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Overuse in the Criminal Justice System in Argentina
- from PART III - NATIONAL REPORTS 3ÈME PARTIE. RAPPORTS NATIONAUX
- Edited by Piet Hein van Kempen, Manon Jendly
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- Book:
- Overuse in the Criminal Justice System
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 26 June 2019
- Print publication:
- 14 May 2019, pp 253-274
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
As an introductory note to the topic of this chapter, we would like to refer to the comments presented in the introduction of our work on the various forms of deprivation of liberty prior to the final judgment in the Argentine Republic. Given the federal, republican and representative system of government adopted under Section 1 of the Argentine Federal Constitution, the enactment of the civil, commercial, criminal, mining, and labour and social security codes, as well as of general laws applicable throughout country, lies within the powers of the Federal Congress only (Section 75(12)), which means that these bodies of regulations apply to the whole territory of the country. On the other hand, the enactment of procedural rules lies within the powers of the provinces, which, in exercising such power, are entitled to pass their own codes of procedure, including the code of criminal procedure, which is the one we will be dealing with in this work. Based on time, extension, and specificity reasons, this work will only focus on the federal jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the city of Buenos Aires; however, it should be noted that there are no significant differences in the regulation of coercive measures (involving deprivation of liberty) within those jurisdictions and the jurisdictions of the rest of the provinces. This chapter will only refer to individuals over 18 years of age.
OVERUSE OF CRIMINALIZATION
Under the Argentine legal system, both substantive law – such as the CC – and procedural law – such as the FCCP and similar codes of the provinces and City of Buenos Aires – as well as any other law, must be in line with the provisions of the FC, which is our fundamental law, and international treaties of constitutional rank (as per Sections 5 and 31 of the FC).
Under Section 75(22) of the FC, ”…
The design of women's prisons: an architectural perspective on gender-specific needs and realities of female prisoners and main requirements for improvement
- from Part II - Themes: 2ÈME Partie Thèmes
- Edited by Piet Hein van Kempen, Maartje Krabbe
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- Book:
- Women in Prison
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 25 September 2018
- Print publication:
- 20 March 2017, pp 161-174
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
Currently, the architecture of prisons for women does not generally correspond to the needs and characteristics of the female prison population. This situation becomes more apparent in the light of the Bangkok Rules. Nevertheless, there have been remarkable improvements in this field, which, if applied on a large scale, would introduce relevant improvements in women's accommodation conditions.
This chapter will first provide some background on the architecture of female prisons and on some characteristics of the female prison population (section 2). The Bangkok Rules as they relate to prison design are then described (section 3). Next we explore some of their consequences for the architecture of buildings for women (section 4). Lastly, we weigh up the good and bad practices in the field, in order to identify the main elements in need of improvement (section 5).
BACKGROUND
It is quite common in the penitentiary field to hear comments like “we would build the kind of prisons we always build and then we would look to see how to alter it for women”, or “there's a tendency to build male facilities without urinals and call them female facilities”. A prison is stereotypically masculine, so the physical and architectural elements that define it (walls, bars, cells and so on) are typical of buildings intended for men. As a consequence, most women's prisons are designed with these preconceptions. Regardless of whether the architectural program states the particular characteristics that a facility for women must meet, most of the time, the decisions on design are made resorting to solutions and forms that are typical of men's prisons.
However, the criminological characteristics of female offenders differ from those of male offenders. In general, they have been charged with non-violent crimes, have a record of abuse and addiction, precarious employment and a low level of education. Also, they have low self-esteem, are sentenced to short terms in prison, and most of them are mothers of children aged under 18. Women also show a different reaction to the prison environment: when they are under stress, they tend to be more cooperative rather than competitive, and they suffer emotional distress more frequently than men. These and other characteristics make the behavior of and the risks faced by female prisoners markedly different from those of men. Consequently, architectural solutions need to be different as well.
Women in prison in Argentina
- from Part III - National Reports: 3ÈME Partie Rapports Nationaux
- Edited by Piet Hein van Kempen, Maartje Krabbe
-
- Book:
- Women in Prison
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 25 September 2018
- Print publication:
- 20 March 2017, pp 177-204
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- Chapter
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
Any analysis of the current situation of women in connection with crimes and sentences in the Argentine Republic would not seem very different from the reality of any other Western country. The focus of this chapter will therefore be on what we view as the most relevant aspects of the deprivation of liberty of women in Argentina.
THE ISSUE FROM A CRIMINAL PERSPECTIVE
Quantification ofwomen's involvement in crimes
Since 1990, the Argentine Republic has seen an increase in the number of women engaged in actions that are considered crimes by the criminal law. Even while this statement might reasonably be held to be true, it should also be pointed out that Argentina keeps no records other than those relating to convicted persons and, in an incomplete manner, those of persons - without any distinction based on gender - who have been subject to a Deferred Judgment, similar to the common law concept of probation before sentence. Therefore we cannot speak of women offenders but only of convicted women, thus leaving an uncertain margin of obscure numbers.
The number of women convicted has increased at approximately the same rate as the total number of convictions over the whole country (men and women). If compared to the historical numbers of convictions for each sex, women's convictions still represent between 5% and 7% of total convictions. The increase in absolute numbers ofwomen's convictions coincides with the increase in the total number of convictions in the country over the last 20 years.
The above-mentioned obscure numbers are very important in Argentina, since every year, and throughout the whole country, statistics on criminal complaints show very significant values that are well above the rate of natural increase of the population, while convictions do not represent more than 2% to 3% of such complaints. There are devices such as Deferred Judgments which, precisely due to their nature, are not registered as convictions; but regardless of their deficient statistical recording, they do not alter the general impression of impunity resulting from comparing the number of complaints with the number of convictions, for both men and women.
Characteristics ofwomen's involvement in crimes
As we learn from international documents, female crimes have changed over the last 50 years.