The aftermath of provocation : homicide law reform in Victoria, New South Wales and England.

Over the past decade, homicide law reform surrounding the partial defences to murder has animated debate among criminological scholars and legal stakeholders in Australia and the United Kingdom. In response to these debates, criminal jurisdictions have conducted reviews of the partial defences to murder and implemented reforms targeted at reducing gender bias in the law which has played out through the operation of the partial defence of provocation. This research examines the different approaches taken to addressing the problem posed by provocation in Victoria, New South Wales and England. In doing so, it explores questions around the need for reform to the law of homicide, the effects of these reforms in practice, and the influential role of sentencing in questions surrounding homicide law reform. Throughout the analysis key frameworks of criminological thought in relation to feminist engagements with the law, the conceptualisation of denial and the influence of law and order politics upon the development of criminal justice policy are applied. By drawing on 81 in-depth interviews conducted with legal stakeholders across the three jurisdictions under study, and an analysis of relevant case law, this research concludes that reforms implemented to counter gender bias in the operation of homicide law have produced mixed results in practice, particularly in connection to the law’s response to three key categories of person in the courtroom: the jealous man, the female victim of homicide, and the battered woman.

Virtual thievery : an insight into the criminal mind of virtual property thieves

Virtual worlds have become highly popular in recent years with reports of over a billion people accessing these worlds and the virtual goods market growing to near $50 US billion dollars. An undesirable outcome to this popularity and market value is thriving criminal activity in these worlds.  The most profitable transgression at the moment in virtual worlds is named Virtual Property Theft.  The aim of this study is to gain insight using an online survey, as to how thieves in these synthetic worlds conduct their criminal activities.  This survey asked questions on: thief profiling, how theft was conducted, times of criminal activity, which items are stolen and distributed, victim targeting and criminal profiteering.  This survey is the first to report an insight into the criminal mind of virtual thieves.  The results of this study will provide a pathway for designing an effective anti-theft mechanism capable of abolishing this criminal enterprise.

Towards a diversity justice management model : integrating organizational justice and diversity management

Purpose – Contemporary organizations are increasingly paying attention to incorporate diversity management practices into their systems in order to promote socially responsible actions and equitable employment outcomes for minority groups. The aim of this paper is to seek to address a major oversight in diversity management literature, the integration of organizational justice principles.

Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the existing literature on workforce diversity and organizational justice, the authors develop a model based on normative principles of organizational justice for justice-based diversity management processes and outcomes.

Findings – The paper proposes that effective diversity management results from a decision-making process that meets the normative principles of organizational justice (i.e. interactional, procedural and distributive justice). The diversity justice management model introduced in this article provides important theoretical and practical implications for establishing more moral and just workplaces.

Research limitations/implications – The authors have not tested the conceptual framework of the diversity justice management model, and recommend future research to take up the challenge. The payoff for doing so is to enable the establishment of socially responsible workplaces where individuals, regardless of their background, are given an equal opportunity to flourish in their assigned jobs.

Practical implications – The diversity justice management model introduced in this paper provides organizational justice (OJ)-based guidelines for managers to ensure that OJ can be objectively benchmarked and discussed amongst diversity stakeholders to continuously improve actual and perceived OJ outcomes.

Social implications – The social implication of this conceptual paper is reduction of workforce marginalization and establishment of socially responsible organizations whereby those marginalized (e.g. people with disabilities) can effectively work in their organizations.

Originality/value – This is the first attempt to establish a diveristy justice management model, which incorporates normative principles of organizational justice into diversity management processes and outcomes.

Prison substance misuse programs and offender rehabilitation

This article considers the nature of the association between substance misuse and criminal behaviour and how this might inform the development of prison-based substance misuse treatment programs. The literature on what is known about the effectiveness of prison-based treatment is reviewed and the implications for correctional practice considered. It is concluded that prison-based substance misuse treatment should be considered a critical component of rehabilitation programming and that justice outcomes are likely to be improved when a number of program features are incorporated.

Policing services with mentally ill people : developing greater understanding and best practice

Although it is now well known that there is a disproportionate number of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, surprising little attention has been paid to the challenges faced by policing people with mental illnesses in the community. This article provides an overview of some of the key findings from a programme of research undertaken in Victoria to further understand and develop a best practice model at this interface. The areas covered will include the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and mental illnesses among police cell detainees; the existing knowledge base and attitudes of police towards mentally ill people; the relationship between mental illness and offending; the frequency and nature of police apprehensions of mentally ill people under the Mental Health Act; the association among mental disorder, police shootings, and other injuries to people as a result of these encounters; and police interactions with victims of crime. The work highlights the need for ongoing improvements in policing people with mental illnesses, and particularly the need for improved inter-agency practices for dealing with them.

Homicide law reform, gender and the provocation defence: a comparative perspective

 The operation of the partial defence of provocation has animated significant debate for more than two decades among scholars, legal practitioners, politicians and the community. In recognition of the injustices that result from its operation, criminal justice systems worldwide have conducted reviews of the law of provocation and have implemented divergent reforms targeted at minimizing the influence of gender bias in the law's operations. Drawing on the voices of over one hundred members of the Victorian, New South Wales and English criminal justice systems, this book provides a much-needed comparative analysis of the operation of this controversial partial defence to murder, the varied approaches taken to reforming the law of provocation and the effects of these reforms in practice.

Performing desistance: how might theories of desistance from crime help us understand the possibilities of prison theatre?

Despite the ubiquity of theatre projects in prisons there has been little (published) discussion of the application of theatre to the theories of criminology or rehabilitation of offenders, and scant examination of the potential for criminological theories to inform theatre practice in criminal justice settings. This article seeks to address this deficit and argues that positioning prison theatre within the discipline of positive criminology, specifically contemporary theories of desistance from crime, provides a theoretical framework for understanding the contribution that prison theatre might be making in the correctional setting. Through a review of related literature, the article explores how prison theatre may be motivating offenders toward the construction of a more adaptive narrative identity and toward the acquisition of capabilities that might usefully assist them in the process of desisting from crime.

Victoria’s banning provisions: ‘balancing’ discretionary police powers and individual rights

This thesis examines the parliamentary passage, implementation and ongoing scrutiny of Victoria’s banning notice provisions. Underlying political assumptions and justifications are explored to reveal how banning notices exemplify a move towards police-imposed discretionary justice, which undermines individual rights and reconfigures the notion of balance in the criminal justice system.

Sober assessment of the link between substance abuse and crime-eliminating drug and alcohol use from the sentencing calculus

The relevance of drug and alcohol involvement to sentencing law and practice is one of the most perplexing and unsettled areas of sentencing law and practice.1 It is also one of the most important issues in the criminal justice system. Most crimes are committed by offenders who are substance involved, and nearly half of all crimes that are committed are done so by offenders who are intoxicated at the time of the offense. Substance involved individuals are grossly over-represented in the criminal courts. Addiction and intoxication impair sound judgment, and hence, it intuitively appears that intoxicated offenders are less culpable for their crimes. Moreover, there is often a sense that addiction and intoxication causes aberrant behavior and that curing the substance involvement will lead to more prudent (law-abiding) conduct.

Financial regulation and international criminal policy: the anti-money laundering system in Brazil and Argentina

The objective of this paper is to present and compare the process and the results of the implementation of the anti-money laundering system in Brazil and Argentina. Considering that the internal transformations cannot be discussed without a clear understanding of the international apparatus, attention will be given to the description of the “international policy” designed and conducted by FATF. Therefore, its incorporation into two different national realities, the Brazilian and the Argentinean ones, will shed light not only on the transnational transformations both States underwent but also on the anti-money laundering regime itself. The paper is divided into five parts. The first one presents a brief introduction on the emergence and development of the relationship between financial regulation and criminal policy. The two following sections are designed to present an overview of the anti money laundering system in Brazil and Argentina and of the role of FATF in their implementation process. The fourth section presents two Brazilian examples of situations in which full advantage of the FATF regime was taken: the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering and the BacenJud, a communication channel between the financial system and the judicial power. To conclude, final comments will be presented in connection with the central questions of the project this paper is part of .

Punitive damages in Brazilian law and the boundaries between criminal and civil liabilities

This article demonstrates the existence of civil responsibility with punitive purposes in Brazilian Law, explaining how it was introduced by jurisdictional activity in cases involving moral damages. Next, it points out main problems this situation represents to Brazilian Law from the standpoint of our juridical dogmatics and public policies. Additionally, it proposes the execution of an empirical research for comprehension of the structure and fundamentals of jurisprudence on the punitive character of civil responsibility for moral damages and establishes criteria for use in this research based on theories of punishment. Finally, it positions the problem of punitive function of civil responsibility in the broader ambit of relationships and boundaries between civil and criminal responsibility.

A autonomia da Perícia Criminal Oficial no âmbito da Polícia Federal: percepções e reflexões dos profissionais do Sistema de Justiça Criminal

Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza marcadamente descritiva, com etapas exploratórias, que visa a descrever as percepções e reflexões desveladas pelos sujeitos da pesquisa nas análises temáticas realizadas sobre diversas questões que envolvem o tema da autonomia da Perícia Criminal Oficial, no âmbito da Polícia Federal. Para esse fim, utilizou-se da metodologia da análise de conteúdo, segundo Bardin (1977). Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram escolhidos segundo o critério de acessibilidade e da natureza dos cargos, quais sejam: Delegado da Polícia Federal, Juiz Federal, Perito Criminal Federal e Procurador da República. Face à predominância do cunho qualitativo neste estudo, não há expectativas de generalizações dos resultados obtidos no campo, assim como a seleção desses sujeitos não priorizou pela representatividade quantitativa de cada cargo. O referencial teórico foi construído com o propósito de contextualizar e favorecer a compreensão do leitor sobre como é constituída a realidade em que se insere o objeto de estudo, buscando descrever os termos e conceitos necessários a essa compreensão, tais como: (i) o que é o Sistema de Justiça Criminal e como se deu seu processo de formação no Estado moderno; (ii) como é a estrutura e o fluxo processual básico do modelo brasileiro, com destaque para a posição que ocupam os órgãos ou Instituto de Criminalística; (iii) qual o nível de efetividade desse sistema, no Brasil, e quais os principais problemas que afetam a funcionalidade da Perícia Oficial em sua estrutura; (iv) quais os reflexos do uso dos paradigmas repressivo e preventivo, pelo Estado, no controle da violência, da criminalidade e da impunidade dos criminosos, visando a garantir a manutenção da ordem pública como bem coletivo; (v) que relevância tem o papel da Perícia Oficial para a efetividade do Sistema de Justiça Criminal, segundo o paradigma preventivo; (vi) o que é Criminalística e qual a natureza de sua atividade; e (vii) como se apresenta a atual estrutura administrativa e a rede de clientes da Perícia Oficial. Ao se aproximar do objeto de estudo, o pesquisador buscou descrever como se deu a origem do processo de autonomia da Criminalística, no Brasil, e como esse processo vem sendo desenhado como uma política de segurança pública, destacando as principais medidas administrativas e normativas adotadas no país que favoreceram a sua consolidação, tais como: a aprovação do PNSP (2002), do PNDH I (1996), do PNDH II (2002) e do PNDH III (2009), além da promulgação da Lei nº 12.030/2009, que assegura, de forma específica, a autonomia técnico-científica e funcional da função pericial criminal. Tratamento especial foi dado ao significado e ao alcance que têm as dimensões conceituais do termo “autonomia” para a função pericial. Em que pesem os resultados obtidos, as conclusões revelam que a complexidade do tema, teoria e prática, aguarda continuidade em pesquisas futuras.

As contribuições da interação entre os órgãos públicos para a afetividade do Sistema de Justiça Criminal: uma análise segundo as teorias de redes

Este trabalho investiga as contribuições da interação entre os órgãos públicos para a efetividade do Sistema de Justiça Criminal, à luz dos atores envolvidos e tendo como arcabouço conceitual as teorias de redes interorganizacionais, notadamente redes de políticas públicas. O estudo foi orientado pela suposição inicial de que a atuação em rede pode proporcionar melhores resultados para a administração pública, comparativamente àqueles obtidos com as instituições trabalhando isoladamente. A literatura sobre o tema apresenta que, dentre outras vantagens, redes podem ser mais apropriadas para lidar com problemas complexos, proporcionando mais flexibilidade que as hierarquias, complementaridade nas ações e incentivo à colaboração. Por outro lado, aponta limitações de ordem gerencial ou relacionadas a prestação de contas e responsabilização, a questões legais e culturais, a conflitos de interesses e ao poder. Para a obtenção de dados empíricos, foram entrevistados Delegados de Polícia Federal, Peritos Criminais Federais, Auditores Federais de Controle Externo, Analistas de Finanças e Controle e Procuradores da República, todos detentores de função de gestão. Mediante a categorização dos depoimentos colhidos na pesquisa de campo foi possível sintetizar a percepção dos entrevistados, o que revelou que, corroborando os atributos identificados na literatura, vários são os benefícios da atuação em rede. Mas, do mesmo modo que verificado na literatura, os entrevistados igualmente destacaram que redes apresentam muitos desafios e limitações.

A responsabilização criminal no estado democrático de direito: o equilíbrio entre a efetividade e os limites da pretensão punitiva da sociedade

This paper analyzes the relationship between fundamental rights and the exercise of the claim punitive society in a democratic state. It starts with the premise that there are fundamental rights that limit and determine the validity of all forms of manifestation of the claim punitive society (legislating, investigative, adjudicative or ministerial) and there are others that require the state the right exercise, fast and effective of these activities. Travels to history in order to see that the first meaning of these rights was built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, after all a history of abuses committed by state agents in the exercise of criminal justice, and positively valued in the declarations of human rights and proclaimed in the constitutions after the American and French Revolutions, while the second meaning has been assigned between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when, because of the serious social problems generated largely by absenteeism state, it was noted that in addition to subjective rights the individual against the state, fundamental rights are also objective values, which trigger an order directed the state to protect them against the action of the offending individuals themselves (duty to protect), the mission of which the State seeks to discharge, among other means, through the issue of legal rules typifying the behavior detrimental to such rights, subject to penalties, and the concrete actions of public institutions created by the Constitution to operate penal law. Under this double bias, it is argued that the rule violates the Constitution in the exercise of the claim punitive society as much as by excess malfere fundamental rights that limit, as when it allows facts wrong by offending fundamental rights, remain unpunished either by inaction or by insufficient measures taken abstractly or concretely provided