#10 Smuggling in Southeast Europe. The Yugoslav Wars and the Development of Regional Criminal Networks in the Balkans

Author(s): Marko Hajdinjak / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2002

Smuggling in Southeast Europe analyzes and reviews the connection between the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the growth of the trans-border crime in the region, and also looks at the related issue of corruption. The paper highlights the decisive impact the Yugoslav wars had on the development of the regional criminal networks, which were often set up and maintained not only with the knowledge, but even with active participation of the highest state officials. The research also represents a contribution to the study of conflicts in the Western Balkans. The majority of existing interpretations of causes, course and consequences of the Yugoslav wars try to provide the answers through ethno-political explanations. They unjustly ignore the importance that interweaving of interests of political elites, the organized crime groups, which appeared in this period, and the "mediating class" of corrupt state officials had in this process. The paper is divided in three parts: • An analysis of the causes and course of emergence of Balkan smuggling channels in the context of Yugoslav wars and international sanctions; • A review of the recent developments in trans-border crime in Southeast Europe; • An overview of prevention efforts, undertaken both by the regional governments and the international community’ The first part analyzes the emergence of officially sanctioned "state-building" smuggling in those parts of the former Yugoslavia, which were involved in the war. The intermediary role of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania is also discussed. In these four countries, smuggling networks were not developed under open patronage of the governments, but the role of high-positioned politicians was nevertheless extremely important. The second part traces the evolution of the initial semi-official smuggling channels and their transformation into "classical" criminal networks. The so-called "suitcase trade," cigarette smuggling, smuggling of narcotics, and the trafficking in human beings are discussed in more detail.

#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.

(NE)POMIRLJIVOST KAZNE DOŽIVOTNOG ZATVORA I LJUDSKIH PRAVA

Author(s): Vladica Ilić / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 2/2019

Since May 2019, Serbia has joined the majority of European countries which have the sentence of life imprisonment in their criminal justice systems. Despite the refusal of the competent authorities to hold a public hearing on the issue, the introduction of life imprisonment, excluding the possibility of conditional release of convicted persons for certain offenses punishable by this sentence, was met with noticeable interest and activism by representatives of the domestic and international professional public. Particular attention in the paper is devoted to human rights standards relating to life imprisonment, mainly stemming from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The paper analyzes the possibility of application of human rights standards within the current criminal law legislation. At the end of the paper, the author points to possible de lege ferenda directions that could represent an alternative to life imprisonment, considering it a serious challenge for protection of the dignity of convicted persons.

(Re)defining the complementary institution of Conditional release in Romania (2000-2019)

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Author(s): Vladimir-Adrian Costea / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

This article aims to investigate the legal and political evolution of the institution of Conditional release in Romania between 2000 and 2019 with a special focus on the abrupt changes during the mentioned period. The aim of this research consists in bringing together the redefining of the regulatory framework of Conditional release in relation to the dynamic political context and personal strategies used by the right-holder of individual liberation. Two important episodes need to be recalled for the redefinition of this concept: the establishment of the National Anticorruption Directorate; and the reform of criminal legislation, after Romania’s accession to the European Union. The general objective is to explain and understand the different stages in which liberation committees and courts of law have made use of the prerogative of dispensing conditional release, given the social role that the complementary institution of Conditional release within the institutional, territorial and functional scheme of the rule of law. I will show that amendments to criminal law, along with changes in court practice, have led to a reduction in the level of consistency between the decisions of the liberation committees and courts of law. Different legitimating strategies used by right holders are the main unexpected result of this research, as restrictive legal provisions apply to both decision levels.

1950 Yılında Çıkarılan Genel Af Ve Yansımaları

Author(s): Sabit Dokuyan,Ahmet Coşkun Tekin / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 36/2017

The discussion of amnesty which begins after establishing republic becomes the main topic of conservation in different times until today. Amnesty problem which is put forward to compatible with political interest in sometimes, it is sometimes seen as a social need, too. General amnesty does not come to the fore quite a while just after two general amnesties which are granted in 1923 and 1933. The number of people increases considerably in prisons with the amount of crimes which are related to the negativity of Second World War. The subject of amnesty comes to the fore again in the free environment which is occurred by multi-party system in 1945. General amnesty which is planned to put forward by People’s Republican Party but unachievable, it is brought into action by Democratic Party government. In this study, it will be mentioned generally about the term of amnesty and it will be tried to clear up the implementation of amnesty and developments after this, discussions which happen during the granting of amnesty, the reasons of general amnesty which is granted in 1950.

735 lat zwalczania i... Rzecz o korupcji w Rosji

Author(s): Katarzyna Laskowska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2009

The phenomenon of corruption in Russia, shown in the historical perspective, is described here by changes of legislation in this matter throughout the ages. It is clearly seen that changes of legal regulation tried to penalize many new aspects of bribery and to increase of penalty. The attitude of the society, both Russian and Soviet, shows that legal regulations have been ignored not only by citizens, but also by the state’s officers. The scale of corruption now and damages it causes is an evidence that there is no effective system of protection against these crimes in Russia.

A Case of Successful Transitional Justice

Fritz Bauer and his Late Recognition in the Federal Republic of Germany

Author(s): Jakub Gortat / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

Germany is an example of a country which has been implementing transitional justice for decades and is still active in this field. What is more, contemporary Germans have recently come to terms with their not-so-distant past and their negligence in this area by showing the falsehood, backwardness, and injustice as negative foundations of the young Federal Republic. This article evokes the person of Fritz Bauer, the prosecutor in the state of Hessen. His struggle for human dignity and the memory of his achievements after his death exemplify an accomplished case of transitional justice and the memory of it. During his lifetime he contributed to bringing to trial numerous Nazi criminals, even at the cost of habitual threats and disregard. Forgotten for a few decades, Bauer and his legacy have been recently rediscovered and studied. Eventually, Bauer became a movie character and was finally brought back to the collective memory of Germans. The belated, but a well-deserved wave of popularity of Fritz Bauer in the German culture memory proves that reflections on the transitional justice are still topical and important.

A STEP TOWARD IMPROVEMENT OF POLICE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AS SUBJECTS OF COMBATING FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRIMES: EXPERIENCE OF UKRAINE AND SLOVAKIA

Author(s): Nadiia Andriichenko / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

The article is devoted to the study of certain aspects of the police performance assessment in Ukraine and the Slovak Republic as subjects of combating financial and economic crimes. It is determined that the expediency of studying this issue is determined by the high level of financial and economic crimes in Ukraine and the Slovak Republic. It was insisted that the assessment of the police activity in Ukraine and the Slovak Republic is carried out mainly on the basis of quantitative criteria. In view of possible fraud with the statistical data that is the basis of the report of the police authorities of Ukraine and the Slovak Republic, it is proposed to consolidate such a criterion for assessing of the police activity as a level of latent crimes. Among the qualitative criteria for assessing the police activity in Ukraine and the Slovak Republic, public trust has been highlighted, but it was concluded that its definition should be carried out by an independent sociological service. It is grounded that the implementation of these proposals will have a positive impact on the police activity in Ukraine and the Slovak Republic in the area of combating financial and economic offenses.

ABOUT SOME HISTORICAL "RELAPSES" OF FIGHT AGAINST CRIMINALITY IN THE FIELD OF IMPLEMENTATION OF PUNISHMENTS OF UKRAINE

Author(s): Volodymyr Ortynskiy,Roksolana Kolb / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2018

The article analyzes the legal and normative principles on the basis of which the fight against crime in Ukraine was carried out on the so-called Soviet day, defined the peculiarities of this activity and established the regularities of the emergence, functioning and development of this socially dangerous phenomenon in places of deprivation of liberty.

ABOUT SOME REGULATORY LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME IN THE SPHERE OF EXECUTION OF PUNISHMENTS

Author(s): Alexei Humin,Lesia Duchiminskaya / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2018

The article analyzes regulatory legal sources on the issues of combating crime in penal institutions of Ukraine and the effectiveness of their application in practice, as well as identifies the main problem issues to be studied at the scientific level.

ABOUT SOME TENDENCIES OF COMMITTING CRIMES IN THE FIELD OF EXECUTION OF PUNISHMENT OF UKRAINE

Author(s): Alexander Kolb,Taras Mis'kiv / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2018

The article identifies the main tendencies of crime in the colonies of Ukraine in the current conditions, as well as analyzes its main indicators taking into account their influence on the state of law and order in the penal institutions and the level of effectiveness of preventive activities.

ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE IN KOSOVO – LESSONS LEARNT

Author(s): Gamurari Loredana / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2018

Since 1999, the accountability for human rights violations committed in Kosovo during and after the war was addressed by ICTY, UNMIK and EULEX. However, a whole set of crimes committed in the aftermath of the war were not properly addressed. The research aims to understand whether international judicial mechanisms intervening in Kosovo until today, successfully planted the seeds for the blooming of post-conflict justice. The paper adopts a qualitative approach, including analyses of cases, reports and interviews. The findings show that both international and local actors in many cases could not ensure justice for war crimes committed in the country, which brought to the conceiving of the Specialist Chambers, an extraterritorial court with no local personnel, but under Kosovo national legislation. The paper focuses on previous experiences to understand if the lessons have been learnt, showing the challenges that the new Specialist Chambers will have to overcome to bring justice.

ADEQUACY OF PENAL POLICY IN CRIMINAL CASES OF ORGANIZED CRIME

Author(s): Miodrag Simović,Mile Šikman / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2019

Organized crime is a serious form of crime, whether it is viewed in the criminological sense or as the criminal justice response to this phenomenon. In this regard, the penal policy of the legislator should be proportionate to the gravity of organized crime. However, the penal policy of the courts does not reflect the stated intentions, which is primarily reflected in relatively mild criminal penalties for criminal offenses of organized crime. Although the case law does not contravene the law, i.e. contra legem, because it moves within the boundaries prescribed by the law, it is obvious that the issue is about imbalance of punishment for these criminal offenses, even when it comes to mitigating of the sentence of imprisonment. This paper will provide an analysis of the criminal law framework of organized crime prescribed by the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH), as well as an analysis (statistical and descriptive) of the jurisprudence in the criminal cases of organized crime before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Court of BiH) for the period 2015-2018. As it is not justified and desirable for the legislator's criminal policy and court case jurisprudence to have a different approach in relation to these criminal offenses (different valuation and grading of severity of organized crimes), we will also make certain proposals for de lege ferenda. The paper is a continuation of earlier researches of this problem and is based on the analysis of court judgments in organized crime cases.

Agresja i brutalność w Policji – zjawisko marginalne czy poważny problem

Author(s): Aneta Kamińska-Nawrot,Bogusław Jaremczak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 40/2018

The police, as the institution of high public trust, requires social control. Misusage, abuse of power is also present in this formation, which was created to protect the lives, health and safety of citizens. As the reality shows, such situations are often socially outrageous and unpopular, so it is not surprising that policy makers do not agree to their dissemination. Granted to the police additional powers to use of the direct coercive measures require from the formation proper preparation of the police officers to use them. Authors, on the basis of a real event broadcasted by the media, are trying to diagnose possible causes of police brutality, pointing out, for example, inappropriate procedures for admission to police service and defective, departing from international standards the process and methods of police vocational training.

ALBANIA: Radicalization and the Governance of Islam in Albania

Author(s): Arjan Dyrmishi / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 0

With some hundred or more Albanian citizens having now joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), radicalization has become a salient issue in both policy and scholarly domains in Albania. Given the Albanian tradition of religious tolerance and moderation, the quest to understand and explain the foreign fighter phenomenon has sparked extensive debate – in media, among the public, and within academia. Explanations for this trend have focused mainly on the socioeconomic factors affecting certain local communities and individuals, and on the failure of state institutions in some sectors, including in security, intelligence, and education. In general, academic researchers and pundits alike argue in favor of a more robust response by the government. [...]

Alternatívne tresty za drogové trestné činy na Slovensku: restoratívna spravodlivosť v praxi

Author(s): Robert Klobucký,Jozef Čentéš / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 2/2017

Alternative Sanctions for Drug Law Offences in Slovakia: Restorative Justice in Practice. This study aims to map the alternative sanctions for drug law offences that are available under Slovak law and describe the use of these sanctions in practice. A drug policy development analysis and a discussion about the effectiveness of drug law enforcement is included. Attention is paid to the model of restorative justice as an alternative to the classic model of criminal justice – the retributive model. This study is based on complementary quantitative data (statistics) and qualitative data (10 expert interviews). According to our findings, the low rate of applications of alternative sanctions for drug law offences is connected with the responsible institutions' lack of competence in applying them, experts' mistrust in alternative sanctions and restorative justice, as well as the preference of public opinion for retributive law enforcement for drug law offences.

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.

AMNISTIE ȘI PEDEAPSĂ ÎN CONTEXTUL JUSTIȚIEI TRANZITORII ȘI A RECONCILIERII UNEI SOCIETĂȚI POST-CONFLICT

Author(s): Vitalie Gamurari / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2020

Amnesty and punishment are two important institutions of transitional justice. Discussions on the application of one or the other are quite common, each part having its arguments. One thing we can state for sure – prioritizing only an institution, it will certainly lead to transitional justice promoted by touching objects – a company post-conflict reconciliation is impossible, this process is a complex one, in which an important role belongs non-legal rules. However, transitional justice trying to find that common ground, that would satisfy society in integrum.

An assessment of the role of the Independent Oversight Bodies in Security Sector Reform in Albania

Author(s): Arjan Dyrmishi,Besjana Kuci,Egest Gjokutaj / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2011

This research paper analyses the independent oversight bodies (IOB) in Albania. For the purpose of this study, IOBs are defined as those institutions that are established by the Parliament and are accountable to it. They form an essential part of the democratic governance of the security sector. Along with the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judiciary these institutions contribute in holding the security sector accountable to elected civilian representatives.