Search Results (110)

Digital communication has been discussed as the locus of impoliteness and conflict par excellence. The aim of this paper is to examine impoliteness in a context of digital communication, that of food blogs, where impoliteness seems to be rather rare. The dataset consists of 2660 comments from 11 Greek food blogs. The data are analysed with the aid of strategies proposed in impoliteness research. The study aims to examine the frequency of offensive behaviour and to identify the issues that may trigger it. Furthermore, it purports to delve into the types and strategies of impoliteness used, and into interactants’ responses to offence. Data analysis showed that impolite behaviour is rare in this specific context and that it is triggered by issues related to features of good recipes and healthy eating practices, among others. It was also found that offence is usually mitigated through politeness strategies. Finally, several cases of offence were found to be disregarded by interactants, while others were resolved amicably. A tendency emerges in Greek food blogs towards the avoidance of impoliteness and the cultivation of relationships of closeness and solidarity. Full article

The enforcement of European Union restrictive measures increasingly relies on criminal law at national level, particularly in response to serious and systematic violations that cannot be effectively addressed through administrative sanctions alone. Directive (EU) 2024/1226 requires Member States to ensure effective, proportionate, and dissuasive criminal penalties for breaches of EU sanctions, including, in defined cases, conduct committed with serious negligence. This article examines the introduction of serious negligence as a new statutory form of culpability in the Slovak Republic, adopted through Act No. 157/2025 Coll. as part of the transposition of Union law. The analysis is based on a doctrinal examination of Slovak criminal law, legislative materials, and relevant EU legal instruments, complemented by a comparative overview of selected Member States. The article demonstrates that the Slovak legislator introduced serious negligence (Slovak: hrubá nedbanlivosť) as a qualified form of negligence in a cautious and narrowly circumscribed manner, limiting its application to a specific offence relating to the breach of a restrictive measure. While this approach strengthens the effectiveness of EU sanction enforcement, it also raises interpretative and practical challenges, particularly in distinguishing serious negligence from ordinary negligence and indirect intent. The article concludes that the Slovak model reflects a balanced attempt to comply with Union obligations while preserving the internal coherence and fundamental principles of national criminal law, with its long-term impact depending on consistent judicial interpretation and restrained application in practice. Full article

The constant development of new forms of body modification and ideas of intervening in consciousness, as expressions of human striving for optimization, fuels the controversially discussed technification of humans. The article first raises the question of the roots of the desire for optimization. In doing so, the fact of human limitation and vulnerability, which is also decisive for man’s religious self-understanding, is placed into the context of the subconscious and the potential of deprivation to cause offence. This deprivation is tied back to the starting point of all experiences, namely corporeality and being a lived body. Using the example of being ill as a fundamental human experience, it is shown that the recognition of human limitation arises from bodily experience and that the erasure of vulnerability, which is founded in the lived body, cannot be achieved through his progressive optimization or through the technical manipulation of consciousness. In opposition to the utopia of technical omnipotence, it is advocated to pay attention to a hitherto little-noticed ‘physiological insult’, insofar as the thesis is pursued that this ‘insult’ also shapes the current understanding of consciousness. Full article

Traffic violations represent a significant public health concern, with professional drivers substantially impacting road safety. This pilot study compared self-report questionnaires (general personality versus domain-specific), performance-based tests, and driving simulator measures to determine which assessment method best predicts traffic offences among professional truck drivers. Participants (N = 27) completed the Impulsiveness–Venturesomeness–Empathy Questionnaire (IVE), the Road Traffic Behaviours Questionnaire (KZD), and the Vienna Risk-Taking Test Traffic (WRBTV) and performed standardised driving scenarios in a truck simulator. Performance was assessed using speed variations in five validated decision-making situations. Drivers were classified into two groups based on relatively higher and relatively lower numbers of self-reported traffic offences. The KZD demonstrated the strongest group differentiation (p = 0.034, d = 0.76). Simulator performance was significantly different between the groups (p = 0.033, d = −0.68), with offence-reporting drivers showing smaller speed reductions. The WRBTV and the IVE empathy subscale approached significance (p = 0.056 and p = 0.059, respectively). Higher empathy characterised offence-free drivers, suggesting social–emotional factors may contribute to traffic safety. General impulsiveness and venturesomeness showed no group differences. The results indicate that domain-specific questionnaires and behavioural assessments offer superior predictive validity compared to general personality measures for identifying potentially unsafe drivers. ROC analysis revealed moderate predictive validity across significant measures (AUC: 0.64–0.70), with differential patterns of sensitivity and specificity among predictors. The findings suggest implementing tiered screening approaches using domain-specific questionnaires as initial cost-effective tools, followed by simulator assessment for at-risk drivers, enabling transport companies and regulatory bodies to identify high-risk drivers proactively. Full article

Existing law provides no settled account of how deepfake sextortion should be characterised and regulated in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, creating uncertainty for charging, adjudication and platform compliance at the point when the Online Safety Act 2023 allocates duties to regulated services under Ofcom oversight. This article responds by analysing and synthesising the Online Safety Act 2023 with the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and residual harassment and communications offences, using doctrinal analysis and normative evaluation to identify points of alignment and misfit. It establishes criteria for identifying synthetic sexual coercion, including the elements that mark threat-stage conduct, the role of fabrication in the wrong, and the conditions under which epistemic harms should be treated as legally relevant within ordinary doctrine. It rejects three propositions: that intimate-image abuse is primarily a publication-based wrong; that an authentic image is a precondition for liability; and that content-led platform duties adequately address coercion before dissemination. This analysis specifies how courts and prosecutors should classify conduct and select offences, how services should operationalise risk assessment and mitigation for threat-stage harms, and which targeted reforms to offence design, platform duties and victim-facing procedures are required to secure predictable protection and effective redress. Full article

Within the structure of organised criminal groups (OCGs), women were traditionally relegated to peripheral and support roles (e.g., mothers and partners), with men primarily engaged in serious forms of criminality. However, more recent research has highlighted the varied roles women occupy within OCGs, including as traffickers, recruiters, and strategic advisors. Within this growing field of research, the present study sought to explore the role of female offenders in OCGs within Australia through a gynocentric and intersectional lens. Drawing on a content analysis of 84 court judgement transcripts involving convicted female offenders between 2010 and 2024, this study centres women’s experiences within OCGs. The findings reveal that women occupy a spectrum of roles across a range of offences such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud. Many offenders had histories of trauma, mental illness, and economic precarity, reflecting structural inequalities that shape pathways into criminality. The findings provide a preliminary understanding of female involvement within OCGs in Australia, including relational, survival-based, professional, entrepreneurial, and subordinate offenders. This study affirms the need for a gender-sensitive criminological framework that accounts for agency, coercion, and structural constraint. By focusing on the experience of women, the study contributes to a growing body of literature seeking to highlight the complexity and centrality of women’s roles within OCGs, while providing the groundwork for future studies. Full article

This piece examines the persistent conceptual and normative challenges surrounding corruption in international law. It revisits classical definitions and perceptions of corruption, highlighting their influence on contemporary understandings. It critiques the approach of key international instruments, which, despite extensive efforts to combat corruption, have refrained from providing a unified definition, opting instead for pragmatic frameworks that result practically on criminal types. The analysis interrogates the traditional classification of corruption into petty and grand forms, acknowledging the growing recognition of institutional corruption as a distinct and equally destructive category. The article also highlights the bias in existing frameworks that focus predominantly on public-sector misconduct, often overlooking harmful practices in the private sector that are closely linked to broader dynamics of institutional corruption. Finally, it engages with the dual characterization of corruption as both a criminal offence and a potential violation of human rights. It argues for a paradigm shift: international law should focus less on definitional debates and more on recognizing the tangible harms of corruption, enabling accountability and reparations for acts that undermine democratic institutions and violate human rights. Full article

Background: Research exploring the context in which ASD and offending are associated is limited, despite stereotyped perceptions that individuals with ASD are more violent than their typically developing peers. To address this gap, this research explored the influence of ASD, mental health and behavioural presentation, adverse childhood experiences, and demographic characteristics on offending presentations in a forensic youth sample. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of a retrospective cohort, utilising secondary data of 327 young people from a forensic London-based service (83% male, M_age = 14.9 years old, SD = 1.90). Results: One hundred forty-two of these young people presented with either confirmed or suspected ASD diagnoses (83.8% male, M_age = 14.8 years old, SD = 1.84). Five offending categories (violence, sexually harmful behaviour, drug possession/supply, gang involvement, theft) and 32 offending behaviours were analysed in total. Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses indicated that ASD traits only increased the rate ratio of violent offences (p = 0.036) and gang involvement (p = 0.002). The use of substances significantly increased the rate ratio of theft (p = 0.012), gang involvement (p = 0.004), and drug possession/supply (p = 0.012). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that ASD, in the context of substance use, may increase a young person’s risk for more variable violent offences or gang involvement. Findings are discussed in the context of current research and recommendations for clinical practice and future research are made. Full article

Czechia has recently approved the medical use of psilocybin, marking a pivotal shift in the country’s drug policy landscape. This development paves the way for regulated therapeutic applications of psilocybin within clinical settings, while simultaneously prompting a timely discussion on the potential uses of psychedelics beyond strictly medical contexts. This commentary first outlines the legal status of psilocybin for therapeutic use in Czechia and situates this reform within broader international policy trends. Drawing on the publication How to Regulate Psychedelics and qualitative findings from a ketamine-assisted therapy program conducted as part of the Czech Destigmatizing the Therapeutic Use of Psychedelics in Psychiatry project, it then examines the regulation of non-clinical psychedelic use, while also highlighting the persistent legal ambiguity surrounding the Czech offence of “spreading toxicomania.” The commentary advocates for a rational, evidence-based regulatory approach, arguing that while the medicalization of psilocybin constitutes a significant legal milestone, the framework will remain incomplete without clear pathways for non-clinical use to ensure safety and legal clarity. Full article

Administrative law is about articulating norms and promoting the adoption and enforcement of human behaviour practices in areas where individual choice conflicts with the public good. Law must fairly describe to the citizenry what is allowed and what is conditionally restricted by administrative law and what is prohibited in criminal law. The conditional use of animals in industrial production of food and fibre for human consumption is allowed (non-criminal), but the conditions which are considered acceptable by society are changing. Humane transportation of livestock is a public concern and the temptation of transporters to load as many animals as possible is an easily understood risk to animal welfare. Livestock hauling has been regulated in Canada since 1857 and is currently regulated by the Health of Animals (Act) Regulations Part XII and enforced nationally by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. After over 30 years of challenging industry consultation, a major revision to the humane transport provisions was proclaimed in 2020. Surprisingly, the revision failed to articulate numerical thresholds that clearly indicate an overcrowding violation. This paper reviews 20 cases from 2004 to 2024 where transporters appealed a penalty for overcrowding livestock transported by land. The paper describes the decision to penalize transporters where there is no bright line definition of an offence. The paper suggests both regulator and regulated choose to work in an intentionally inefficient institutional arrangement, preferring opacity to clarity in what constitutes a violation in law, because “that’s the way we like it”. Full article

In Italy, the law on road homicide (Law no. 41/2016) introduced specific provisions for drivers who cause severe injuries or death to a person due to the violation of the Highway Code. The use of alcohol or drugs while driving constitutes an aggravating circumstance of the offence and provides for a tightening of penalties. Our study aims to report on the analysis performed on blood samples collected between January 2018 and December 2024 from drivers convicted of road homicide and who tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs. The majority of the involved subjects were males belonging to the 18–30 and 41–50 age groups. Alcohol, cocaine and cannabinoids were the most detected substances and the most frequent polydrug combination was alcohol and cocaine. We also investigated other influencing factors in road traffic accidents as the day of the week and the time of the day in which fatal road traffic accident occurred, and the time elapsed between the road accident and the collection of biological samples. Our data, in line with the international scenario, strongly support that, in addition to the tightening of penalties, raising awareness plays a key role in preventing alcohol- and drug-related traffic accidents by increasing risk perception and encouraging safer driving behaviors. Full article

This article examines the level of inconsistency in work, health and safety (WHS) laws across Australia’s mining sector. Despite general efforts towards national harmonisation through model WHS legislation, significant inconsistencies persist because individual states and territories retain primary regulatory control. A critical analysis of each jurisdiction’s legislative framework reveals a fragmented legal landscape. Queensland, especially, exhibits notable divergence. Key findings highlight a considerable variation in legislative approaches to risk management principles and specific obligations. In particular, a disjointed and incremental approach to serious offences such as industrial manslaughter and provisions concerning imputed conduct are evident. These inconsistencies suggest that corporations operating in multiple Australian mining regions must develop a nuanced understanding of the varying WHS requirements in each jurisdiction. This study underscores the need for caution when assessing risk management strategies aimed at preventing serious incidents because the presumption of a harmonised system can be misleading, especially concerning mining-specific legislation. Full article

Child First (CF), the approach to youth justice now endorsed by the Youth Justice Board in England and Wales, centres around seeing children as children and meeting their needs in a child-focused way. CF opposes its predecessor, the risk-based approach, which focused on actuarial measurements of risk and led to net-widening, the overuse of custody, and harsher sentencing. As the current strategic approach for youth justice in England and Wales, it is essential to consider its applicability for all offence types, including the most serious. This study aimed to begin the exploration of this under-researched area by identifying the opinions of youth justice professionals on the application of theory to practice. This small-scale exploratory study, comprising five in-depth interviews with youth justice practitioners based in rural Wales, found a consensus amongst respondents that CF should apply to all offences, regardless of their seriousness, but with recognition that some factors centred around the child themselves and their relationship with their youth justice worker and with other services/the public may have an impact on this. Respondents suggested recommendations to counter these problems, leading to recommendations for future research to further embed CF at all levels of youth justice operation. Full article

The legal and social perception of sexually motivated crimes has undergone profound transformations in the Czech lands from the Middle Ages to the present. Acts once considered grave moral transgressions, punishable by death, have been gradually decriminalised or even integrated into the realm of personal identity and cultural self-expression. This article examines the evolving legal frameworks and societal attitudes towards such offences, with a particular focus on their implications for family structures, inheritance rights, and genealogical continuity. By analysing historical judicial records—primarily early modern pitch books—alongside contemporary legislation, we highlight the shifting boundaries between crime, morality, and individual rights. Methodologically, this study combines a historical–legal analysis with comparative criminology to elucidate the changing regulatory mechanisms governing sexual behaviour. The findings illustrate that, while legal norms have progressively moved away from religious morality toward individual freedoms, some taboos persist, reflecting enduring social anxieties. The Czech case serves as a model for broader European trends, offering valuable insights into the interplay between law, social norms, and genealogical structures across different historical periods. Full article

Background: Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) involves physical symptoms that cannot entirely be explained by an organic medical cause, accompanied by persistent thoughts, feelings and behaviours relating to one’s health. SSD is common yet underdiagnosed in emergency departments (EDs). This study aimed to assess emergency physician (EP) readiness, attitudes and perceptions toward diagnosing SSD and explore demographic trends. Methods: In total, 1339 Canadian EPs were invited to respond to a survey collecting demographic information and assessing attitudes toward SSD in four domains: perceptions of SSD, attitudes toward patients, diagnostic confidence, and physician–patient communication. Data were analyzed using t-tests and ANOVA to determine associations with demographic information. Results: Of the 96 survey respondents, 75 met the eligibility criteria. In total, 44% estimated that emotional stress was the primary cause of symptoms in 11–20% of their patients. Most felt that SSD was underdiagnosed and that effective therapies exist. Concerns included medico-legal implications, managing patients’ emotions, and potential negative reactions to non-organic diagnoses. Most respondents felt prepared and confident broaching the diagnosis. More experienced EPs felt that there was time to broach the topic of SSD, while rural EPs were less concerned about patient offence than urban counterparts. Conclusions: EPs recognize SSD as common and underdiagnosed, acknowledging its diagnosis as part of their role. Challenges identified include managing patients’ emotions, time constraints, and reliance on only diagnosing SSD once an organic etiology is excluded. Training pathway, experience, and practice setting impact perceptions and attitudes around SSD. The findings suggest opportunities for improving SSD care through targeted interventions, communication training, and enhanced diagnostic education. Full article