Muslim Family in Northern Mozambique: Sharīʿa, Matriliny and the Official Legislation in Paquitequete

Although Islam has a long history in coastal northern Mozambique, the question of how Muslims manage family life there is little understood. Based on the analysis of historical, ethnographic and legal records, and a case study of a bairro (Port., ward) called Paquitequete in the contemporary coastal city of Pemba in Cabo Delgado province, this article focuses on Muslim family and gender relations in northern Mozambique. It argues that Muslims of this region maintain concurrent legal identities as Muslims, matrilineal Africans and citizens of the modern state. While women benefitted from matriliny by accessing the land and support from their maternal side, upon widowhood and divorce they lost access to their husband’s or common assets because the husbands’ matriclan claimed them. The perseverance of matriliny made local Muslims seem to abide less by Islamic norms, but historically they have combined the Shāfiʿī madhhab (Islamic legal school) with matrilineal custom. In contemporary Pemba, family and gender relations are regulated not only by Sharīʿa or by African ‘traditions’, but by a blend of elements from these two alongside modern legislations. Moreover, it could be said that this arrangement is endorsed by a kind of popular consensus, which is particularly salient in the Community Courts.

Community Courts & Race: An Examination of Community Court Judges, Staff, and Racial Dynamics

Current research has found racial disparities in outcomes of problem-solving courts throughout the country. However, most of the research has not explored the causes of these racial disparities. This research qualitatively explores two prominent community courts in the northeast. Themes emerge about courtroom racial dynamics through courtroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that the racial makeup of the staff and judges play a role in maintaining a therapeutic rapport with non-white participants. Suggestions on how problem-solving courts can potentially improve racial dynamics are discussed.

JUDICIAL CORPS FORMATION AS A FACTOR OF INFLUENCE ON THE GENESIS OF UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD IN THE ANCIET RUSSIAN ERA

In this article the effectiveness of the judiciary in the period of ancient statehood was analyzed. A study of society's perception of the word «court» in the considered period, taking into account the philologicaland legal approach to the mentioned phenomenon. The possibility and peculiarities of the existence of a court as an out state institution, as well as the peculiarities of such an institution of the state are analyzed. Thus, the article examines the pre-state (community), state and church stages of the formation of the judiciary.In particular, the pre-state stage outlines the features of certain categories of disputes, such as criminal or civil matters. In addition, the requirements for persons who had the right to administer justice in the East Slavic tribes were grouped and the following main features were identified: generic, psychological, unconditional. The dependenceof the judiciary formation on religious and political factors has also been established.At the same time, a characteristic feature of the period is the proximity ofthe judiciary to the people. A special focus in this article was given to the period of the emergence of the state. This stage radically changed the views on the effectiveness of the management method, which also influenced the change of views on the administration of justice.However, this period is characterized by the weakening of the judiciary as an independent branch of government, due to the concentration of managerial powers in the hands of the feudal lord, respectively, there was no clear list of requirements for the position of judge. The period under study is characterized by the following features of the procedure for the formation of the judiciary: the administration of justice wasstrictly dependent on the power that belonged to the prince; judging has become a privilege and sometimes a lucrative business; the formation of the judiciary depended significantly on the level of administration of justice, because the community courts for a long time operated in parallel with the princes.In addition, in this article the period after the baptism of Russia by St. Vladimir in 998 was analyzed and investigated. After this event in the territory of modern Ukraine, along with the princely court, the ecclesiastical court began to act at the same time.

“I Am Starting to Believe in the Word ‘Justice’”: Lessons from an Ethnographic Study on Community Courts

With the growing awareness of the crisis of mass incarceration and distrust toward the legal system, recent years have seen a rise in interest in specialized, problem-solving, and therapeutic courts designed to reduce incarceration and recidivism rates and enhance public trust in state authorities. Community courts have been operating in numerous jurisdictions worldwide, providing a non-adversarial platform in which repeat low-level offenders are offered a comprehensive rehabilitative and restorative intervention program. Alongside evaluations demonstrating the ability of community courts to reduce incarceration and enhance offenders’ trust, some critics have suggested that community courts jeopardize offenders’ procedural rights and result in over-criminalization of program non-completers. This Article provides a qualitative empirical examination of an Israeli community court model, inspired by the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York. Based on over 280 hours of observations of approximately 100 hearings and fourteen staff meetings, the findings provide an inside look at the ways in which Israeli community courts implement a range of evidence-based, democracy-oriented approaches to crime control, such as procedural justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, and community justice, in the context of community courts. The findings also point to a need to pay closer attention to how these courts continue their operation, within a broader adversarial legal framework of criminal justice. The challenges identified in this Article raise questions that are relevant to other community courts in the United States and elsewhere.

Characterizing Multi-door Criminal Justice

This article provides an empirical, comparative analysis of three criminal justice programs that reflect different social and ideological accounts: community courts, arraignment hearings, and restorative justice. The study draws on empirical findings that have been collected over three years in Israel, through observations and archival documentation of these mechanisms. Using the Criminal Law Taxonomy developed elsewhere by the authors as an analytical tool, the comparison is based on characteristics that relate to the structure, content, stakeholders, and outcomes of these justice mechanisms, emphasizing the plurality we have today in multi-door criminal justice systems. The comparative analysis highlights differences and similarities among various justice mechanisms, and offers policy makers and criminal justice practitioners important insights for referring different cases to various mechanisms.

Other Specialty Courts

The development and success of drug courts resulted in the development of many other types of problem-solving courts. This chapter provides an overview of these other types of problem-solving courts in the United States, including (but not limited to) domestic violence courts, family dependency treatment courts, homelessness courts, truancy courts, veterans courts, DUI/DWI courts, and community courts. This chapter summarizes the sparse research that has been conducted on these courts and considers the future of these types of problem-solving courts. Specifically, this chapter considers whether there is a need for so many highly specific problem-solving courts, how these courts can expand their reach (and whether they should), aspects of these courts that are in need of additional research, and how these courts can function most effectively in today’s economic and political climate.