the Open Society Justice Initiative carried out a study of police stops. The resulting report Police Stops and Ethnic Profiling in Bulgaria examines the use of stops by the Bulgarian police, focusing on the practices of disproportionate stops of members of the Roma ethnic minority. The report also highlights issues related to police abuse during stops as well as crime among in Roma communities. The study is part of a Europe-wide initiative aimed to map discriminatory police practices across Europe. In addition to Bulgaria, research was carried out in Spain, Hungary and Russia indicating that there is disproportionate treatment of minorities by the police in all these countries. Police stops are the main point of contact between officers and citizens. Police officers view stops as essential for detecting and preventing crime. Therefore, the appropriate use of this tool is crucial to police efficiency, whereas when used in the wrong way, it could seriously deteriorate the relations between citizens and the police. The findings and the report were launched at a public meeting of the National Crime Prevention Commission on September 19, 2006.

#23 Penitentiary Policy аnd System in the Republic оf Bulgaria

Author(s): Maria Yordanova,Dimitar Markov / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2011

The report explores to what extent Bulgaria has introduced the European standards in the legal regulation of the prison system and the execution of the penal sanction of imprisonment, how are they implemented in practice, what is the State’s penal policy and strategy in this area in general and in respect to drug-addicted prisoners in particular, and what is the opinion of the people working in the penitentiary system and the non-governmental organizations monitoring the activities of penitentiary facilities.

#26 Countering Organised Crime in Bulgaria: Study on the Legal Framework

Author(s): Maria Yordanova,Dimitar Markov / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2012

The publication analyses and assesses the legal framework on countering organised crime and examines the problems, which arise in its practical application. On this basis, recommendations are made to improve the legislation and bring it into conformity with international standards and the existing good practices, as well as to overcome the weaknesses in the application of law which impede the detection and punishment of organised criminal activity or infringe fundamental principles of criminal procedure and the rights of the participants in it.

(Not)applying mediation in juvenile cases

Author(s): Magdalena Staniaszek / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

Presently we are noticing that social control over youth showing symptoms of demoralization is being excessively formalized - especially in case of individuals just on the verge of demoralization, and, at the same time, too arbitrary a role of the judge in cases involving juveniles. Despite legal possibilities, Family Court rarely applies mediation proceedings. In the years 2004-2016 the most mediations occurred in 2006 (366) and the fewest in 2014 (198). In 2016 there were 25 mediations, including 13 in Lodz. The presentation is aimed to show the research on juvenile cases addressed to mediation proceedings by Lodz courts in the years 2011-2016. The subject of study is the content of court files and mediation reports concerning the final results of the mediation and terms of agreement if made. Basing on research analysis we may reason that the only cases directed to mediation are the ones where the victim and the perpetrator are minors and the criminal act was extortion, bodily harm or harassment. The number of cases directed to mediation proceedings suggests that judges are still not fully convinced of the validity of restorative justice.

»gegenstimmen extra«: DDR

Author(s): Specified No Author / Language(s): German / Issue: 04/1981

The following text reached us from the GDR. Its authenticity is guaranteed and, as the reader familiar with the theme will recognize, is also proved by the nature of the text and the way in which its authors are arguing. Only so much can be said here about the authors: they see themselves as left-wing, socialist oppositionists to the existing system of the GDR; they expressly wish to have their paper printed in the SOK info, in the »gegenstimmen« and in other progressive publications in the West. They have sent us the text with the intention of influencing the discussion within the GDR. It is a text from the GDR for the GDR; the publication in the West is due only to the circumstanc-es. The authors see their sphere of influence in the other German state, they do not want to be a "case" for Western leftists with this impression, especially since they do not want their article misunderstood as a completed analysis and not as a finished ac-tion program. Rather, it is an attempt to come a little closer to this goal, to motivate it for a deeper analysis and to stimulate communication about it. Comments are therefore also desired, also from former GDR citizens, who now (have to) live in West Germany and West Berlin. Rudolf Bahro, for example, is addressed directly in the text. The authors do not want their text to be overrated. No spectacular events are to be expected in the GDR in the foreseeable future; the 12 proposals for action are tailored to this relative stability of the system. On the other hand, they take account of the fact that the left-wing opposi-tion figures in the GDR are numerically weak and, moreover, scattered into small dis-cussion groups and individuals who have hardly any contact with one another. The feasible in this situation moves below the level of organized socialist action, but it is the precondition for it.

A New Function of Prison Industry and Private Prisons in Developed Countries, and the Possibility of their Implementation in the Republic of Serbia

Author(s): Emil Turković / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2017

In the 1990s, various countries had a different approach to the problems related to prisoners’ labor. In the United States, the concept of prison labor could survive only in such developed states as New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts which could cope with the burden of keeping unproductive prisons. Under the impact of the penal reform and upon the adoption of new penal legislation in these states, the old American tradition of labor prisons gave way to a new standard which implied that convicted offenders had to learn different crafts while in prison but they were excluded from the public labor market when at large. The new industrial program, which was thus engendered, has significantly contributed to spreading the reformist functions of prison labor. Organized prison labor had always been strongly supported by penal reformers in the north of the United States but, in the mid-1980s, as the penal reformers moved away from that part of the United States, the concept of organized prison labor no longer had a significant political and legislative impact. The influence of penal reformers and the idea of instituting convict labor (but without competition in the labor market) had a strong influence on government politicians both at the federal and state government levels. The reformers endeavored to ensure the prisoners’ welfare and enable all prisoners to work and participate in the labor market as competitive workforce, both by leasing their labor and through the sale of final products on the free market.

Akteri mobinga u vojnoj sredini

Author(s): Radomir Čolaković,Jelena Čolaković Lončar / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1/2019

In the work the author described, for the first time in this region, the psychological profiles of mobbing actors in the military environment. Mobbing actors in the military environment have more specific personality profiles than mobbing actors in the civil sector. So far, there has been mostly talk about mobber and mobbing victims. Mobber has a psychopathic personality structure and is most often at command position, but this is not a rule. The mobbing victim is most often at a lower formational position in the military hierarchy and is, also, mostly subordinate member of the collective. Mobbing victims are in most cases, among the most capable, the most professional people within their formational position and their military evidentiary service. In the same manner, they are motivated for a military call and have a high motivation for achievement. They love their business. They react to stimulating measures. These are the seniors who cause envy of colleagues. Also, they are honest and strictly adhered to military regulations. In their working lives, they have been rewarded and praised many times because of their great results. In the same context, they demonstrate pedantry in work on entrusted tasks and work tasks, respect the deadlines for the execution of tasks, strictly adhere to military regulations, innovation in work and self-initiative. Also, the author described and discovered another profile that belongs to mobbing actors, but which has not been mentioned in theory and practice so far. These are imitators of mobbers. They represent a “security cordon” of mobber, the support group. Mostly they are, from the psychological aspect, simple personality structures. When they enter in the “work of the imitators,” they often translate their observations into the language of their own interests. For them, it is permitted periodic deviations in military behavior. Among the imitators of the mobber there are seniors, who in the past had military “sins,” so that mobber really “keeps them in the hand”. The work is useful for military psychologists, especially for seniors on command positions, who, on the basis of the facts presented, can easily identify the mobbing actors in the military collective and, on the basis of these findings, take adequate measures of prevention.

Aktywizacja społeczna i zawodowa osadzonych jako istota oddziaływań probacyjnych w środowisku wolnościowym

Author(s): Katarzyna Gucwa-Porębska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 4/2017

Staying in prison isolation – in a total institution is sometimes a time of many changes in human life. A new, previously unknown place in which “second life” takes place can contribute to fears, fears, lowered sense of life, lack of goals. Therefore, to counteract the negative consequences of imprisonment, it is worthwhile to introduce activities aimed at social and occupational activation, which significantly reduce the level of anxiety and give a new meaning. Ryszard Musidłowski writes that it is worth emphasizing that “although the purpose of the penalty of deprivation of liberty is primarily the resocialisation of the sentenced person, and not merely the desire to cooperate in shaping his social attitudes, he assumes and prefers his activity.”

Aktywność fizyczna w zakładach karnych a podstawowe wymiary osobowości mężczyzn odbywających karę pozbawienia wolności

Author(s): Anetta Jaworska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2015

Artykuł dotyczy aktywności fizycznej (AF) w zakładach karnych, rozumianej jako ponadspoczynkowy wysiłek energetyczny wykonywany przez skazanych w czasie wolnym. Celem badań było ustalenie osobowościowych korelatów AF mężczyzn odbywających karę pozbawienia wolności. W badaniach zastosowano metody kwestionariuszowe. Jedną grupę stanowili mężczyźni osadzeni w placówkach penitencjarnych (N = 121), którzy wykazują aktywność fizyczną, a grupę porównawczą osadzeni nieaktywni fizycznie (N = 128) w wieku od 22 do 55 lat. Wyniki badań pokazały, że więźniowie systematycznie uczestniczący w programach z zakresu kultury fizycznej i sportu odznaczają się wyższą stabilnością emocjonalną(p < 0,05) oraz wyższym poziomem ekstrawersji (p < 0,05). Nie różnią się natomiast poziomem psychotyzmu (p = 0,80). Poniższe opracowanie jest fragmentem większych badań dotyczących psychologicznych korelatów aktywności fizycznej w zakładach karnych.

Allah Hakkı ve Kul Hakkı Arasında Hanefi Ceza Hukukunun Kamusallığı

Author(s): Muharrem Midilli / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 1/2017

Modern criminal law is generally regarded as a public domain because it primarily aims at protecting general interests and has dominant vertical relationships between public institutions and the individual. This understanding corresponds to a certain extent in the Hanafi criminal law. According to Hanafi jurists, the fixed penalties such as adultery, theft, and drinking wine/getting drunk are applied only to the benefit of all people. The fixed penalty for the false accusation of adultery and the retaliation (kısas) protect the benefit of all people, as well as the the interests of individuals. The public authority is able to impose discretionary chastisements (ta´zîr) and administrative punishments (siyâsa) for the benefit of the society. It is his responsibility to investigate crimes, to prosecute suspects and to impose punishments. In all these steps, vertical relations are formed between the public authority and the perpetrator. On the other hand, the Hanafi criminal law has unique features such as the determination of public interests by the Lawgiver and the penalties imposed directly on behalf of individuals.

ALTERNATIVNE KRIVIČNE SANKCIJE – ZA I PROTIV

Author(s): Nebojša Macanović / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian / Issue: 1/2016

The postindustrial society is more developed society in the economic andtechnological point of view, but it is not significantly new society in termsof freedom and equality of people. Although, there is a lot of talkabout the progress of science and the development of society in thepost-industrial period, there is not enough talk about the status of thecommon man and his position. Particularly significant is the attitude ofpost-modern society against those who violate its values and laws, and wewill therefore pay particular attention to this problem. This paper is aimedat highlighting the problem of how many are actually alternative criminalsanctions in post-industrial society efficient and helpful, and the extentto which such sanctions could affect the re-socialization of offenders andreducing the rate of recurrence.

ALTERNATIVNE SANKCIJE PREMA MALOLJETNICIMA

Author(s): Lana Petö Kujundžić,Emir Halilović / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian / Issue: 1/2016

In order to prevent violations, consequently juvenile crime in general, we are trying to find different models and approaches to the application of alternative sanctions in case of minors. The article presents the possibilities of introducing alternative sanctions to minors who have committed offenses, in order to achieve the purpose of these sanctions and that is that minors do not make future violations or criminal offenses. The system presented is the Netherlands system that started with the implementation in 1981 in Rotterdam as a system that was to deal with the problem of vandalism of minors. In the paper is also presented the pilot program implemented in Zagreb and Velika Gorica in order to improve system through its implementation from 2012 to 2016.

ALTERNATIVNE SANKCIJE U NEONATALNOM INKUBATORU

Author(s): Goran Jovanić / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian / Issue: 1/2016

Overloading prison capacity, lack of professional and technical personnel, the absence of individual and group rehabilitation penal treatment of convicts fact informal system of direct and indirect consequences of isolation and segregation of the family, the local community and from work, the high recidivism of prisoners and deprivation as a result of such a situation in the prison system, with a chronic lack of funding, forcing the country to initiate activities towards practical implementation of alternative criminal sanctions in legislation and practice in Serbia during the first decade of this century. Additional impetus was a request for equalizations punitive responses with the countries of the European Union as one of the preconditions for the start of accession talks. Legislative amendments introduced the possibility to start with the imposition and execution of alternative sanctions, but the first step when the trouble in the form of non-cooperation of institutions and organizations in which it took that these sanctions are enforced. A couple of years of persuasion was needed to ensure the acceptance of sentenced to a term of community even in those communal activities which is operated by the State, establishing trust office was going pretty slow because it was necessary to train future commissioners (probation experts) to provide minimum objective assumptions mind space, means of transport, communication techniques, and in particular the purchase and training of staff for electronic surveillance. It can be argued that the alternative sanctions "came into the world" or as if they are weak premature baby that is struggling to survive and advance, would not cost you a day on their feet. The situation is still not improved significantly, and this paper will point out the basic problems that the practice of execution of alternative sanctions meets and will probably still some time to burden the achievement of equal status with other criminal justice sanctions in our country.

Ambulant sanctions as an alternative to imprisonment in the European Union

Author(s): Christine M. Graebsch,Sven-U. Burkhardt / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2014

The issue of imprisonment vs. alternative penalties has been debated in various European countries during the last decades, and ambulant sanctions have been heavily on the rise. Community sentences and other alternatives to imprisonment are regarded as modern instruments for the rehabilitation of offenders. The objective of the present study is to examine the scope of application of penalties without deprivation of liberty as compared to imprisonment as well as to identify promising practices of alternative criminal sanctioning in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and Lithuania. As this study covers several European countries, the comparative perspective suggests itself nearly as a matter of course. In this connection, it seems reasonable to describe the existing ambulant sanctions of the different member states involved, taking into account their legal arrangement and their relation within the system of penal sanctions including their relation to the deprivation of liberty. It in addition appears sensible to describe and compare these ambulant sanctions with reference to their contribution to the re-socialisation or rehabilitation of those subjected to them as well as with special attention to the involvement of civil society in their execution. In a further step, promising practices in connection with ambulant sanctions could be highlighted which may be recommended for imitation by other member states. Such an approach proves to be impossible for multiple reasons, though, and it would be inadequate just to make such an attempt. There are exemplary references to ambulant sanctions in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania and Spain. This is due to the fact that scientists from these countries have taken part in the realisation of this project but not necessarily because of specific outstanding features of their sanction systems in comparison with other member states.

Analýza ukládání peněžitých trestů v podobě denních pokut v České republice

Author(s): Jakub Drápal / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 2/2016

In 2010 the pecuniary punishment started to be defined in the form of day fines. So far, however, no analysis of its functionality has been made. The aim of the article is to find out if the new concept works in reality or if it stays only on the paper. The results of author´s research suggest that the concept of day fines does not function well in the Czech Republic. Even though richer offenders get slightly higher pecuniary punishments (and higher day fines) in absolute numbers, they receive relatively lower punishments than poorer offenders. It seems that the concept of day fines does not work either in the proportion of one day fine to the wealth of an offender or in the proportion of the number of day fines to the seriousness of an offense. Several partial results such as differences in sentencing between male and female judges or their opinions about day fines are discussed as well.

ANTICORRP Integrated Report

Anti-Corruption Policies Revisited: WP9 Organised crime and impact on vulnerable groups

Author(s): Salvatore Sberna,Alberto Vannucci,Tihomir Bezlov,Dimitar Markov,Maria Karayotova,Ana Hećimović,Iva Nenadić,Munir Podumljak,Péter Gyimesi,Szidónia Nagy,Boróka Pápay,Zoltán Szántó,István János Tóth,Edona Krasniqi / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2015

This integrated report investigates the link between political corruption and organised crime, by examining the modalities, resources and strategies used by criminal groups to govern and/or capture the market of political corruption. On the one hand, the report looks at the infiltration of organised crime in three main policy sectors where public spending and regulations play a pivotal role: public procurement, the privatization of public services, and management of EU funds. Alongside this, the report also analyses the criminal penetration of electoral politics, by evaluating the influence that criminal organisations can achieve in electoral arenas. As a result, the report provides a general assessment of policy regulations, legal countermeasures and practices adopted to prevent and combat organised crime, especially in interaction with political corruption. The report is drawn from data collected in five European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo) across the above themes, and includes two more countries for the assessment of anti-organised crime legislation and initiatives (Albania and Georgia). The methodology involves both extensive and intensive strategies of investigation. A quantitative assessment of the crime and politics nexus is based on the Organised Crime & Corruption (OCC) events database, in which events data about the link between criminal groups and political corruption have been gathered and assembled1. A qualitative assessment involves in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of corrupt exchanges, presented as single case studies conducted in the countries covered by this study, inclusive of primary and secondary sources (interviews, legal proceedings, academic and policy-oriented reports). Data collection and analyses were conducted by five institutions across Europe (EUI, CSD, BCE, IKS, PSD).

Background report: Drug Users in Prison – the Norwegian Experience

Author(s): Hedda Giertsen / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2016

This report is the preliminary research work under the Punishment vs. Treatment: the Situation of Drug Users in Prison initiative which main output is a forthcoming comparative analysis of the treatment of drug users in Bulgarian and Norwegian prisons. The study was prepared by the University of Oslo and it overviews the general context on Norway – general information on the country and its criminal justice system, policy and legislation on drugs explaining what are the perimeters of drug restriction and what are the national policies towards drug use. This information is illustrated with statistics on crime rates and drug crime in particular. It also presents the alternative sanctions available for drug users. Furthermore, the reports looks at prison population using drugs and sentenced to drug-related crimes – what are the principles by which prison authorities are guided in their attitude towards this group of inmates and what programs are available for them in Norwegian prisons.

Background report: Policies on drugs in Bulgarian prisons

Author(s): Dimitar Markov,Maria Doichinova,Lyubomira Derelieva / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2016

This report provides a snapshot of the situation of drug users in Bulgaria. As it is aimed to serve as a basis for comparative study on policies and practice towards drug users, particularly in prisons, in Bulgaria and Norway, it presents the country’s context – general information on the country and its criminal justice system, policy and legislation on drugs explaining what are the perimeters of drug restriction and what are the national policies towards drug use. This information is illustrated with statistics on crime rates and drug crime in particular. The report also investigates how court looks upon the fact that the accused are using or addicted to narcotic substances within the criminal proceedings and specifically on the type and the term of the sentence. Finally, it looks upon the sanctions available for drug users and their situation once sentenced to imprisonment – what treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction programmes are available in different prisons.