About the Country Cuba Policing - Essay Example

?About the Country Cuba Policing Affiliation with more information about affiliation, research grants, conflict of interest and how to contact Topic:  About the Country Cuba Policing 1. Introduce your country – discuss what part of the world that it is in, what kind of government it has, the crime rate, and any other related introductory facts. Cuba was a part of Spain until 1902, when they got independence from United States after the Spanish-American War. Cuba is a group of islands which lies between the oceans North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. To the north-west of Cuba lies United States, to the north Bahamas, to the east Haiti, to the south Cayman Islands and Jamaica and to the west lies Mexico. Cuba has a totalitarian communist state of government which acquired power forcibly in 1959 and the major political party is the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular is the legislature of Cuba which means the National Assembly of People's Power and it meets two tomes in a year. All citizens who have no criminal background above the age of 16 can vote. The administrative subdivision of Cuba has 15 provinces and Isle of Youth (special municipality). Cuba has a lower crime rates than other major countries and cities. The police in Cuba are really active against crime. Table: 1- Crime in Cuba by year Type 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Murders 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rapes 2 4 0 2 5 0 0 1 Robberies 0 2 4 5 2 0 0 2 Assaults 21 14 19 11 11 21 6 12 Burglaries 41 27 21 21 40 57 32 30 Thefts 352 261 314 276 254 203 202 124 Auto thefts 14 14 19 10 28 5 6 5 Arson 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 319.2) 705.8 585.0 588.6 528.2 613.4 458.4 322.7 303.5 (Cuba, Missouri, 2003). Other facts about Cuba include its population of 11.2 million of which 5.07 million is the work force of the country. 2. Discuss which family of law that your country is in, along with a brief overview of that family of law. You can use lecture notes from class when you discuss the law families, just be sure to cite the source. The principles of Marxism-Leninism are a key influential factor in the law system of Cuba and it is based on the Spanish Civil Laws. One of the important parts of Cuban law is the family law, which consists of marriage related laws like divorce, conjugal property relationships, recognition of children, responsibility of caring children, and education as well as adoption of children. Other than the family law, Cuban law also consists of substantive law and procedural law. The substantive and procedural laws were also made on the basis of the Spanish law. The major laws under the procedural and substantive law are criminal law, private property law and economic regulation. The laws which restrict the freedom of expression are a characteristic of Cuban law. The articles that restrict freedom of expression are article 62, 144, 208, 209, 103, 207, 115, 143, 72-90 and 91. Article 62 “seriously limits in practice the exercise of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly” (Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Cuba, 2010, p. 8). 3. Provide an overview of policing in your country. Further, discuss how it compares to policing in the U.S. You may want to talk about the use of specific policies in this section (e.g. zero tolerance law enforcement, etc.) Cuba is an authoritarian police nation which relies on exploitive techniques to sustain control. These techniques comprise intense electronic surveillance and physical control of both foreign visitors and Cuban cities. In general, Cuba is very safe state. It gives prominent and strict policing, joint with area watch style-programs that keep the streets safe from aggressive offense. However, a certain degree of caution and common-sense is advisable, especially in main cities. Guests are advised to keep away from coming to the attention of security services and Cuban police. Drug rules can be draconian and their execution changeable. The importation, production of pornography or possession is strictly forbidden. Visitors are consequently recommended not to involve themselves in the areas of drugs, prostitution or pornography. However, it must be noted that Cuba is not totalitarian at all and generally mild comments about the government will not guide to arrest or further penalties. In actual fact, a lot of workers and locals frankly will mostly have the same opinion with criticisms, particularly away from the most important cities. Policing in Cuba is prepared under the support of the (MINIT) Ministry of the Interior, on which the board of State highly depends. Cuba and the US have had a quick view over one another as well before either of their self-government actions. “The U.S. Interests Section (USINT) represents American citizens and the U.S. Government in Cuba, and operates under the legal protection of the Swiss government. The Interests Section staff provides the full range of consular services to American citizens” (Cuba: Country Specific Information, n.d., para. 2). U S policy to Cuba is conquered by the prohibition, which comprises economic sanctions and limitations on journey to Cuba. The result is to limit political, commercial and civilian dealings among the Cuba and U.S. 4. Discuss procedural rights in your country and how it compares to our procedural rights in the U.S. Procedural rights include the policies by which a court hears and resolves what occurs in civil, criminal or organizational actions. The policies are planned to ensure a reliable and fair application of due procedure or basic justice to every case that come before a court. The procedural rights of Cuba were later founded on the Spanish Civil laws and were persuaded by the values of Marxism-Leninism, as that philosophy became the leading power of government. Cuba's oppressive procedural rights practices were under girded by the Cuba’s institutional and legal structure. The procedural rights to freedom of expression, movement, assembly, association, and of the press remained controlled under Cuban law. A Cuban procedural right identifies that police cannot capture a suspect 24 hours devoid of submitting the case to an examiner. The examiner in turn should present the case to the inspection of the prosecutor within 3 working days. The prosecutor's role of work then has an utmost of 3 working days wherein to either release the suspect to judicial appraisal or plan to maintain him or her in custody awaiting test. This appraisal should be made by the court that will arbitrate the case. The court is necessary to either approve custody or order discharge in 3 days and this decision is final. The US procedural rights are not an element of the Cuban penal procedure. “Cuba stands at one extreme in the experiences of the IACHR in its attempt to protect human rights in the American states” (LeBlanc, 1977, p. 107). The US management must no longer be permissible to protect itself from its responsibility to procedural rights and rules as well as the United State civil, worker, women's, immigrant, prisoner impunity, LGBTQ and such other privileges actions. 5. Discuss corrections and punishment in Cuba and how it compares to corrections and punishment in the US. The main idea of any community policing is to dramatically reduce rate and incidence of crimes and make their area a crime free zone. Cube is one of the developed communist state that has well-ordered country functioned health and legal schemes. In Cuban policing, an act is an offense merely if it is banned by the law and is communally hazardous or dangerous. Infringements of rule that do not rise to the essential level of community destruction are considered to be violations, that is, a noncriminal quote offense. Offenses in Cuba are separated into misdemeanor and felony crimes. Felony offenses are those that receive a potential punishment of more than one year custody or a fine of more than 300 quotas. “Offenses that meet this standard are prosecuted in provincial courts. Less serious misdemeanor offenses are adjudicated in municipal courts and carry maximum penalties below the one-year/300-cuota level. Felony-equivalent crimes in Cuba encompass a standard array of offenses against persons or property including murder, rape, assault, death or injury by vehicle, robbery, burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, arson, and drug trafficking. Except for murder, rape, and robbery, each of these offenses also has a less serious, misdemeanor equivalent” (World: North America: Cuba, n.d., para. 22). The units of fine in Cuba, termed as Quotas, have a changeable value. Offenses are prohibited acts in US and it is considered dangerous or hazardous. They fall exterior to the public’s rule of appropriate behavior. A number of acts for example slaughter, theft and rape infringe the behavioral systems of almost all society. But some other acts may be measured offenses in one society but not in another. In criminal rule, both the public and the individual sufferer, if there is one, are measured injured by crimes. The most obvious objective of the correctional scheme is to punish the person who is found to be responsible for the offenses. In addition to penalizing an offender, the correctional scheme is supposed to guard rest of the civilization from offender. The crime rate of Cuba and United State in various areas are mentioned above. “This includes the policing of streets as well as the imprisonment of criminals in jails. By keeping criminals in prison, they are not among the public and are not in a position in which they could harm the public at large with additional criminal acts” (Roll of the Correctional System, 1999, para. 3). 6. Conclusion Cuba is an authoritarian police nation which relies on exploitive techniques to sustain control. The enforcement of community policing could ease the onerous obligations and tasks of law enforcement agencies in this nation and is expected to diminish crime and anti social conduct inside its precepts. In addition to this, the use of non-uniformed and civilian volunteer resources would add to a higher crime free atmosphere and also achieve the benefits of employing other enhancements. There could be numerous barriers in the filed of policing since this calls for a joint attempt among the law enforcement departments and the people of a free country. Reference List Cuba: Country Specific Information, (n.d.). Travel. State. Gov. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1097.html Cuba, Missouri, (2003). City-Data.com. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://www.city-data.com/city/Cuba-Missouri.html LeBlanc, L.J. (1977). The OAS and the promotion and protection of human rights. BRILL. Retrieved June21, 2011, from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=0d10Inb5L4YC&dq=procedural+rights+of+cuba&source=gbs_navlinks_s Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Cuba, (2010). Amnesty International. Retrieved June 21, 2011, from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/005/2010/en/62b9caf8-8407-4a08-90bb-b5e8339634fe/amr250052010en.pdf Roll of the Correctional System, (1999). eHOW. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://www.ehow.com/about_5087269_role-correctional-system.html World: North America: Cuba, (n.d.). Crime and Society: A Comparative Criminology Tour of the World. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/namerica/cuba.html Read More