{"title":"What about judicial punitiveness? A study of homicide convictions in Spain (2000–2013)","authors":"Oana Stancu, Daniel Varona","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09388-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09388-9","url":null,"abstract":"Criminological literature has dedicated considerable efforts to identifying a common pattern in contemporary criminal policy developments, as well as discussing the factors that may explain these changes. Yet, the studies carried out thus far have almost exclusively focused on macro level analysis (political discourse and legislative analysis), disregarding the micro level; that is, the activities carried out by the agents in charge of supposedly putting into practice a new allegedly punitive control culture. The present study tries to fill, in some measure, this vacuum by providing knowledge of Spanish criminal court activity this century regarding homicide convictions. In short, our aim is to verify whether Spanish criminal courts have varied sentencing along the same lines as the (alleged) new punitive culture, or have remained oblivious to it, instead operating as a deterrent to its development. Furthermore, the study provides a detailed analysis of homicide sentences in Spain this century with the aim of identifying some explanatory factors regarding the final sentence.","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138531974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What about judicial punitiveness? A study of homicide convictions in Spain (2000–2013)","authors":"Oana Stancu,Daniel Varona","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09388-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09388-9","url":null,"abstract":"Criminological literature has dedicated considerable efforts to identifying a common pattern in contemporary criminal policy developments, as well as discussing the factors that may explain these changes. Yet, the studies carried out thus far have almost exclusively focused on macro level analysis (political discourse and legislative analysis), disregarding the micro level; that is, the activities carried out by the agents in charge of supposedly putting into practice a new allegedly punitive control culture. The present study tries to fill, in some measure, this vacuum by providing knowledge of Spanish criminal court activity this century regarding homicide convictions. In short, our aim is to verify whether Spanish criminal courts have varied sentencing along the same lines as the (alleged) new punitive culture, or have remained oblivious to it, instead operating as a deterrent to its development. Furthermore, the study provides a detailed analysis of homicide sentences in Spain this century with the aim of identifying some explanatory factors regarding the final sentence.","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138531973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Importance of Placing Blame: Criminal Law and the Stabilization of Norms","authors":"Monika Simmler","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09390-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09390-1","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that the function of criminal law and of punishment consists in stabilizing norms by ascribing culpability. A theoretical and sociological examination of the mechanism of placing blame reveals that it consists of three elements. Blame is placed only if a capable addressee of norms is present (personhood), if this person was in the time of offending competent enough to question a norm (competence), and if this person actually communicated a negation of this norm (message). If these requirements are met, an act destabilizes the norm effectively, and punishment becomes necessary. The fault requirement therefore is crucial for fulfilling criminal law’s function, i.e. the stabilization of norms within society by means of punishment. In outlining the social importance of placing blame, this article establishes a basis for both a sociological approach to and a normative discussion regarding theories of punishment and of responsibility, and discloses that respecting the principle of culpability is not only an expression of justice but also one of social necessity.","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138531968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Importance of Placing Blame: Criminal Law and the Stabilization of Norms","authors":"Monika Simmler","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09390-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09390-1","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that the function of criminal law and of punishment consists in stabilizing norms by ascribing culpability. A theoretical and sociological examination of the mechanism of placing blame reveals that it consists of three elements. Blame is placed only if a capable addressee of norms is present (personhood), if this person was in the time of offending competent enough to question a norm (competence), and if this person actually communicated a negation of this norm (message). If these requirements are met, an act destabilizes the norm effectively, and punishment becomes necessary. The fault requirement therefore is crucial for fulfilling criminal law’s function, i.e. the stabilization of norms within society by means of punishment. In outlining the social importance of placing blame, this article establishes a basis for both a sociological approach to and a normative discussion regarding theories of punishment and of responsibility, and discloses that respecting the principle of culpability is not only an expression of justice but also one of social necessity.","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138531975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the Prosecution of “Stolen Babies” Cases in Spain","authors":"Cristina Fernández-Pacheco Estrada","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09389-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09389-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s10609-020-09389-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"52227150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mafalda Moura Melim, Renata Saraiva, Nuno Igreja Matos
{"title":"Conference Report: “Workshop on Negotiated Justice”, Lisbon, 15./16. April 2019","authors":"Mafalda Moura Melim, Renata Saraiva, Nuno Igreja Matos","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09386-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09386-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s10609-020-09386-x","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41368565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Prosecution in Seychelles of Piracy Committed on the High Seas and the Right to a Fair Trial","authors":"J. Mujuzi","doi":"10.1007/s10609-020-09383-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-020-09383-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43773,"journal":{"name":"Criminal Law Forum","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141226446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}