Criminal Law

Until recently, there was relatively little interest in comparative criminal procedure, which may be explained by the fact that criminal procedure, more than any other legal discipline, resists harmonisation. However, the problems Member States face these days are largely identical: a general increase in crime, an insufficiency of financial means for the different enforcement levels, increasing complexity of legislation and the fact that the general public seems to be gradually losing confidence in the criminal justice system. There is a growing need for an understanding of foreign criminal justice systems within the European community. This book seeks to contribute to a greater knowledge by offering a general introduction to the criminal procedure systems of the Member States of the EC. It will be of great interest to students, practitioners - who tend to be increasingly confronted with cases involving foreign criminal justice systems, and lawyers.

Leading scholars describe and discuss criminal procedure throughout England, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy in this study. They provide up-to-date analyses of the main differences and similarities of each system by examining the accusatorial and inquisitorial traditions; cross influences between the two traditions; and current pressures for harmonization. Extended essays include topics on public prosecutors, the rights of victims and defendants, evidence, negotiated justice and media influence. The volume is of interest to academics and postgraduates in criminal law; comparative, E.U. and human rights lawyers; and lawyers interested in European harmonization and in reforming criminal procedure.

This book contains original essays by a distinguished group of jurists from six different European countries confronting the increasing range of legal and philosophical issues arising from the relationship between privacy and the criminal law. The collection is particularly timely in light of the incorporation into English law of the European Convention on Human Rights. It compares legal cultures and underlying assumptions with regard to the private sphere,personal autonomy and the supposed justifications for State interference through criminalization and the implementation of substantive criminal law.

This book stems from a major research report prepared by a study group established at BIICL. It fulfils a threefold purpose: First, to provide a report of a study group comprised of experts with specialist knowledge and experience of the procedures and working methods of the ECJ. Secondly, to provide an example of the working methods. Thirdly, the report represents a contribution to the debate on the future of the european Union. The report contains careful analysis and specific recommendations.

This text describes the principles of Islamic international criminal law and presents an exposition of existing Islamic international crimes. The purpose of this study, comparing the system of international criminal law with that of Islamic international criminal law, is to evaluate certain important regulations in both these systems and examine them in the light of the growing development of international jurisprudence, thereby establishing that conflicts and apparent differences between the two systems are not principal but political, ideological, procedural and, more importantly, a result of specific interpretations of both legal systems. This is important in the case of frequent international conflicts relating to the basic principles of human rights.

This is an apt publication for modern times, in which 'Sharia' has become a byword for an unacceptable social system, and is vilified as such; when crime is rife in communities governed by Sharia; and when in the non-Islamic West, the Islamic social and criminal justice systems are subject to intense public scrutiny and criticism, but remain little understood. The author presents a clear and factual account of the Islamic criminal justice system, expounding what he considers to be the real issues of Sharia, often ignored or misrepresented by both Islamic and Western scholars, and explaining its wider Islamic context and ethics, its Arabic roots, classical heritage and terminology, and its relevance to contemporary Muslim societies.

The history and spread of Islam are surveyed, with attention to its major divisions. The book then outlines the origins of Islamic law, its sources, and the various schools of jurisprudence -- Sunni, Kharijism, Murji'ism, Shi'a, and Sufism. While establishment of the Shari'a signified a progressive step in the development of legal practice, Islamic law still differs from common and civil codes due to its virtually unchangeable, religious nature. The text defines criminal acts and criminal responsibility in Islamic law, as well as procedures governing pretrial detention and interrogation, defense rights, search and seizure, rules of evidence, eyewitnesses, oaths, and confessions. A chapter on punishment covers the concept of punishment in pre-Islamic thought, justifications, and characteristics of Koranic punishment. After discussing the secularization of Islamic justice in the 19th and 20th centuries and the recent revival of Islamic laws in Iran and Pakistan, the book identifies issues that merit additional study.

This book, intended primarily for Western readers, presents an overview of the Islamic faith in general and Islamic concepts of crime and punishment in particular. Three background chapters provide a general overview of Islamic law, a discussion of religious minorities under Islamic law, and Islam and fundamentalism in the Middle East. Underlying the theories of crime and criminal justice in Islamic law is the concept that the individual is the most important unit of the cosmos because humans are the only creatures on earth that God endowed with a mind, thus making them the only creatures capable of choosing Islam as a way of life. Because the individual is the Lord's trustee and is vulnerable to the State's power, Islam has laid down a set of guarantees and principles that balance the interest of the State in enforcing its criminal law and the individual's interest in protecting himself/herself against all types of undue indictment, unlawful criminal charges, and intrusion of the State upon the individual's rights. These guarantees and principles are established in various fields.