2017 - 104. årgang Nr. 1
1. Märta C. Johansson, docent vid Örebro universitet
På spaning efter det offer som ej flytt: Bemästrande av människohandelsoffer och viljans inverkan på lagföringen
Despite the relatively high number of police complaints filed in Sweden for human trafficking, few offenders are prosecuted and convicted. While a third of human trafficking complaints are made for other forms of exploitation, e.g., forced labour, convictions primarily concern trafficking for sexual exploitation plus a few cases of forced begging. The current article examines the absence of prosecutions and convictions in light of the discussion about the character of the crime and its regulation in the Swedish Criminal Code as a crime against peace and freedom. The author concludes that the limited number of convictions, and their restriction to only two forms of trafficking, are not primarily due to resource constraints. Instead they are due to the perceptions of trafficking held by the Swedish criminal courts and to the courts’ notions of what it means to ‘master’ a victim and the types of evidence required to prove such ‘mastery’.
2. Susanne Clausen, specialkonsulent i Kriminalforsorgen
Indførelsen af RNR-principperne i den danske kriminalforsorg
This article discusses the implementation of the RNR principles in the Danish Prison and Probation Service. The Risk, Need, Responsibility principles were first introduced by James Bonta, a psychologist and researcher from Correctional Service Canada, at Nordisk Kriminalistmøde in Copenhagen 2010. Bonta’s research shows that using these principles in rehabilitation programs will lower the recidivism rate among offenders. With the multi-year financial agreement for the Danish Prison and Probation Service for 2013-2016, a nationwide project introducing the RNR principles was financed. The RNR project comprises two large projects in the Probation Service and in the Prisons respectively. In the RNR project in the Probation Service, 300 probation officers were trained in using the risk-and-need assessment instrument LS/RNR, and in using a newly developed model for supervision named MOSAIK. The implementation of the RNR principles in the prisons is part of a larger project improving the Intake Assessment Process in the prisons. As part of this project the prisons have established separate Intake Units, employed case managers to perform the risk-and-need assessment with new inmates (using the instrument LS/RNR), and introduced a new type of Sentence Plan. Also as part of the RNR project in the prisons a pilot on a new intervention program named MOVE is being tested in one open prison.
This article mostly focuses on the project RNR in the Probation Service. It presents the evaluation design of the project as well as some of the results from the first study of the project. The study showed that even though the probation officers have been trained in using the risk-and-need assessment instrument LS/RNR not, all probation officers actually use the instrument when they supervise offenders. The article discusses some of the explanations for this.
3. Morten Kjær, adjunkt, Syddansk Universitet
Straf for frivillige seksuelle forhold – en arv fra Reformationen?
In a newer debate on the criminalization of incest in Denmark, Vagn Greve has argued that the criminalization of consensual sexual relations between adults can be contributed to the German reformer Martin Luther. This article has investigated the impact of the reformation on the sexual offenses with emphasis on their definition and punishment and the question of jurisdiction. The criminalization of consensual sex was not a new phenomenon after the Reformation. Before the Reformation the sexual offences were primarily dealt with by the Catholic Church through its system of penance and its judicial system. After the Reformation the jurisdiction was transferred to the secular authority. For the sexual offences the period 1536-1683 must be viewed as a process. During this period they were incorporated into the secular criminal law culminating with the promulgation of Danske Lov 1683. The following period has to a large extent lead to the decriminalization of the sexual offences. In conclusion, the criminalization of the sexual offences cannot be contributed to the Reformation. It is, however, a legacy of the Reformation that the state assumed the responsibility to punish the sexual offences.
4. Morten Kjær, adjunkt, Syddansk Universitet
Mellem Skylla og Charybdis – træk af legalitetsprincippets historie i dansk strafferet
This article deals with the history of the principle of legality in Danish criminal law. The principle of legality is a relatively new invention and was first introduced with the criminal code of 1866 § 1. Before that, courts were given broad discretion in criminal cases. This discretion must be viewed as the logical consequence of the lack of a comprehensive and systematic criminal code such as that first issued in 1866 where it replaced the sixth book in the National Law of Denmark 1683. With the promulgation of a new systematic criminal code it was possible to introduce the principle of legality in Danish criminal law in 1866. While the principle of legality was designed to secure the predictability of the criminal law, measures were also taken in order to secure flexibility in the application of the code by the courts. The often casuistic definitions of the criminal offenses in the National Law of Denmark were thus replaced by abstract definitions and the courts were generally left with a wide margin of discretion when it came to questions of punishment. The criminal code of 1866 was thus built on a compromise between legality and flexibility.
2017 - 104. årgang Nr. 2
1. Henri Rikander, Chief Inspector at Police University College, Finland
The Use of Electroshock Weapons by the Finnish Police in 2016
When using force, the police also exercises public power and thereby interferes in a significant way with the basic and human rights of people. This article examines those situations where the Finnish police has used force by means of electroshock weapons. The material for the study consists of all (N=357) reports on the use of force involving electroshock weapons from the year 2016.
Over half of the police tasks where electroshock weapons had been used were tasks that were connected to the protection of individuals as well as life and health. The majority of the situations where electroshock weapons were used occurred during the evening and at night. Every fourth time the electroshock weapon was used in a private apartment. Every tenth situation involved the use of an electroshock weapon in police facilities. By threatening to use an electroshock weapon, the desired result was attained in every fifth situation. Of all situations where an electroshock weapon was used, 88% was accomplished without injuries to persons or damage to property. The police officers who had used electroshock weapons were experienced and had received regular training on the use of electroshock weapons.
The discussion surrounding the use of electroshock weapons has been polarized between the negative stance taken by human rights organizations and the positive stance of those authorities, who strive to equip the police with as appropriate means of applying force as possible. The article gives its own contribution to the national, Nordic as well as European discussion on, among other things, the hierarchic position of electroshock weapons in the police’s assortment of means of applying force, questions of the competence of the police and matters relating to the actual use of electroshock weapons.
2. Mika Sutela, Östra Finlands Universitet (Joensuu, Finland)
Empirisk forskning om domstolar i Finland
The research subject of my article-based dissertation in law was the decision-making of the general courts of Finland. The aim of the research was to produce information how uniform decision-making is in the Finnish courts. With regard to district courts special consideration in judgments were sentences given for aggravated drunk driving. The results show that there are regional differences in the sentences. The research represents empirical legal research where aspects from criminal and procedural law and criminology are involved. In Finland only a few empirical studies have been done focusing on courts and criminal sanction system. In this dissertation, the equality and predictability of judicial decision-making act as theoretical starting points. The research is based on a research tradition established at the international level where influence of legal and extra-legal factors (for example offender’s age) on sentencing is explored. At more theoretical level the research reflects the research area of the legal realism. Empirical legal research will play an increasingly important role in the future. It can increase citizens' equality before the law. It is possible to increase the transparency of decision-making and thus the confidence towards courts through empirical legal research on the courts. Updated empirical research information should be gained more, for example, just about punishment practices of courts, as information on the functioning of the legal system is important. Empirical court research can provide better information to discuss the levels of punishment. Functioning of the legal system has a major impact on society. Empirical data, statistics among others, provide a good basis for a wide range of research.
3. Annemette Nyborg Lauritsen, lektor, ph.d. ved Ilisimatusarfik/Grønlands Universitet
”Vis mig dine fanger…” – et indblik i Grønlands indsattepopulation
In 2018, Greenland is expected to have its first closed institution for delinquents, and the idea of Greenland as “the country without prisons” will be history. However, even before the first closed institution is built, Greenland is among the hardest punitive countries in Scandinavia with more than 200 inmates per 100.000 of the national population.
Based on studies where the records of all inmates were reviewed, the article will give an image of which social characteristics the Greenlandic prison population are carrying. And it will also be analysed how the Greenlandic welfare society have handled the number of people before they end up in institutions for delinquents.
4. Nina Irene Jon
Maskulinitetsperspektiv på kriminologiens kjerneområder: Kontroll, ofre og kriminalitet
The aim of this article is to render visible and problematise conceptions and norms for performing masculinity within criminology. Approaching crime and crime control from a gendered perspective is highly relevant: Crime and punishment are historically among the most gendered fields in society, predominantly inhabited by men. While the relation between crime and masculinity was actually addressed by some of the subcultural theorists in the 1950s (see e.g., Cohen 1955, Bloch and Niederhoffer 1958, Kvaraceus and Miller 1959, Cloward & Ohlin 1960), criminology as such has by and large remained a gender-blind discipline. The article focuses on the impact a gender perspective can have on the core areas of criminology: control, victimization and crime.
5. Thomas Hauge, kriminolog
Den gode fiende, eller den gode pasient?
This article is written as a result of my master thesis in criminology, which studied the war on drugs, its influence on the police role, and how the police interpret the war on drugs themselves. My master thesis also studied the consistency between the war on drugs and the government’s ideal of a knowledge-based police.
Methodically, the article is based on data collected in my master thesis,and discusses its comparability to Nils Christie and Kettil Bruuns book Den gode fiende (Suitable enemies), focusing on the police roles regarding the war on drugs.
A key question concerning this comparison is: In the eyes of the government and police officers, are illicit drugs still a suitable enemy?
As a result, the discussion will argue that illicit drugs have developed to be considered as a suitable patient in addition to an enemy. The government and police do not only present themselves as crime fighters regarding the war on drugs, they also emphasize the caring role, considering illicit drug use as a disease.