Sticks, Stones and Words: Emotional Harm and the English Criminal Law

This article discusses the rule that criminal liability does not normally attach for the causing of emotional harm or mental distress in the absence of proof of a 'recognised psychiatric injury'. It considers what is involved in the diagnosis of psychiatric injury, and to what extent the difference between such injury and 'ordinary' mental distress is one of degree rather than one of kind. It reviews the situations in which the law already criminalises the infliction of emotional harm without proof of psychiatric injury, and assesses the policy arguments for drawing the distinction in the normal case. The article concludes that the law can and should adopt a more flexible approach to cases of this sort.

Australian criminal law in the common law jurisdictions : cases and materials

 Australian Criminal Law in the Common Law Jurisdictions is a clear and comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of criminal law. Updated throughout to reflect recent cases and legislation, the fourth edition combines clear case extracts with incisive author commentary and discussion.

Criminal law in action /

Mode of access: Internet.

La ejecución de las sentencias urbanísticas

El Estado español tiene más de 100.000 construcciones ilegales. En la actualidad, la ejecución de las sentencias en materia urbanística no es eficaz. Existe, por tanto, una situación de inejecución de las sentencias urbanísticas. Un ciudadano puede construir una casa al amparo de una licencia. Sin embargo, a veces, esta licencia es ilegal porque infringe el plan urbanístico aplicable y incluso la propia ley de urbanismo. La consecuencia jurídica de la ilegal es la obligatoriedad del derribo de lo ilegalmente construido. Lo mismo sucede ante la declaración de ilegalidad de un plan urbanístico. En este caso, el juez o tribunal estimará la ilegalidad del plan y el fallo deberá ser ejecutado. La solución no es un fácil porque la demolición o derribo de la construcción ilegal trae consigo el pago de una indemnización a los propietarios que han edificado al amparo de una licencia ilegal.El derecho a la ejecución de sentencias es prescrito por el artículo 24 de la Constitución española. Este artículo 24 garantiza el derecho de todos ciudadanos a una tutela judicial efectiva. El Tribunal Constitucional español en sus sentencias número 67/1984 y 28/1989, reconocieron que el derecho a la ejecución de las resoluciones judiciales deriva del propio derecho a la tutela judicial efectiva. La justicia administrativa está regulada por la Ley 29/1998, del 13 de julio, reguladora de la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa. En su artículo 103.1 de la Ley 29/1998, establece que los jueces y los tribunales de la jurisdicción administrativa son los competentes para hacer ejecutar las sentencias. Por otro lado, el artículo 117.3 de la Constitución Española otorga la competencia en exclusiva a los jueces y tribunales para hacer ejecutar las sentencias, como manifestación del principio de división de poderes.En último lugar, los valores que la legislación urbanística española incorpora, tales como, el desarrollo sostenible, urbanismo sostenible y la cohesión social, quedan inaplicados si las sentencias urbanísticas no se ejecutan.

European Criminal Law and General Principles of Union Law. Research Papers in Law, 5/2005

From the Introduction. The European Court of Justice, partly followed in this by the European legislator, has regulated Community law and policy through a set of general principles of law. For the Community legal order in the first pillar, general legal principles have developed from functional policy areas such as the internal market, the customs union, the monetary union, the common agricultural policy, the European competition policy, etc., which are of great importance for the quality and legitimacy of Community law. The principles in question are not so much general legal principles of an institutional character, such as the priority of Community law, direct effect or Community loyalty, but rather principles of law which shape the fundamental rights and basic rights of the citizen. I refer to the principle of legality, of nulla poena, the inviolability of the home, the nemo tenetur principle, due process, the rights of the defence, etc. Many of these legal principles have been elevated to primary Community law status by the European Court of Justice, often as a result of preliminary questions. Nevertheless, a considerable number of them have also been elaborated in the context of contentious proceedings before the Court of Justice, such as in the framework of European competition law and European public servants law.

A treatise upon some of the general principles of the law : whether of a legal, or of an equitable nature : including their relations and application to actions and defenses in general : whether in courts of common law, or courts of equity : and equally adapted to courts governed by codes /

Mode of access: Internet.

Disputing the application of laws: the constitutionality of the Brazilian Statute against domestic violence in the courts

This study aimed to map the key positions regarding the constitutionality of the Maria da Penha Law (Law 11.340/2006) in the Brazilian judicial system. The law, the result of political struggles by the Brazilian feminist movement, has been the subject of discussions in the public sphere and actions aimed at consolidating its constitutionality before the Federal Supreme Court. We examined and discussed the arguments used in the Courts, intending to show that the creation of law is not limited to the legislative moment, but rather that its social meaning is also constituted through disputes within the Judiciary.

Modern American law; a systematic and comprehensive commentary on the fundamental principles of American law and procedure, accompanied by leading illustrative cases and legal forms, with a rev. ed. of Blackstone's Commentaries;

v. I. The modern democracy, the citizen and the law - Legal ethics - Law : its origin, nature, development - Courts : federal and state - Law of contracts -- v. 2. Law of torts -- v. 3. Criminal Law - Law of criminal procedure - Law of persons and domestic relations -- v. 4. Personal property and bailments - Law of liens and pledges - Law of agency - Law of sales of personal property -- v. 5. Law of real property -- v. 6. Law of descent and distribution, wills and administration, guardian and ward - Law of landlord and tenant - Law of irrigation and water rights - Law of mines and mining -- v. 7. Equity - Law of trusts - Law of quasi-contacts - Law of estoppel -- v. 8. Law of negotiable instruments - Law of suretyship and guaranty - Law of mortgages : real and chattel - Interpretation of statutes -- v. 9. Law of private corporations - Law of partnership - law of banks, banking and trust companies - Law of receivers -- v. 10. Pleadings in civil actions at common law and under modern statutes - Practice in civil actions - Law of equity pleading - Law of evidence - Laws of attachment and garnishments - Law of judgments and executions - Law of extraordinary remedies - Law of habeas corpus -- v. 11. Constitutional law : definitions and general principles - Organization and powers of the United States Government - Constitutional guaranties of fundamental rights - Eminent domain - Taxation - Naturalization -- v. 12. Conflict of laws - International law - Law of interstate commerce - Law of bankruptcy - Law of patents - Law of copyright - Law of trademarks - Unfair competition and good-will -- v. 13. Law of public service companies, especially common carriers - Law of municipal corporations - Law of public officers and elections - Parliamentary law -- v. 14. Law of damages - Law of insurance - Admiralty law - Medical jurisprudence - Forms -- v. 15. Blackstone's Commentaries.

Order supported by law : the enforcement of norms in virtual communities

As online social spaces continue to grow in importance, the complex relationship between users and the private providers of the platforms continues to raise increasingly difficult questions about legitimacy in online governance. This article examines two issues that go to the core of egitimate governance in online communities: how are rules enforced and punishments imposed, and how should the law support legitimate governance and protect participants from the illegitimate exercise of power? Because the rules of online communities are generally ultimately backed by contractual terms of service, the imposition of punishment for the breach of internal rules exists in a difficult conceptual gap between criminal law and the predominantly compensatory remedies of contractual doctrine. When theorists have addressed the need for the rules of virtual communities to be enforced, a dichotomy has generally emerged between the appropriate role of criminal law for 'real' crimes, and the private, internal resolution of 'virtual' or 'fantasy' crimes. In this structure, the punitive effect of internal measures is downplayed and the harm that can be caused to participants by internal sanctions is systemically undervalued.

Towards a new model of criminal justice system in the era of globalised criminality: the biggest challenges for criminal process legislation

The main objective of this thesis is the critical analysis of the evolution of the criminal justice systems throughout the past decade, with special attention to the fight against transnational terrorism. It is evident – for any observer - that such threats and the associated risk that terrorism entails, has changed significantly throughout the past decade. This perception has generated answers – many times radical ones – by States, as they have committed themselves to warrant the safety of their populations and to ease a growing sentiment of social panic. This thesis seeks to analyse the characteristics of this new threat and the responses that States have developed in the fight against terrorism since 9/11, which have questioned some of the essential principles and values in place in their own legal systems. In such sense, freedom and security are placed into perspective throughout the analysis of the specific antiterrorist legal reforms of five different States: Israel, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. On the other hand, in light of those antiterrorist reforms, it will be questioned if it is possible to speak of the emergence of a new system of criminal justice (and of a process of a convergence between common law and civil law systems), built upon a control and preventive security framework, significantly different from traditional models. Finally, this research project has the fundamental objective to contribute to a better understanding on the economic, social and civilization costs of those legal reforms regarding human rights, the rule of law and democracy in modern States.

The communication by States of International Law to their direct stakeholders

El derecho internacional fue concebido como un derecho interestatal. Sin embargo, como consecuencia del desarrollo progresivo del derecho, nuevos actores y nuevos sujetos han ido surgiendo. El individuo es uno de ellos bajo diferentes perspectivas, bajo la perspectiva penal al asumir la responsabilidad de sus actos frente a los diferentes tribunales ad hoc y, ahora ante la Corte Penal Internacional. También se ha desarrollado la figura bajo la perspectiva de los derechos humanos. Este artículo analiza las formas como las políticas estatales relativas al derecho internacional se presentan a los individuos, a las personas jurídicas y a los demás actores.

The genesis of EC environmental principles. Research Paper in Law 7/2003

[From the Introduction]. The EC Treaty in its present version contains a number of environmental principles. The following contribution will try to retrace the origins of these principles in the EC Treaty and how they were developed by the EC institutions and in particular by the Commission. This discussion concerns the principles of integration[1], prevention[2] and precaution[3], the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source[4] and the polluter-pays principle[ 5].