Socrates. 2022, 3 (24)
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Item Problems of Solving Property Issues in Criminal Proceedings in Latvia(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Sredņakova, Jekaterina; Sumbarova, Marina; The Baltic International Academy, LatviaThe need to achieve a fair settlement of criminal law relations in criminal proceedings quite often requires provision of a solution to property issues. Property issues affecting a person’s property, possession and unsufruct rights are also relevant within the framework of criminal proceedings. Property issues in criminal proceedings and related actions are regulated by the Criminal Procedure Law, to which the sixth section of the Law is devoted, entitled “Property issues in criminal proceedings”. Turning to the content chapter, it deals with property issues related to compensation for damage caused by criminal offences, disposition of property obtained by crime, institute for ensuring resolution of property issues, as well as procedural expenses and their reimbursement. The aim of the article is to research regulation of property issues in pre-trial investigations within the framework of the Criminal Procedure Law and in relation to other regulatory enactments and to evaluate application of the regulation established by law in practice and the problems related to application of the existing regulation. Within the framework of the research, such main methods were used as the analytical method and the comparative method. As the result of the research, an existing problem has been identified, suggestions and insights have been provided in the field of settlement of property issues.Item Digital Forensics and Criminal Policy: Latvian–Ukrainian perspective(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Zīle, Aelita; Vilks, Andrejs; Polianskyi, Anton; Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia; National Scientific Centre “Hon. Prof. M. S. Bokarius, Forensic Science Institute”, Kharkiv, UkraineDigital forensics and criminal policy are undergoing transformational processes related to technological development. In order to speed up the development of relevant knowledge and skills, a training process is intensively planned, which is characterised by a flexible approach to learning information. Learning digital forensics has certain challenges that both practising experts and future experts face. Therefore, in order to promote the development of this knowledge, it is important to offer international experience and knowledge transfer, including using open educational resources. The aforementioned would allow interested parties to gain in-depth knowledge in the field of digital forensics using the approach of different countries both in theory and in practice. The purpose of the article is to outline the role of digital forensics in modern life, as well as to emphasise its connection with the implementation of criminal policy. The article will examine the point of view of both Latvia and Ukraine on the development of digital forensics in interaction with the creation of forensics.Item Legal Doctrine of Max Weber’s Sociology of Religion(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Zariņš, Kristaps; Rīga Stradiņš University, LatviaBelatedly, this work is dedicated to prof. Max Weber’s (hereinafter – Weber) commemoration day of the centenary and focuses on the sociological understanding of the state and canon law. In order to better examine Weber’s views on the economic ethics of religion, human rights will also be examined in comparison – as a factor of interaction between opposites and sets of views – as they better identify Weber’s asceticism about the spirit of norm Protestantism. On the other hand, in a conventional discourse and a review of the theory of social stratification, through the so-called theory of degrees and directions of rejection, the essence of Weber’s idea will be best understood by examining how religion influenced formation of contemporary law and approach to contemporary law comparing it with the constitutional system of Latvia, among others. The article has been designed with a view that, by observing peculiarities of the era of Weber’s lifetime, the work would have a more modern character. Wherever in this study it is referred to purely legal dogmatic problems, the author has relied on the literature on the history of the church and law and to some extent on the past of the dogmas formed by it. Furthermore, the author mostly relies on materials obtained from Weber’s law sociological argumentation and comparative perspective, which serves to clarify the typology of the sociology of religion. To the extent possible, the author also delves into the primary sources of the history of law; due to their linguistically specific style of expression and peculiarities, in accordance with the objective to study Weber’s views on the socio-historical genesis of the state and canon law and their nature, which includes looking into canonical norms for the sociological understanding of law, textual identification of primary sources is not examined in more detail. However, the most important ideas expressed in Weber’s works are compared with those of other prominent representatives of this field. Therefore, in the part of normative analysis of law codification, the author focuses on analysis of the social environment of law and church law, instead of their general scope, and the work is mainly based on the ideas of the outstanding sociologist Weber and theses of the concepts created by him, preserving the style of thought expressed in Weber’s main text and means of expression. For those who are familiar with the most important works of canon law, including church law, the part of the material analysis of the norms could be new precisely from the point of view of this work, and the specifics of the analysis included, namely, this legal discipline is examined through Weber’s studies, works of other researchers and novelties about law as well as the place of sociology of religion found in these works.Item Topicalities in Coercive Measures Application Process to Legal Entities in Criminal Proceedings in the Republic of Latvia(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Jansons, Mārtiņš; Rīga Stradiņš University, LatviaUnder conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the military operations carried out by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, including the tension between the Western countries and the Russian Federation, the application of coercive means of influence to legal entities in criminal proceedings and peculiarities and problems of the criminal legal regulation related to their application, which hinder or even prevent, have become especially relevant to achieve the goal of the criminal process and lead it to a fair settlement of criminal legal relations. Criminal legal regulation regarding the application of coercive measures to legal entities is periodically improved in order to make the application of coercive measures more effective; however, shortcomings of the criminal legal framework still prevent effective action against legal entities by applying coercive measures to them in practice, as evidenced by the small number of initiated processes on the application of coercive measures for legal entities, which is also indicated by international organisations. The legislator has already started the process of improving the criminal legal framework; however, according to the author, there are a number of gaps in the criminal legal framework that hinder or even prevent application of means of coercive influence on legal entities in criminal proceedings. The purpose of the article is to research national and international criminal law regulation of legal entities criminal liability and identify and analyse problems of the criminal law regulation in the Republic of Latvia at various stages of the process of applying coercive measures to legal entities. General methods of scientific research and methods of legal interpretation have been used in the research.Item Aspects of Contractual Relations in Healthcare(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Losevich, Marina; Laizāns, Aigars; Kudeikina, Inga; University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine, Riga, Latvia; BJK Advocates, Riga, Latvia; Rīga Stradiņš University, Faculty of Law, LatviaThe article aims to determine the scope and limitations of ethical duties and legal responsibilities of the medical practitioner within the professional-patient relationship (PPR), identify shortcomings of the legal framework and gaps in ethical principles, and propose solutions to them. It argues that in private law the healthcare shares many similarities with conractual law; therefore, the legal basis for physician-patient relationship is the special legal capacity of the contract parties and their free will, but ethical basis ‒ their good faith. One important finding is that physician right and obligation to refuse is an aspect of patient safety and quality of healthcare and has to be acknowledged by ethics and stipulated by law. In addition, it detects that medical professionals are ethically and legally vulnerable and need special protection. All this calls to carving out the proper place of medical practitioners’ professional autonomy and freedom in current legal regulation. Used materials include literature and scientific publications on clinical and research bioethics, contractual and medical law, regulatory enactments, court judgments. Methods used in the study include descriptive, analysis, synthesis, dogmatic, induction and deduction; legal interpretation methods such as grammatical and systemic.Item Concept, System and Principles of Crime Prevention(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Matvejevs, Aleksandrs; Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Law, Daugavpils University, LatviaThis article raises two main questions. The first concerns the current idea that punishment ‒ conceived as the loss of liberty ‒ has an effect in preventing unlawful behaviour. It can be shown that, in general, sanctions have a poor individual preventive effect. As to general prevention, punishment may be expected to have a deterrent effect when the unlawful behaviour is the result of a rational decision, that is, a decision based on a cost-benefit analysis. However, a wide variety of factors, from group support to situational and systemic factors, may very well counteract the threatening effect of the sanction. The second question concerns the crime control model focusing on having an efficient system, with the most important function control crime to ensure that society is safe and there is public order. Under this model, controlling crime is more important to individual freedom. This model is a more conservative perspective to protect society and make sure individuals feel free from the threat of crime. The results of this research underline the necessity for new concepts, including situational crime prevention, that must be accommodated within the academic and political discourses on crime control.Item Applicability of International Law in Cyberspace: Positions by Estonia and Latvia(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Done, Laura; Rīga Stradiņš University, LatviaThe study focuses on applicability of international law in cyberspace, particularly on the global processes at the United Nations Committee on Disarmament and International Security and analyses whether and how Estonia and Latvia understand and explain the application of international law to the states’ conduct in cyberspace. The aim of the study is to provide qualitative and comparative analysis on what national positions Estonia and Latvia have on applicability of international law in cyberspace and how these opinions are reflected in their national cybersecurity strategies and national statements. The article assesses the efforts by Estonia and Latvia to promote understanding on how international law applies in cyberspace. These efforts are analysed from foreign policy perspective. The article also argues why it is crucial to promote such an understanding; however, it does not discuss or interpret legal concepts. The article concludes with a comparison of the cases of Estonia and Latvia. The result of the research indicates that Estonia has been more active than Latvia in terms of defining and promoting its official position on applicability of international law in cyberspace. Latvia has not yet provided detailed positions on applicability of international law in cyberspace.Item Factors Affecting Modern Entrepreneurship and Tax Planning(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Zelmenis, Jānis; Law Firm “BDO Law”One of the guiding principles of the European Union is freedom of establishment. At the same time, due to the possibility of abuse of rights, restrictions are possible. The objective of the study is to analyse cases regarding state intervention in commercial activities of antreprenierus imposing restrictions on rights and freedoms, in order to prevent companies from abusing the principles of free establishment. The author provides justification and cases for imposing restrictions, in particular, if there is a suspicion that tax evasion, unlawful reduction of the taxable amount has taken place instead of lawful tax planning, based on which businesses are required to provide information on true beneficiaries of companies, the goals and nature of transactions, as well as discusses the acceptable depth of such restriction by regulation. Several research methods have been used in this study: historical method, analytical method and inductive method.Item Socrates. Rīga Stradiņš University Faculty of Law Electronic Scientific Journal of Law. 2022, 3 (24)(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Rīga Stradiņš University, Faculty of Law, Latvia; Rīgas Stradiņa universitāte, Juridiskā fakultāte, LatvijaItem Modern View of System of Crime Prevention Subjects(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Lytvynov, Oleksii; Spitsyna, Hanna; Butenko, Viktor; Head of the Department of Science and Education of Kharkiv Regional State Administration, Ukraine; Law Department of National Aerospace University “Kharkiv Aviation Institute”, Ukraine; Postgraduate student of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, UkraineThe article carries out a system-structural analysis of crime prevention subjects as a basic criminological category. The main scientific approaches to the definition of crime prevention subjects have been defined and analysed: as a collection of crime prevention subjects and as a corresponding system of these subjects. Expediency of subjects’ consideration operating in the sphere of crime prevention as a socially determined hierarchical system has been argued. It has been proved that systematic approach to solving this issue allows to determine the place and role of the specified subjects in the general structure of crime prevention, to outline their functional connections, overcome the possible duplication of performed functions and if it is necessary to strengthen the influence on a certain segment of criminogenic factors. The role of citizens as autonomous subjects of crime prevention has been analysed. Expediency of including citizens in the system of crime prevention subjects through the category of citizenship, which in the studied aspect is proposed to be understood as the internal conscientious attitude of a person to the fulfillment of their civic duty in the field of crime prevention, has been determined. The article develops the author’s understanding of the concepts of the subject of crime prevention and the system of crime prevention subjects. The aim of the article is to develop one’s own understanding of the concepts of crime prevention subjects and the system of crime prevention subjects that meet today’s needs. Set of general scientific and special scientific methods of cognition was used for achieving the goal and objectives. The starting point was the dialectical method, according to which all the problematic issues that will be addressed in this article are presented in the form of unity of their content and legal form. The logical and semantic method was used for defining and deepening the conceptual apparatus; sociological (study of official, scientific and bibliographic sources) – while collecting and accumulating scientific information about the object and subject of the research; logical and legal – while developing scientifically substantiated proposals for improvement of current legislation, etc.Item The Impact of the Legalization of Criminally Obtained Funds on the Economy of Latvia(Rīga Stradiņš University, 2022) Neimane, Liene; Office of Sworn Advocates “Neimane & Partners”The legitimate aim of confiscation of proceeds of crime can be defined as the removal of proceeds of crime from lawful civil circulation in order to prevent its further circulation and the further commission of criminal offences and to reduce the financial incentive to commit criminal offences. The author’s research of case law and latest trends has led her to the conclusion that the recognition of property as proceeds of crime requires time and understanding of the application of the respective rules in practice. The paper is second part of previously published article. The paper studies current issues in money laundering cases and latest trends. To prove the legal origin of property, it is often the case that the evidence presented is deemed insufficient by the persons directing the proceedings. In many cases, property or other tangible assets are confiscated simply because of a lack of understanding or adequate education, knowledge and practical experience, which leads to unjustified decisions to declare property as proceeds of crime and to confiscate it for the benefit of the state. This also puts the state itself at risk, as eventually diverse types of claims are brought, including for damage compensation; human rights violations are also identified.