The Judiciarys Law Journal

The Judiciarys Law Journal

Analysis of Causes of Miscarriages of Justice in Drug Crimes

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular Article

Author
Jamshid Gholamloo
University of Tehran
10.22106/jlj.2018.33934
Abstract
The criminal justice system detects crimes and convicts the defendants by gathering evidence and holding a trial for controlling the crime. It is generally assumed that the convicted persons are factual criminals. However, some convicted persons are innocent. Main causes for wrongful conviction of the innocent are related to numerous and consistent errors and misconducts of police and judicial actors (prosecutors, police, investigators, and judges). Given the prominent features of drug crime's evidences - whether in law or in practice - are more likely to occur error and convict the innocent person than other crimes. In this qualitative study and by using case study method (29 samples) the prevailing factors that lead to miscarriages of justice (wrongful conviction and wrong arrest) in drug crimes were analyzed. According to the research findings, the main evidence of drug crimes for prosecuting and convicting is the detection of drug in possession of suspect; If the drug is discovered in someone's possession, it will be very difficult to prove innocence.The importance of analyzing the wrongful conviction in drug crimes is increasing with a significant number of death penalty in this crimes. Even if the number of wrongful conviction in drug crimes is very low, the legitimacy for the death penalty in these crimes will be more questionable than ever. Determining death penalty in the crimes that don’t even have a religious obligation for punishment and its specific type (execution), more and more undermine the legitimacy of this punishment. One of the main consequences of existing wrongful conviction in the criminal justice system is the abolition of irrecoverable punishments such as death penalty.
Keywords
Drug Crimes
Criminal Evidence
Death Penalty
Wrongful Conviction
False Accusation
-      حبیبـی‎تبار، جـواد؛ حبیـبی، ضــامن علـی، مبانی فـقهی مـجازات اعـدام در جـرایم مواد مخدر،کاوشی نو در فقه،، سال بیست و یکم، تابستان 1393.
-      رحمدل، منصور، «آیین دادرسی کیفری افتراقی در قبال جرایم مواد مخدر» در: علوم جنایی: مجموعه مقالات در تجلیل از استاد دکتر آشوری، چاپ دوم، تهران، انتشارات سمت، 1388.
-      ـــــــــــــ ، تحولات سیاست جنایی تقنینی و قضایی ایـران در زمینه مجازات اعدام در جرایم مواد مخدر، جامعه‎شناسی ایران، شماره 25، بهار 1385.
-      ـــــــــــــ ، حقوق کیفری مواد مخدر، چاپ اول، تهران، انتشارات سها دانش، 1383.
-      ساکی، محمدرضا، مواد مخدر و روان­گردان از دیدگاه علوم جنایی و حقوق بین­الملل، چاپ اول، تهران، انتشارات جنگل، 1391.
-      عباسلو، بختیار، «بررسی الزامات قانونی پلیس در امر مبارزه با مواد مخدر و روان­گردان با تأکید بر پلیس زن»، پلیس زن، شماره 1، بهار و تابستان 1389.
-      غلاملو، جمشید، تحلیل حقوقی ـ جرم‌شناختی محکومیت بی­گناهان در ایران، رساله دکتری حقوق کیفری و جرم‌شناسی، دانشکده حقوق دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، آذر ماه 1394.
-      غلاملو، جمشید؛ فرجیها، محمد، «محکومیت بی­گناهان: از خطای ­قضایی تا بی­گناهی واقعی»، مجله پژوهش حقوق کیفری، شماره 8، پاییز 1393.
-      فرجیها، محمد؛ صادقی، آزاده، «پیامدهای ناخواسته برنامه­های پلیسی کنترل بازارهای خرید و فروش مواد مخدر»، آموزه‌های حقوق کیفری، شماره 13، بهار و تابستان 1396.
-      فرجیها، محمد؛ مقدسی‎پور، محمدباقر، «جلوه­های عوام‏گرایی در سیاست‏های کیفری مواد مخدر»، تحقیقات حقوقی، شماره 68، زمستان 1393.
-      Crank, J.P.; Caldero, M.A., Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble Cause, Cincinnati, Anderson Publishing Co, 2000.
-      Huff, C.R.; Rattner, A., Sagarin, E., "Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy", Crime and Delinquency, vol. 32, 1986.
-      ــــــــــــــــــ., Convicted but Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy, London, Sage Publications, 1996.
-      Kennedy, Jerome, Writing the Wrongs: The Role of Defence Counsel in Wrongful Convictions – A Commentary, 2004.
-      Laqueur, Hannah; Rushin, Stephen; Simon, Jonathan, Wrongful, Policing, and the “War on Crime,” Examaning Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back and Moving Forward, 2014.
-      Leo, Richard, "False Confessions: Causes, Consequences,and Implications", The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 37, 2009.
-      Natapof, Alexandra, "Beyond Unreliable: How Snitches Contribute to Wrongful Convictions", Golden Gate University Law Review, vol. 37, 2006.
-      Ramsey, Robert, False Positives in the Criminal Justice Process- An Analysis of Associated with Wrongful Conviction of Innocent, University of Cincinnati, 2003.
-      Rattner, A., When Justice Goes Wrong: Convicting the Innocent, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Ohio State University, 1983.
-      Sorochan, Donald, "Wrongful Convictions: Preventing Miscarriage of Justice, Some Case Studies", Texas Tech Law Review, vol. 41, 2008.
-      Tachino, Tosh, Academic Research and Public Policy: Rhetorical Lessons from the Sophonow Inquiry, A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty for the Degree of Doctor of Philisophy, Iowa State University, 2008.
The Judiciarys Law Journal
Volume 82, Issue 103
Summer 2019
Pages 151-174

  • Receive Date 23 September 2018
  • First Publish Date 23 September 2018
  • Publish Date 23 September 2018