Types and definitions of crime

Definitions of crimes will vary from place to place, in accordance to the cultural norms and mores, but may be broadly classified as blue-collar crime, corporate crime, organized crime, political crime, public order crime, state crime, state-corporate crime, and white-collar crime. However, there have been moves in contemporary criminological theory to move away from liberal pluralism, culturalism and postmodernism by introducing the universal term 'harm' into the criminological debate as a replacement for the legal term 'crime'.

 


Сатекова Айжан

 

While solving these questions frequently we have to derogate from Moral basic principles or to observe double effect (there is no good without evil). Regarding objects of the expertise self - determination of dead, victim or suspected have been restricted by legislation (paragraph 59 on compulsory expertises).

In case of hospital mortality if there has been discovered mistake made by clinicists mutual fellowship between experts of forensic medicine and doctors - clinicists has been restricted by the justice principles, because in case of criminal trauma there prevails presumption of innocence (person who has made bodily injuries is not responsible for the mistakes made by medical staff). Certain consideration conflict of fellowship ethics and legal normatives rises while commissioning the forensic medicine doctor's professional activity in law violation cases where work of the doctors have been critized. In forensic medicine consideration of the principles of medical ethics should be related to: evaluation of wounds for victims or persons blamed for crime subjected to forensic expertise, should be unmerciful objective, which is not always acceptable for the victim itself. There does not work clinical principle - interests of the patient in the first place! If one of the basic principles in clinics is faith to the victim, in forensic medicine everything has been mistrusted and evaluated unmerciful objective. For medical experts as well as court there prevails the well-known principle - "All doubts for the best of defendant!" In contradiction to the clinical doctors there does not function mutual principle of making good, even flowers or some other small gift by victim can be comprehended as rejection of medical expert. Aspects of medical ethics regarding deceased persons are connected with the restrictions foreseen in law "Deceased body protection" and in "Regulation of dead body forensic expertise order". Uncareful (anti-ethical) attitude to dead body is determined by the questions set by crime investigator, which sometimes demands certain distraction of dead body during the expertise. If during the scientific research of the tissues of dead body there is needed special permission of doctor's ethics commission, then during the forensic expertises deceased person becomes an object of the scientific research. Ethical and legislation normatives in other countries (not vice versa as it is our country) foreseen larger rights in the defence of dead body, which is demonstrated in the statistics of forensic autopsies. For example, in the Netherlands autopsy is made only in one of six cases with a cause of violence death, in Japan 5-6 times less than in Latvia. In the spheres of research and usage of the dead body confronts interests of the dead person itself or dying person, his relatives, law protection institutions, scientists, interested persons in the organ transplantations (recipients, their relatives, transpanthologist) and interests in connection with the adopted normatives of legislation, and moral (or religious), provoking moral conflict ("double moral") - antiethical action to deceased person and its relatives is ethical and human to organ recipients or development of the science. Confidentiality - as one of the basic principles of medicine has specially been pointed out in forensic medicine threating with criminal penalty. In such situation there is mistrusted honesty of the doctor and it has been asked additional legislative liability which is not ethical from the side of legislator. In the expertise of forensic medicine the involved doctors has been mistrusted their professional fairness, warning them of criminal liability already before the expertise - that they will not ungrounded avoid or deliberately give false medical conclusion. In such a case there should be discussed question on establishment of the Institution of sworn experts. From the other side comprehension of ethics normatives for each doctor has been determined by many factors: declarated normatives in the society, religious conviction, national traditions, family, level of general education, upbringing, heredity, professional and lifetime experience, financial conditions, moral or material interest.

Specific place takes evaluation of ethical aspect interrelations among doctors - forensic experts during the commission forensic expertises, where each doctor's personnel conviction is more important than the common point of view of the commission or acting like competitive experts, but one time we may observe influence of more experienced experts or subordination. In the same way it is impossible to reach fellowship point of view making repeated expertises, where there is evaluated rightness of the first expertise, because there is prevailing interests of victims and possible defendants. There is specification in common relationship between doctors' and employees of legal instances, where between legislation normatives, regulating formal side of the relationship, exists ethical normatives, determined by general ethical normatives of society and by peculiarities brought by the profession of these employees (different usage of ethical normatives, for example, regarding confidentiality on judge or lawyer, etc.).

As exciting source of information forensic medicine has always been in the intensified attention circle of mass media. But at the same time principle of confidentiality does not let society frankly receive information because medical expert is a person which is specially warned not to divulge it without permission. In this co-operation we can observe different professional ethics of one and the same question (journalist does not have ethics - information on all costs, policeman - choice of freedom to furnish information, medical stuff - compulsory silence). There is different comprehension on medical questions which are confidential for the doctors - for example to get sick with AIDS. For investigators and press it seems interesting information to be published which sometimes can be reason for suicide.

Very interesting seems discussion on statehood status of experts: State Expertise experts relates status of state clerk or expert is state reliability person or there should be established institution of sworn state experts. But in the State forensic medicine expertise centre controversial is question of by-laws which can include ethical aspects of this relationship between doctors, administration, secondary and junior medical stuff and other questions of forensic medicine ethics. Recently ratified instruction on duties of medical experts reminds legislation normatives which are identic to the previous (USSR) instructions. May be it is time to establish Ethics code for experts of the Baltic States or EU.


Сивер Владимир

 

An advocate is a type of professional lawyer in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, Belgium, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The broad equivalent in many English law-based jurisdictions is "barrister".