Social dangerousness

Last updated

Social dangerousness is a category of anti-social behaviour on the basis of detectors of dangerousness that enable the judicial authorities to justify the need for a particular control by the police authorities.

Contents

These measures differ from country to country: in Italy they are called preventive measures, which are derived from a comprehensive analysis that involves both the tendency to commit crimes and the sphere of the moral conduct of an individual. In United Kingdom, they were foreseen by Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 as injunctions; in United States many States apply civil confinement to some antisocial behaviour. [1]

On the opposite side, some governments links this analysis directly to prison terms, not complying to nulla poena sine lege principle.

Extent and length

The rule of law requires the social dangerousness to be assessed “on the basis of factual elements” [2] Also in Addington v. Texas, [3] the Supreme Court "held without dissent that in a civil commitment hearing the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires a standard of proof on the issues of the patient's mental illness and of his danger to himself or to others equal to or greater than "clear and convincing" evidence". [4]

The judgment no. 2 of 1956 of the Constitutional Court of Italy "set out a number of fundamental principles: (a) preventive measures limiting personal freedom are allowed within the limits imposed by article 13 of the Constitution; (b) preventive measures restrictive of freedom of movement can be applied by the administrative authority for reasons of public security in the cases prescribed by law, subject to subsequent judicial review; (c) such measures, properly motivated, must be based on facts (and not suspicions) and must be issued in the respect of the judicial guarantees". [2]

Punishment "should not be imposed, nor the term of punishment extended, by virtue of a prediction of dangerousness, beyond that which would be justified as a deserved punishment independently of that prediction". [5]

In the Elizabethan period, in England "came the Vagrancy Acts, providing sanctions against sturdy rogues and vagabonds, those wandering abroad without lawful or visible means of support, those loitering with intent, and those falling within similar arcane phraseology which still underpins the disorderly conduct statutes, regulations, and ordinances of many states, cities, and counties in the United States. These sanctions are plainly preemptive strikes against those seen as likely to be disturbing, disruptive, or dangerous. Included in this group would be "suspicious persons" ordinances, "stop and frisk," and public drunkenness laws". [4]

As Pre-criminal danger to society is a legal charge under Cuban law which allows the authorities to detain people who they think are likely to commit crimes. The charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. [6] The Cuban government has been accused by Amnesty International of using the charge almost exclusively against critics of the government. [7]

People that have been imprisoned under this charge include:

In 2008, the punk rock singer and dissident Gorki Águila was arrested by police on a charge of social dangerousness. He was eventually ordered to pay a $30 fine for the lesser offence of public disorder, after prosecutors dropped the charge of social dangerousness. [10]

In 2007, political protester Ramón Velásquez was arrested for the charge of social dangerousness. Velásquez was participating in a march across Cuba that highlighted what it viewed as human rights violations and freedom for "political prisoners". Velásquez was then tried in a closed hearing and sentenced to three years in prison. Velásquez was released in January 2010. [11]

Cuban law defines dangerousness (el estado peligroso) as "the special proclivity of a person to commit crimes, demonstrated by conduct that is observed to be in manifest contradiction with the norms of socialist morality." ... If Cuba determines that someone is dangerous, the Criminal Code allows the state to impose "pre-criminal measures," including surveillance by the National Revolutionary Police and re-education for periods of one-to-four years. The state may detain the person during this time. The law also provides for "therapeutic measures," including detention in a psychiatric hospital, that are continued "until the dangerousness disappears from the subject." The open-ended nature of this punishment affords the state extraordinary authority to abuse the rights of political opponents and the developmentally disabled.

—  Human Rights Watch 1999 report [12]

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal justice</span> Justice to those who have committed crimes

Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other crimes, and moral support for victims. The primary institutions of the criminal justice system are the police, prosecution and defense lawyers, the courts and the prisons system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Re-education through labor</span> System of administrative detention in Mainland China

Re-education through labor, abbreviated laojiao was a system of administrative detention in mainland China. Active from 1957 to 2013, the system was used to detain persons who were accused of committing minor crimes such as petty theft, prostitution, and trafficking of illegal drugs, as well as political dissidents, petitioners, and Falun Gong followers. It was separated from the much larger laogai system of prison labor camps.

The Varela Project is a project that was started in 1998 by Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) and named after Felix Varela, a Cuban religious leader.

Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non-punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts.

The protection of basic human rights is enshrined in Constitution of Malaysia. These include liberty of the person and prohibition of slavery and forced labour. At the national level, legislative measures that exist to prevent human rights violations and abuses can be found in acts and laws on issues that either have a human rights component or relate to certain groups of society whose rights may be at risk of being violated. Human rights groups are generally critical of the Malaysian government and the Royal Malaysia Police. Preventive detention laws such as the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance 1969 allow for detention without trial or charge and as such are a source of concern for human rights organizations like Suara Rakyat Malaysia.

Human Rights in the UAE are substantially restricted. The UAE does not have democratically elected institutions and citizens don't have the right to change their government or form political parties. Activists and academics who criticize the government are detained and imprisoned, and their families are often harassed by the state security apparatus. There are reports of forced disappearances of foreign nationals and Emirati citizens, who have been abducted, detained and tortured in undisclosed locations, and denied the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during investigations by the UAE government. Human Rights Watch states that Emirati laws maintain capital punishment and discriminate against women, migrants and LGBT individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the United Arab Emirates</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the United Arab Emirates face discrimination and legal challenges. Homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and under the federal criminal provisions, consensual same-sex sexual activity is punishable by imprisonment; extra-marital sexual activity between persons of different sexes is also illegal. In both cases, prosecution will only be brought if a husband or male guardian of one of the participants makes a criminal complaint. The penalty is a minimum of six months imprisonment; no maximum penalty is prescribed, and the court has full discretion to impose any sentence in accordance with the country's constitution.

Anti-terrorism legislation are laws with the purpose of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its own legislation when fighting terrorism-related crimes, under alleged grounds of necessity.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Iran. The list of crimes punishable by death includes murder; rape; child molestation; homosexuality; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; incest; fornication; adultery; sodomy; sexual misconduct; prostitution; plotting to overthrow the Islamic government; political dissidence; sabotage; arson; rebellion; apostasy; blasphemy; extortion; counterfeiting; smuggling; recidivist consumption of alcohol; producing or preparing food, drink, cosmetics, or sanitary items that lead to death when consumed or used; producing and publishing pornography; using pornographic materials to solicit sex; capital perjury; recidivist theft; certain military offences ; "waging war against God"; "spreading corruption on Earth"; espionage; and treason. Iran carried out at least 977 executions in 2015, at least 567 executions in 2016, and at least 507 executions in 2017. In 2018 there were at least 249 executions, at least 273 in 2019, at least 246 in 2020, at least 290 in 2021, at least 553 in 2022, at least 834 in 2023, and at least 226 so far in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detention (imprisonment)</span> Process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person, removing their freedom

Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom or liberty at that time. This can be due to (pending) criminal charges preferred against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or to protect a person or property. Being detained does not always result in being taken to a particular area, either for interrogation or as punishment for a crime. An individual may be detained due a psychiatric disorder, potentially to treat this disorder involuntarily. They may also be detained for to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Malaysian law.

Capital punishment in Georgia was completely abolished on 1 May 2000 when the country signed Protocol 6 to the ECHR. Later Georgia also adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. Capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-trial detention</span> Detention after arrest and charge until a trial

Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held in a prison or detention centre or held under house arrest. Varying terminology is used, but "remand" is generally used in common law jurisdictions and "preventive detention" elsewhere. However, in the United States, "remand" is rare except in official documents and "jail" is instead the main terminology. Detention before charge is commonly referred to as custody and continued detention after conviction is referred to as imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-crime</span> Term for crimes not yet committed

Pre-crime is the idea that the occurrence of a crime can be anticipated before it happens. The term was coined by science fiction author Philip K. Dick, and is increasingly used in academic literature to describe and criticise the tendency in criminal justice systems to focus on crimes not yet committed. Precrime intervenes to punish, disrupt, incapacitate or restrict those deemed to embody future crime threats. The term precrime embodies a temporal paradox, suggesting both that a crime has not yet occurred and that it is a foregone conclusion.

<i>The New Jim Crow</i> Nonfiction book about mass incarceration in the United States by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a 2010 book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States, but Alexander noted that the discrimination faced by African-American males is prevalent among other minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Alexander's central premise, from which the book derives its title, is that "mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Sierra Leone</span>

Human rights in Sierra Leone are in a rather deplorable state, but have improved gradually since the end of its civil war in 2002. Among the major human-rights problems in Sierra Leone today, according to a 2011 U.S. State Department report, are "security force abuse and use of excessive force with detainees, including juveniles; harsh conditions in prisons and jails; official impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention; prolonged detention, excessive bail, and insufficient legal representation; interference with freedom of speech and press; forcible dispersion of demonstrators; widespread official corruption; societal discrimination and violence against women, discrimination based on sexual orientation; female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse; trafficking in persons, including children; and forced child labor".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Cuba</span>

Though the Cuban government does not release official crime statistics, Cuba is considered one of the safer countries in Latin America. Gun crime is virtually nonexistent, drug trafficking has been largely curtailed, and there is below-average crisis intervention from police. Murder rates are also below those of most Latin American countries, with an intentional homicide rate of 5.00/100,000 inhabitants in 2016, lower than any other country in the region.

Prisoners in New Zealand are afforded numerous, but not all, human rights. Criticisms by a United Nations report in 2014 highlighted various issues that constitute ill-treatment of prisoners, such as remand prisoners being routinely held on lock-down for 19 hours per day, an increasingly strict prison regime, and the mixing of adult and youth prisoners.

Capital punishment in Malawi is a legal punishment for certain crimes. The country abolished the death penalty following a Malawian Supreme Court ruling in 2021, but it was soon reinstated. However, the country is currently under a death penalty moratorium, which has been in place since the latest execution in 1992.

References

  1. ↑ Hybrids and Dangerousness, by Serena Stier, Northwestern University Law Review , Vol. 82, Issue 1 , pp. 52-63 (1987-1988).
  2. 1 2 CRIMINAL PREVENTION IN ITALY From the “Pica Act” to the “Anti-Mafia Code”, by Daniela Cardamone, European Rights, 26 aprile 2016.
  3. ↑ 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
  4. 1 2 Morris, Norval; Miller, Marc. Predictions of Dangerousness, Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, Vol. 6, pp. 7-8 (1985).
  5. ↑ Morris, Norval; Miller, Marc. Predictions of Dangerousness, Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, Vol. 6, p. 35 (1985).
  6. ↑ "Leading Cuban musician arrested", BBC, 27 August 2008
  7. 1 2 "Amnesty International Report 2008 •". Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  8. ↑ Michel, Louis (March 2008). "Human rights concerns in Cuba" (PDF). Amnesty International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  9. 1 2 "The Imprisoned - Committee to Protect Journalists". www.cpj.org.
  10. ↑ "Cuba punk rocker spared jail term". BBC News. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  11. ↑ "Imprisoned for 'Dangerousness' in Cuba". Human Rights Watch. 2010-02-27. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  12. ↑ "II. CUBA'S INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS". Human Rights Watch.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.