Isn’t having knowledge of a felony enough for a public prosecutor to indict someone independent of the victim?
That’s how it works in Germany at least - if the authorities get information about a criminal offense, they are obliged to start a criminal investigation. A victim not pressing charges only matters in terms of a civil lawsuit.
Oh yeah actually good point. Probably still relevant since it involves a civilian though, it’s not like civilians can be tried through military court afaik
Although I wonder if he could claim he was acting as Trump’s agent. Trump, being a former guy who tried to overthrow the government and technically former Commander in Chief of the military, maybe could be court martialed, right? If this is considered an attack by him, like a coup, on our Armed Forces?
After review by any of these intermediate courts, the next level of appeal is the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF).[17][21] The Supreme Court of the United States has discretion under 28 U.S.C. § 1259 to review cases under the UCMJ on direct appeal where the CAAF has conducted a mandatory review (death penalty and certified cases), granted discretionary review of a petition, or otherwise granted relief.
Assuming the only evidence for physical assault isn’t just the victims statements (but even then), I feel that both crimes are currently being ignored.
To go back to the example of Germany: If you accuse someone of a crime (directed against your physical well-being or property) here, towards authorities (e.g. police) and then say “but I don’t want to press charges”, that no longer matters - they are obliged to record a report of a potential criminal offense and leave it to a judge to decide on how to proceed.
as to 1) - that’s judged differently in Germany - in part to protect victims of domestic violence who will often “change their mind and not want to” press charges after filing an initial report.
in that case, yes - but again, if it’s a criminal offense, the victim has an obligation to testify, even if they have no interest
I have no idea how the funding of our judicial branch looks like atm
The CPS only does this for England and Wales not the whole of the UK. In Scotland the procurator fiscal prosecutes crimes and in Northern Ireland it is the Public Prosecution Service
Isn’t having knowledge of a felony enough for a public prosecutor to indict someone independent of the victim?
That’s how it works in Germany at least - if the authorities get information about a criminal offense, they are obliged to start a criminal investigation. A victim not pressing charges only matters in terms of a civil lawsuit.
There were two separate crimes here.
The crime of abusing the ANC for a political photo and the crime of physically assaulting someone who worked for the ANC.
The crime of abusing it for political purposes is currently being ignored and the person assaulted has chosen to not press charges for the assault.
Isn’t this Army jurisdiction? Is pressing charges even relevant?
Oh yeah actually good point. Probably still relevant since it involves a civilian though, it’s not like civilians can be tried through military court afaik
Although I wonder if he could claim he was acting as Trump’s agent. Trump, being a former guy who tried to overthrow the government and technically former Commander in Chief of the military, maybe could be court martialed, right? If this is considered an attack by him, like a coup, on our Armed Forces?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Code_of_Military_Justice
Idk. I doubt they will do anything regardless. But interesting thought experiment for sure.
Assuming the only evidence for physical assault isn’t just the victims statements (but even then), I feel that both crimes are currently being ignored.
To go back to the example of Germany: If you accuse someone of a crime (directed against your physical well-being or property) here, towards authorities (e.g. police) and then say “but I don’t want to press charges”, that no longer matters - they are obliged to record a report of a potential criminal offense and leave it to a judge to decide on how to proceed.
In the UK, you can’t decide whether to ‘press charges’ or not, the decision is the CPS’s.
But in practice, saying you aren’t interested in pursuing a conviction often ends it, because:
1 - the prosecution must be ‘in the public good’ which is undermined if the victim isn’t interested
2 - a lot of the time the testimony and cooperation of the victim is key to the prosecution case
3 - the system is horribly underfunded so if they can justify dropping it they will
CPS is? City Prosecutor … ??
as to 1) - that’s judged differently in Germany - in part to protect victims of domestic violence who will often “change their mind and not want to” press charges after filing an initial report.
in that case, yes - but again, if it’s a criminal offense, the victim has an obligation to testify, even if they have no interest
I have no idea how the funding of our judicial branch looks like atm
The CPS only does this for England and Wales not the whole of the UK. In Scotland the procurator fiscal prosecutes crimes and in Northern Ireland it is the Public Prosecution Service