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The purpose of this paper is to bring to light the present civil and criminal asset forfeiture procedures within the South African context and to make suggestions for reform thereof. While there exists and is a need for constant change and reform of the law to ensure that it remains transparent, up-to-date and applicable to all means through which economic crime can be committed, South Africa lacks the necessary resources and attitudes to accomplish this essential goal.

The approach used in this paper is purely qualitative using journal articles, textbooks, reports, periodicals, speeches and legislation as its basis. It is through a consolidation of this literature that this paper was formed.

While South Africa’s present system of asset forfeiture is producing some impressive results, the process still has vast room for improvement. There are key areas which this paper outlines for reform. However, the probability of improvement is relatively low owing to the levels of corruption, illicit activities and attitudes of mistrust within the South African society at large.

The concept of asset forfeiture is not new to any international jurisdiction, let alone South Africa itself. However, this paper aims to give insight into the specific South African experience of this procedure and how it can possibly be improved within the specific context.

Corruption is one of the main facilitators of increased wildlife crime in South Africa. It is important to look at the current legislative framework to determine how wildlife crime can be combated effectively. This paper aims to provide an analysis of the process of wildlife crime, focusing on wildlife poaching and trafficking role players and critically analyses the legislation in place to combat the phenomenon.

A critical analysis of existing literature such as case law, legislation, peer-reviewed publications and electronic articles was used to identify the legislation and processes for the prevention of wildlife crime in South Africa. Common denominators were identified in these sources to provide a baseline for examining wildlife crime.

Wildlife criminals rely extensively on corruption during all facets of their trafficking schemes. The use of traditional environmental laws is not effective in dismantling wildlife trafficking networks, as prosecuting those in the upper echelons is often challenging. The extensive reliance on corruption during all facets of wildlife trafficking provides an opportunity for law enforcement to use such corruption crimes as predicate offences in racketeering prosecutions, thus ensuring kingpins find it more difficult to escape prosecution, owing to their involvement in criminal enterprises that sustain themselves through patterns of racketeering.

This paper contributes knowledge to narrow the research gap with regard to wildlife criminals and how they function. It also addresses possibilities to improve prosecution and disrupt wildlife trafficking networks.

Recent developments in the EU’s anti-corruption strategy have brought the EU closer to meeting the UNCAC’s objectives, i.e. the Proposal for a Directive on combating corruption (2023) and the Proposal for a Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation (2022). This paper aims to discuss these developments from the perspective of the UNCAC, to identify missing elements in the EU’s asset recovery mechanisms.

Critical approach towards EU anti-corruption policy (discussing the problems and solutions). Review of EU developments in asset recovery law.

There is a political will on the part of the EU to fight corruption through the rules enshrined in the UNCAC. However, improving EU law by introducing a new type of confiscation of unexplained wealth and criminalising illicit enrichment, without establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to the countries of origin, cannot be seen as sufficient action to achieve the UNCAC’s objectives. In modelling mechanisms of the return of assets, the EU should search for solutions to overcome the difficulties resulting from the ordre public clause remaining a significant factor conditioning mutual legal assistance.

This paper discusses the possible input of the EU, as a non-State Party to the UNCAC, to advance implementing the UNCAC solutions on asset recovery by establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to countries of origin.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the measures that could be taken to combat the risk of economic crime in the aftermath of South African disasters.

This paper used secondary sources including, but not limited to, institutional reports, newspaper articles and peer-reviewed academic journal articles.

The COVID-19 pandemic was used as an example in this paper to discuss the susceptibility of post-disaster funding to the risk of economic crime and to assess how the South African government attempted to combat this risk during the pandemic. The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) conducted a real-time audit of the government’s essential COVID-19 initiatives in collaboration with the newly established Fusion Centre. Through their collaborative efforts, they successfully identified mismanaged funds, facilitated the recovery thereof and prosecuted individuals and entities involved. This paper found that to proactively combat economic crime in future post-disaster events, the collaborative use of the AGSA and the Fusion Centre, in conjunction with existing bodies established under the Disaster Management Act, should be considered.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in disaster risk management and forensic accountancy. As the frequency of disasters is expected to increase in the future, so will the economic crime risk associated with post-disaster funding. This paper demonstrates that post-disaster funding is especially susceptible to the risk of economic crime and it is therefore important to research methods to combat this problem and prevent further losses.

One of the longest running protests in recent American history was a Sing-Along in the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. This daily informal gathering to sing protest songs began in 2011, then prompted a sudden wave of arrests beginning in 2013. Instead of dwindling, the protest grew in response as participants celebrated resistance, treating arrest as a local in-group status symbol. This chapter uses extended participant observation, a methodological approach rarely found in the social movement literature on repression, to study the attempted repression of this Solidarity Sing-Along. To a remarkable extent, arrests and court prosecutions were ineptly executed. This ineptitude had consequences for the protest's development. This repression was also generally mild. Examining mild repression, less often studied than severe forms, helps elaborate the range of repression's potential consequences. By showing mild repression in ethnographic detail, this chapter reveals an underappreciated messiness on the part of both repressors and repressed. The movement evolved in a messy way in response to messy repression, an evolution that is not well captured with dichotomous categories of increase versus decrease or failure versus success.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how agency conflicts between people and main government organs affect the combatting ability of white-collar money laundering in an emerging economy.

This paper uses a qualitative design under the philosophy of interpretivism. The case study research strategy is used inductively to investigate how structural limitations affect white-collar money laundering.

This study reveals that serious agency conflicts exist between public and main government organs which are detrimental to the rights of people to enjoy a crime-free society. First agency conflict of people and legislature intensifies as a result of limited understanding of the legislature and failure to take precautionary actions to develop an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime with evolving global standards. This delay has resulted in identifying Sri Lanka as a deficient AML/CFT regime twice. The second conflicts arise between people and the executive which is a serious conflict due to misuse of statutory power and failure to perform duties. The independence and integrity of administrative authorities who perform executive functions were inherent problems of implementing a sound AML/CFT regime. Lack of monitoring, nonavailability of an independent audit and inappropriate reporting channels were other encouraging factors of administrative organs to misuse statutory power. The third conflict between people and the judiciary was not intensified because the function was not so exposed to create agency conflicts. After all, an adequate number of cases had not proceeded to the judiciary due to inherent limitations as a result of intensified first two agency conflicts. The agency conflicts have intensified over the years and AML/CFT regime has been ineffective as a result of limited influence and understanding of the principal, people. Therefore, the principal has to influence the agents to make reforms in the AML/CFT regime to make the country a white-collar crime-free country.

This study uses a case study strategy to assess the context of Sri Lanka as an emerging economy. It is recommended to take into consideration the contextual facts when the findings are applied to other jurisdictions.

This paper is an original work of the authors which discusses how agency conflicts arise between people and three main government organs in implementing a sound AML/CFT regime in Sri Lanka as an emerging economy.

This paper aims to address the fundamentals of tax planning and seeks to focus on the opportunities and root causes for tax planning.

The paper reviews the current state of tax planning with case studies that reveal fundamental statutory structural opportunities.

While some, possibly many, tax advisers lack integrity and recommend tax structures to their clients that are inconsistent with reasonable interpretations of the tax law, most advisers, even very aggressive and creative advisers, probably do not. The paper suggests that it may be futile to seek to deter tax professionals from designing and marketing tax plans unless legislation makes tax advisers jointly responsible with their clients for their clients’ tax underpayments.

Short of such a radical approach, governments must commit first to altering the basic structure of their tax laws to make aggressive tax planning uninviting.

The paper offers original insights into the inseparability of the legislative process from the creation of unnecessary tax planning opportunities.

This paper argues that the psychological impact of mobile phone loss and compromised personal information necessitates a comprehensive approach to mental health and data security. It advocates for the development of robust coping strategies, including digital detox practices and enhanced security measures, to mitigate the adverse effects.

This position paper explores the psychological implications of mobile phone loss, particularly focusing on depression and information access anxiety resulting from compromised personal information. The paper synthesizes existing literature and theoretical frameworks to examine the multifaceted impact of mobile phone loss on mental health and proposes strategies to mitigate these effects. This paper uses a qualitative approach, analyzing data from various studies that have investigated mobile phone addiction, data breaches and the psychological effects of mobile phone loss. The analysis focuses on identifying common themes and patterns related to emotional distress, anxiety and coping mechanisms. The psychological impact is contextualized within the broader framework of digital dependency and mental health.

The phenomenon of information access anxiety, especially in the context of mobile phone loss, represents a major concern in the digital age. Information access anxiety describes the psychological distress and anxiety experienced by individuals when they are unable to access indispensable information or digital communication tools, typically due to the loss or theft of a mobile device.

This study acknowledges several limitations that should be considered when interpreting its findings. First, the analysis is based predominantly on secondary data sources and literature reviews, which may not fully capture the nuanced experiences of individuals suffering from the psychological impacts of mobile phone loss. Future research could benefit from primary data collection, such as surveys or interviews, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of these phenomena.

This position paper contributes to the burgeoning discourse surrounding the psychological ramifications of mobile phone loss, with a particular emphasis on the manifestation of depression and information access anxiety stemming from compromised personal information.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of social contract theory (SCT) utilization in cybersecurity literature, elucidating the current state of research, identifying major applications and themes and highlighting gaps, particularly in empirical studies, and the integration of emerging technologies. The study also maps the contractual parties and governance tools discussed in SCT and cyberspace interactions.

This study uses a systematic literature review to investigate the application of SCT within the cybersecurity domain. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative content analysis with the Grounded Theory strategy, over 30,000 documents were initially screened. The final data set comprised 873 peer-reviewed papers from multiple databases. MAXQDA software facilitated coding and thematic analysis to identify key SCT applications, governance tools and research gaps.

The review revealed the following: emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain are sparsely researched within the SCT-cyberspace intersection, yet they offer solutions to various SCT-related issues; empirical studies are underrepresented, with theoretical explorations dominating the discourse; there is a notable gap in integrating emerging technologies such as AI within SCT frameworks; governance tools discussed are varied, including economic incentives, regulatory measures and informational strategies.

This study synthesizes SCT applications in cybersecurity, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature and potential for richer theoretical integration. By systematically mapping the literature, it identifies crucial gaps and offers a foundation for future empirical and theoretical research. The findings emphasize the importance of considering traditional SCT themes and contemporary technological contexts, contributing to the development of more robust frameworks for cyberspace governance.