BackgroundLaws on compulsory commitment to care (CCC) in mental health, social and criminal legislation for adult persons with alcohol and/or drug dependence or misuse problems are constructed to address different scenarios related to substance use disorders. This study examines how such CCC laws in European states vary in terms of legal rights, formal orders of decision and criteria for involuntary admission, and assesses whether three legal frameworks (criminal, mental and social law) equally well ensure human and civil rights.MethodsThirty-nine laws, from 38 countries, were analysed. Respondents replied in web-based questionnaires concerning a) legal rights afforded the persons with substance use problems during commitment proceedings, b) sources of formal application, c) instances for decision on admission, and d) whether or not 36 different criteria could function as grounds for decisions on CCC according to the law in question. Analysis of a-c were conducted in bivariate cross-tabulations. The 36 criteria for admission were sorted in criteria groups based on principal component analysis (PCA). To investigate whether legal rights, decision-making authorities or legal criteria may discriminate between types of law on CCC, discriminant analyses (DA) were conducted.ResultsThere are few differences between the three types of law on CCC concerning legal rights afforded the individual. However, proper safeguards of the rights against unlawful detention seem still to be lacking in some CCC laws, regardless type of law. Courts are the decision-making body in 80 % of the laws, but this varies clearly between law types. Criteria for CCC also differ between types of law, i.e. concerning who should be treated: dependent offenders, persons with substance use problems with acting out or aggressive behaviors, or other vulnerable persons with alcohol or drug problems.ConclusionThe study raises questions concerning whether various European CCC laws in relation to substance use disorder or misuse problems comply with international ratified conventions concerning human and civil rights. This, however, applies to all three types of law, i.e. social, mental health and criminal legislation. The main differences between law types concern legal criteria, reflecting different national priorities on implicit ambitions of CCC – for correction, for prevention, or for support to those in greatest need of care.
National, regional, and international criminal legislation and procedures for quite a long time struggled with the recognition of the legal status of children, but the position has slowly changed in recent decades. The aim has been to support persons aged under 18, whether perpetrators, victims, witnesses, or applicants under criminal justice proceedings. Thus, when children have committed crimes, the procedure of arrest, detention, or imprisonment has to be in conformity with the provisions of international law, and they should promptly receive legal assistance. Capital punishment has been abolished, and corporal penalties have broadly been reduced. The tendency today is that juveniles should be sentenced to measures such as care, supervision orders, community service orders, correctional, educational, and vocational training programs. Consequently, many rules of criminal justice have been formulated for the purpose of protection of children's rights, which are considered an integral part of international jus cogens .
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: In this article the research objectives are the rights of children deprived of liberty and suspected of having committed crimes in international and regional agreements as well as in Swedish legislations and intended to preserve the child’s dignity. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The method applied to study their dignity is, on one hand, in the context of international and regional agreements; on the other hand, in the context of Swedish legislations, which are relevant to these children. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The argument is whether in Sweden children under the age of 15 years deprived of liberty and suspected of having committed crimes are treated in a manner consistent with promoting the child’s sense of dignity during the investigation of the crime. These children are of particular interest as they are more vulnerable than adults in the same situation; the spirit of dignity should therefore be more explicitly expressed for them. RESEARCH RESULTS: The research result confirms that dignity is fundamental for the rights of children as expressed in the studied international and regional agreements and, more specifically, in the CRC Articles 37 and 40. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Swedish legislations still need improvements to preserve the dignity of children, particularly regarding the rights of children under the age of 15 deprived of liberty and suspected of having committed crimes.
The enforcement of a sentence requires that, at the time of the crime, the suspect has reached the age of criminal responsibility according to the Swedish Criminal Code (SFS 1962:700) as well as the Conventions on the Rights of the Child and also implicit in other international agreements. Similarly, until 2017, the Swedish Young Offenders Special Provisions Act (SFS 1964:167) required that for the use of coercive measures, a person who was on reasonable grounds suspected of a crime which might lead to a prison sentence had to have reached the age of criminal responsibility. The requirements for a body examination were extended at the time in the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure (SFS 1942:740) to also include situations where there is an uncertainty concerning the suspect’s age. The extension regarding body examinations was a consequence of the aftermath of the refugee crisis of 2015. Uncertainty concerning the age of a person seeking asylum had led to discussions on what methods to use in order to determine a person’s age. The issue was also raised in criminal cases where the age of a suspect was unclear and concerned, more precisely, the burden of proof regarding the age of a suspect and the legal grounds for a body examination when estimating a suspect’s age. In this article I will with reference to the fundamental principles of proportionality, predictability, equal treatment and consistency scrutinize the legal grounds for a body examination when there is an uncertainty concerning age and the suspect claims to be under the age of criminal responsibility in relation to Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that states that ‘the best interests of the child shall be…’ and similarly in Article 24:2 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights ‘the child’s best interests must be a primary consideration’. Furthermore, I will explore what impact the practice of a body examination in those specific situations may have from a gender and diversity perspective. At the extension of the requirement of the legal grounds for a body examination in 2017, the child’s best interests were not taken into consideration. From a gender and diversity perspective, this extension implies the preservation of a prevailing structure that men with a foreign background commit more crimes than men and women born in Sweden.
In this article, the #MeToo movement, as a socio-political form of e-discourse (discourse enacted on social media platforms and other types of online channels), will be examined in terms of the effectiveness of its discursive forms and the kinds of effects these have had on social consciousness generally with regard to sexual misconduct in the workplace, and in terms of the cases it has made famous against individuals via “trial-by-social-media,” and their outcomes in people’s lives. The specific cases discussed in this paper are those concerning well-known Swedish and American media personalities, which are assessed within a broad discourse and legal framework. Overall, we conclude that, while movement has had a profound effect on social consciousness, so far it has not impugned the validity of legal systems in countries such as Sweden and the United States. Keywords:#MeToo, e-discourse, social media trials, legal systems, sexual misconduct, sexual assault, sexual abuse
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