Guest speaker: Demetra Sorvatzioti
Demetra Fr. Sorvatzioti, Associate Professor, Law School, University of Nicosia, holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and a law degree. She is a member of the advisory board of Fair Trials International, and a member of the Crime Policy Board of the Ministry of Justice in Cyprus. Her primary research areas are comparative law; sentencing, evidence; sexual offenders; social exclusion & criminal justice.
Summary
In many cases, when a drug addict is charged with a criminal offence, the criminality is a function, directly or indirectly, of the addiction. Yet, traditional sentencing in both common law and continental jurisdictions focuses on the criminality, even if the addiction is given some mitigating role. More recently, we have seen in many common law systems the development of Drug Treatment Courts which take a therapeutic approach that focuses on the addictions and its treatment. In continental systems, the trial judge plays a dominant role that includes both the duty to investigate and to find the substantial truth of the offence. In this paper, I consider whether the role of the continental judge can be modified into a 'therapeutic' judge in a Drug Treatment Court.
Conférence organisée par le Centre international de criminologie comparée
