Family Law & Six Model Nations

Family Law & Six Model Nations

Week 2: Family Law & Six Model Nations (Chapters 3 and 4)

CHAPTER 3 FAMILY-LAW OVER VIEW:

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was founder of a rebel group inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Africa. The rebel group was called the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was president of the UPC and established its military wing, the Patriotic Force for the Liberation of the Congo (FPLC). Under his leadership, the UPC became one of the main actors in the Ituri conflict between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups. It seized control of the gold-rich Ituri region in 2002 and demanded that the Congolese government recognise Ituri as an autonomous province. The UPC allegedly killed 800 civilians on the basis of their ethnicity and is reported to have destroyed 26 villages in one area, killing at least 350 people and forcing 60,000 to flee their homes. Human rights organizations claimed that Lubanga Dylio had 3,000 child soldiers between the ages of 8 and 15 fighting for him. He reportedly ordered every family in the area under his control to help the war effort by donating something: money, a cow, or a child to join his militia.

Lubanga Dylio was arrested in 2005 in connection with the killing of nine Bangladeshi United Nations peacekeepers in Ituri. In 2006, Lubanga became the first person arrested under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of “conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities.” His trial began in 2009, and he was found guilty in 2012. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment (Lubanga Trial, 2012).

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT, CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BELOW TO ANSWER:

Identify the reasons for international agreements on crime-related matters after World War II.
Examine distinguishing characteristics of each legal family of law.
Understand the various types of laws.
Describe the differences between Civil Law and Socialist Law.
Explain the key aspects of Islamic law.

CHAPTER 4- SIX MODULE NATIONS OVER-VIEW:

According to data collected by the Home Office in England, during the 2010–2011 soccer season almost 3,100 English and Wales nationals were arrested at international and domestic soccer games around the globe. Another 3,173 persons were placed under a “football ban,” meaning they were not allowed to attend soccer games (Home Office, 12/23/11). In France during October 2011, youths engaged in a series of protests that included strikes and roadblocks; they smashed storefronts, caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled, and left thousands affected by shortages in fuel. The protestors also clashed with riot police in Paris and across the country. This situation was created by the French Senate’s move to pass legislation to increase the retirement age to sixty-two years of age (Barchfield, 2010). A branch of police in Saudia Arabia, formally called the mutawa (to be discussed in the next chapter), are called to actively enforce a law that states that women are not allowed to travel without approval of a male guardian or husband. These three examples of crime problems in three of our model countries may be surprising or at least odd to some, especially to Americans, who are often not familiar with the different kinds of crimes and the reaction of the respective criminal justice systems in other parts of the world.

To better place in perspective the problem of crime and the operations of the criminal justice system in any one nation, we need to know something about that country’s history, government, and social development. This chapter introduces the six nations that we will examine in depth in the rest of the book. These thumbnail sketches will make it easier to follow the material in subsequent chapters and will help you understand how the respective criminal justice systems have developed.

Our model nations are England, France, Germany, China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia (see Figure 4.1). These nations are designated as “models” not because they provide an ideal that might be copied by other nations but because each exemplifies a distinct approach to criminal justice system and criminal process. The distinctions are based on families of law, governmental arrangements, and historical traditions. For each country, we will provide current background information; a historical sketch of the development of government; and summaries of the current crime situation, criminal law, and criminal justice system

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT, CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BELOW TO ANSWER:

Discuss the particular historical developments that may have had a major effect on the formation of criminal law and criminal justice administration in each model country.
Analyze contributing factors to the crime rates in each model country.
Identify the distinct approach to criminal justice each model nation exemplifies.
Understand the basic structures of the criminal justice systems in each model country.
Compare the unique crime problems in model countries with crime in the United States.

Family Law & Six Model Nations