Summaries fra 92. årgang Nr. 1 - Marts 2005
Title in English: Prostitution. Types and Reasons for Intervention.
The history of the criminal law is one long list of behaviours being criminalised or decriminalised, either regarded as severe sins or as mere nuisances – or even as benefits. But no behaviour has a more varied history than prostitution. This article examines the changing ideologies concerning prostitution in Danish law.
Title in English: Trafficking in Women and Purchase of Sex
In international law, the discourse about the regulation of prostitution has shifted from prevention of prostitution (abolitionism) to the contexts of organized crime and protection of minors. While the abolitionist discourse is often associated with sexual moralist views, the discourse on organized crime often leads to objectification of the trafficked women. In Finland and Sweden, a liberal view on prostitution has been followed by an analysis of prostitution as an expression of inequality, leading to a prohibition to purchase sex in Sweden and a similar proposal in Finland. Still, however, the liberal discourse dominates law drafting and complicates the structural analysis of the frequent traffic of both prostitutes and buyers across the borders. This article outlines the ideological discourses on the regulation of prostitution and discusses the recent legal developments in Finland
Title in English: Prostitution in Iceland: Legislation and Attitudes.
In recent years, prostitution has come under discussion in Iceland. This article describes the provisions on prostitution in Iceland’s penal law, which makes it an offence to earn one’s living by prostitution and to profit from the prostitution of others. New provisions on punishment for prostituting children and trafficking in human beings are discussed. In the conclusion, arguments for and against introducing the Swedish model into Icelandic law are considered
Title in English: Prostitution in Norway – Facts, Policy and Regulation.
In Norway there are about 2 500 women in prostitution. Most of them are working indoors. About one-third of these women are streetwalkers who operate in a concentrated area in Oslo. About 60-70% of the streetwalkers come from abroad. It is not forbidden to sell sexual services in Norway. Purchase of sexual services from minors is, however, forbidden. Trafficking in human beings is forbidden. Promotion and all forms of support to prostitution are criminalized.
In Norway the Government has published a Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children for the period 2003-2005. The Plan says: “Trafficking in women and children is a serious form of organised crime and constitutes a grave violation of human rights. In Norway’s first Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, the Government is launching measures to protect and assist the victims, prevent human trafficking and prosecute the organisers. The plan will be implemented over a three-year period, and will have a total budget of some NOK 100 million (approximately EUR 1.3 million).” See: www.dep.no/filarkiv/175924/Trafficking-eng.pdf. A new plan will be launched for the period 2005-2008
Title in English: “Whoever pays for sex is a criminal”. Swedish criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services as a means of combating prostitution.
This article examines the section of the Swedish special criminal law that deals with the prohibition of the purchase of sexual services. The rationale behind the law, and its impact on prostitution, has been continuously and vividly debated since the law went into force. Advocates of the law consider the prohibition a necessary tool in our march toward worldwide gender equality, and claim that that it is especially important in the present situation as the world is developing towards a global village. The Swedish government is so convinced of its importance, that it has taken steps towards introducing similar laws in other states, primarily within the European Union. However, very little information about the impact of the law on prostitution exists. The law has lead to only 250-300 convictions during its first five years. Yet it is uncertain whether the numbers of prostitutes or purchases of sexual services have actually decreased. The nature of prostitution and its specific forms may, however, have changed: Street prostitution probably has decreased and been replaced by other forms of prostitution, mainly those performed in private surroundings. The uncertainty of this is partly due to the fact that the Swedish government has not found it necessary to perform an official evaluation of the impact of the law.
The application of the law has had certain juridical problems, some of which are analysed in the article. Such problems concern the territorial area of the law’s application (are purchases of sexual services made outside Sweden also punishable in Sweden, or is the application of the law limited to acts committed in Sweden?), the responsibility for instigation (can the prostitute be responsible for instigation?), and attempts (in which cases is there a punishable attempt?). A revision of the law will be carried out in 2005. At that time, the special criminal law will be abolished and the provision on the purchase of sexual services will be placed in the Chapter on sexual crimes in the Penal Code.
English: Human Trafficking and Prostitution.
Within the European Union, trafficking in human beings is closely related to prostitution and the sex industry. Some groups in Swedish society expect that the criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services, enacted in Sweden in 1999, will prevent trafficking in human beings. This article discusses the Swedish legislation and the extent to which it can be expected to prevent prostitution. The Swedes are eager to export their response to the problem of prostitution while the other Nordic countries appear somewhat sceptical.
Summaries fra 92. årgang Nr. 2 - Juli 2005
Title in English: The Police as Conflict Managers
The author divides the role of the police into three ideal types: Warrior; Long Arm of the Law; and Conciliator. While the first role is marginal and the second is politically correct, it is the third role that comprises the everyday reality for Nordic police. Contrary to popular conceptions derived from the media, both empirical studies and police law indicate that crime fighting is only a minor part of police work. Conflict management is an art, but also a science. The article pinpoints two factors that make some officers better than others at handling conflicts: the first is an absence of pre-judgments, while the second is the possession of skills in interactions that de-escalate conflicts. “Skills in practice” is launched as an educational approach that optimises attitudes, knowledge, and skills training. It combines the interest of self protection with the de-escalation of conflicts. Four opportunities/threats are discussed: internationalization; the never-ending growth of a need for protection in the welfare society; conflict as a welfare good that the police should not steal from the public unnecessarily; and ways by which a high level of trust in the police can be maintained in the Nordic countries. Two internal challenges are discussed: when measurable outcomes become the goal; and the reaction of the police to public complaints.
Title in English: Public Information or Trivialisation of the Court?
In December 2002, Norway broadcast its first televised court hearing. In November 2004, the Norwegian Society of Criminal Law and Criminology arranged a seminar during which the conflict between the principle of public admittance to court hearings and the media’s focus on criminal trials was discussed. This article gives a summary of the viewpoints presented in the introductory speeches.
Title in English: What’s New About “The New Clientele”? A Comparison of Prison Inmates Released in 1992 and 2002
This article examines changes in the Swedish inmate population since the early 1990s. The study builds on questionnaires completed on the basis of released inmates’ treatment journals. The sample includes all inmates released in October 1992 and October 2002. The study focuses on the inmates’ social situations and shows that they have deteriorated: compared to those released in 1992, a substantially larger proportion of those released in 2002 occupy a marginalised position on the labour market and lack a permanent residence. These changes are discussed in terms of marginalisation and selection. The deterioration may in the first instance be ascribed to the group of inmates serving short prison sentences (of two months or less). The interpretation offered is that the changes are largely due to altered selection processes. During this period, new sentencing forms have been introduced as alternatives to shorter prison terms (electronic tagging and community service). These alternatives are not available to the most poorly resourced offenders since they require the offender to be employed, housed, and drug-free. This altered and intensified selection means that the clientele administered by the Prison and Probation Service - and particularly those in prison - have become older, are serving longer prison sentences, and have more serious social problems. A polarisation among offenders during this period is confirmed by the fact that sentences have become longer among prison service clients and the restrictions placed on them have increased. The article concludes with a discussion of the consequences of this trend for crime policy.
Title in English: Evidence-Based Crime Prevention: A Review of Recent Reports and Remarks on British Experiences
Evidence-based practices are spreading prolifically throughout the social sciences. This fact is reflected in many literatures, including that derived from research on the effectiveness of crime prevention. The current article traces the history of the evidence-based movement, and reviews some recent literature from the field. While the idea of research-driven experiments in crime prevention makes good theoretical sense, practical experiences from United Kingdom suggest that they are extremely difficult to implement in practise.
Title in English: The Transatlantic Treaty on Extradition: Background and News
Cooperation in the field of criminal administration has increased between the EU and the US since September 11, 2001. Yet there remains a significant need for more general regulations on extradition between these two entities. The general goal of the Transatlantic Treaty on Extradition is to overcome existing barriers caused by conflicting principles on human rights. These differences are the primary source of transatlantic conflict in this area. The US applies the non-inquiry principle, which means that no effort is made to research the nature of the criminal systems to which extradited prisoners are sent. In the EU, on the other hand, the inquiry principle is paramount, which means that the courts are actively involved in every single extradition decision. A second goal of the Treaty is to clarify the formal thresholds for the acceptance of a guarantee that the death penalty will not be applied to extradited prisoners. Without a well-functioning system of guarantees, extradition to the US will be impossible in cases where prisoners face capital charges. As currently ratified, the existing treaty can be criticized on a number of grounds. Among these are both the procedures by which the treaty is formed, and its material contents, which can hardly be regarded as providing a satisfactory solution to the existing problems in extradition between the EU and the US.
Summaries fra 92. årgang Nr. 3 - December 2005
Title in English: Swedish Trends in Violence According to Hospital Data
In Sweden, as in many other European countries, violence constitutes an important focus for the public and political debate on crime. Much of what is said in the public debate, and done in the field of criminal policy, stems from a perception that violence is on the increase. This paper presents a new social indicator of trends in violence – Swedish hospital admissions resulting from acts of violence - and evaluates this measure in the light of more traditional indicators of violence – crime statistics, victim surveys and homicide statistics. The hospital data comprise 90,000 admissions from the period 1974-2002. The results show that admissions caused by violence were more numerous in the 1970s and 1990s than in the 1980s. Nothing in the hospital data indicates an increase in hospital admissions resulting from serious violent incidents over this period. No increase is noted in either fractures or knife and gunshot wounds. Thus, the continuous upward trend noted in crime statistics is not verified. Instead, the hospital data serve to verify the more stable trends indicated by victim surveys and homicide statistics.
Title in English: The Right to a New Fair Trial: An Issue Neglected by Researchers of Criminal Science?
According to the European Convention, anyone ”charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.” Furthermore, it is stated that ”no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the same State for an offence for which he has already been finally acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of that State.” This precept is, however, not without exceptions. The case may be reopened ”in accordance with the law and penal procedure of the State concerned, if there is evidence of new or newly discovered facts, or if there has been a fundamental defect in the previous proceedings, which could affect the outcome of the case.” This article discusses questions surrounding the reopening of penal cases from a Swedish perspective. The author concludes that these issues have not attracted sufficient attention and that they deserve additional focus by criminal law researchers
Title in English: Crime Prevention and the Role of the Police
This paper describes what the Norwegian police mean by “crime prevention”. No single definition covers the wide range of different activities and strategies that fall under this concept. Crime prevention strategies can, however, be roughly assigned to one of nine different categories, including: a) crime prevention through patrolling, detection and law enforcement (the legalistic perspective); b) community policing; c) police as a social service; d) campaigns of information and attitude; e) crime prevention on an individual level; f) the cooperative model; g) assistance concerning technical prevention (locks, alarms and keys); h) situational crime prevention; and i) problem-oriented policing (POP). The author argues that there are two main directions in crime prevention in Norway today: the “Teddy Police” representing social crime prevention, and the POP-stars. These two directions seem very different, and may even appear antagonistic at first. Yet there is no reason why the “Teddy Police” and the POP-stars would not profit greatly by cooperating.