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Article
Publication date: 6 June 2020

Eugene E. Mniwasa

This paper aims to examine the money laundering vulnerability of private legal practitioners in Tanzania, the involvement of these practitioners in money laundering activities and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the money laundering vulnerability of private legal practitioners in Tanzania, the involvement of these practitioners in money laundering activities and their role in preventing, detecting and thwarting money laundering and its predicate crimes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies the “black-letter” law research approach to describe, examine and analyze the anti-money laundering law in Tanzania. It also uses the “law-in-context” research approach to interrogate the anti-money laundering law and to provide an understanding of factors impacting on the efficacy and readiness of private legal practitioners in Tanzania to tackle money laundering. The review of literature and analysis of statutory instruments and case law, reports of the anti-money laundering authorities and agencies and media reports-generated data are used in this paper. This information was complemented by data from interviews of purposively selected private legal practitioners.

Findings

Private legal practitioners in Tanzania are vulnerable to money laundering. There is an emerging evidence that indicates the involvement of some private legal practitioners in the commission of money laundering and/or its predicate crimes. The law designates the legal practitioners as reporting persons and imposes on the obligation to fight against money laundering. Law-related factors and practical challenges undermine the capacity of the legal practitioners to curb money laundering. Additionally, certain hostile perceptions contribute to the legal practitioners’ unwillingness, indifference or opposition against the fight against money laundering.

Research limitations/implications

The paper underscores the need for Tanzania to reform its policy and legal frameworks to create enabling environment for anti-money laundering gatekeepers, including private legal practitioners to partake efficiently in the fight against money laundering. It also underlines the importance of incorporating the principles that govern the private legal practise to enable the practitioners to partake effectively in tackling money laundering.

Originality/value

This paper generates useful information to private legal practitioners, policy makers and academicians on issues relating to money laundering and its control in Tanzania and presents recommendations on possible policy and legal reforms that can be adopted and applied to augment the role of the legal practitioners in Tanzania to combat money laundering.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2018

Soojin Kim, Arunima Krishna and Kenneth D. Plowman

The purpose of this paper is to explore how public relations (PR) professionals develop co-narratives with legal counsel when formulating crisis communication strategies…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how public relations (PR) professionals develop co-narratives with legal counsel when formulating crisis communication strategies. Understanding how PR practitioners work with their legal counterparts may help lead to more advanced and effective PR practice in the area of crisis communication and management. The authors attempt to do so in this study through interviews conducted with PR practitioners in two Asian countries – South Korea and Singapore.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 11 semi-structured interviews with PR consultants, 6 in Korea and 5 in Singapore were conducted between May and August 2016. Data analyses revealed key points of interest for PR practice.

Findings

First, PR consultants in both countries reported increased collaboration with legal counsel in times of crisis. Second, PR consultants report that legal professionals have begun to realize the significance of winning in the court of public opinion. However, the process by which PR–legal collaboration takes place to develop co-narratives followed extremely different patterns in the two countries.

Research limitations/implications

This exploratory study is not exempt from limitations. The findings from this study may not be applicable to other countries. As data collection in both countries relied on snowball sampling techniques, the participants in the interviews may not be representative of PR consultants in South Korea and Singapore. E-mail interviews had limitations due to their lack of richness and details compared to other forms of interviews (i.e. face-to-face or Skype interviews). However, computer-mediated interviews including e-mail interviews can still create good level of understandings about the phenomenon in question.

Originality/value

This study was an attempt to understand PR–legal collaboration particularly in times of crisis and contribute to the development of Asia-centric models of PR practice. There has been little research that explores how legal and PR counsels actually collaborate to devise optional crisis communication strategies for their clients (or organizations) in the times of crisis. Given that crisis communicative strategies have been shown to affect publics’ perceptions of an organization’s credibility and trustworthiness, it is important to understand how PR work with legal practitioners to develop co-narratives for optimal crisis management, and understand how their different professional perspectives, practices, and approaches affect the collaboration.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2022

Megan Jean Parker and Mary Dodge

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are the tool of choice for federal prosecutors when adjudicating corporate misconduct. A DPA is a negotiation that permits the allegedly…

Abstract

Purpose

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are the tool of choice for federal prosecutors when adjudicating corporate misconduct. A DPA is a negotiation that permits the allegedly guilty party from undergoing a criminal trial if they avoid committing further wrongdoing for a specified period. This paper aims to examine whether DPAs are a beneficial mechanism for the criminal justice system to use while adjudicating corporate misconduct. By conducting in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews with 24 practitioners in the legal field and white-collar crime experts, this study identifies the shortcomings and advantages of DPAs and highlights what policy enactments might enhance their application. The study contributes to the existing literature by expanding the narratives used by judicial officials, legal practitioners and white-collar crime scholars on the role of DPAs.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study is an in-depth qualitative analysis that explores judicial actors’ and white-collar crime scholars’ opinions on the adoption of DPAs to adjudicate corporate misconduct. The literature on DPAs is currently derived primarily from law and literature reviews published by legal scholars. Clandestine negotiations are not accessible to the public and are frequently kept in sealed files unless a breach of contract occurs, resulting in the case proceeding to trial. Hence, a qualitative analysis is the best approach to evaluate the effectiveness of DPAs. Further, little evidence is available that focuses on the opinions of professionals who have participated in these agreements. The interviews were conducted over Zoom and lasted an average of 43 min, with the longest interview spanning 1 h and 45 min and the shortest interview being 14 minutes. A non-probability sampling method – specifically, snowball sampling – was used to generate a total sample of 24 legal professionals and white-collar crime scholars. Initial participants were found by contacting law offices specializing in white-collar crime litigation and using current networks to attain access to a broader range of participants. Then, 19 participants provided referrals throughout the study. The final sample consisted of nine government officials, eight legal practitioners and seven white-collar crime academics experts. One of the government official interviews was excluded from the final research project due to a lack of expertise in the field of white-collar crime. The interview questions were designed to promote in-depth conversation and insight into personal opinions on the adoption of DPAs. Several inquiries highlighted whether DPAs are an appropriate response to corporate misconduct and whether they reduced recidivism through their intended deterrent effect. Furthermore, several descriptive questions sought to understand which criminal justice actors support the adoption of DPAs in white-collar crime cases and why. Coding of the data was first conducted individually by each author. The researchers then compared thematic findings that reflected consensus.

Findings

An immediate theme identifiable in the research is the intrinsic value that DPAs offer in adjudicating corporate wrongdoing. As indicated by a participant, corporate misconduct is not “black or white,” stressing the importance of prosecutors having a middle ground between criminal prosecution and the dismissal of charges. A judicial official indicated that “DPAs are another essential arrow in a prosecutor’s quiver – and something a defense attorney can bargain for” (Respondent 5). Seven government officials and legal practitioners noted that you are unable to send a corporation to jail, and you do not simply want to put them out of business; thus, a DPA is the only tool in which the government can mandate structural change in a company without dismantling the entire entity. Only three academics concurred with the government officials and legal practitioners that DPAs are beneficial and offer prosecutors a vital middle ground. One academic, for example, stated that “DPAs have given U.S Attorney offices that ability to be involved for a considerable amount of time in a company's business, while simultaneously promoting change within the entity” (Respondent 14). Additionally, DPAs ensure that corporations are held criminally liable without triggering an endless cycle of collateral consequences for innocent third parties. One legal practitioner, for example, stated: “Just look at the Enron case; they charged Arthur Andersen with obstruction of justice and dismantled the entire entity they made it where the business was never going to come back. A small subset of individuals, in this case, should have been held responsible but instead, hundreds and if not thousands of people were harmed. With this in mind, DPAs are extremely important, in that it limits collateral consequences because DPAs take a more holistic view that criminal prosecution does not consider” (Respondent 21). Another respondent highlighted that “DPAs are the only tool available that can be employed to change an entire organization structurally” (Respondent 20). Ultimately, the findings suggest that there is a consensus among respondents that DPAs are an appropriate response to corporate misconduct, particularly when the agreement stipulates that a company must hire an external compliance monitor and update their current compliance system. Overall, participants emphasized that these stipulations promote a sense of corporate accountability, provide for the dismissal of guilty employees and mandate structural change. The majority of the respondents (n = 20) insisted that DPAs are advantageous, yet a subset of participants were skeptical of their use in white-collar crime prosecutions. One legal practitioner, for example, noted that “DPAs are political creatures that are awarded as political favors to the largest of corporations that our economy relies upon” (Respondent 17). Another government official confirmed this statement, indicating that “DPAs are a mere slap on the wrist for large corporations – they simply see it as doing business” (Respondent 6). Four academic participants emphasized that DPAs are typically negotiated with multi-level corporations and are not extended to the small businesses that suffer the dire consequences of criminal prosecution. One academic, for instance, stressed that “the question becomes is it fairly applied and being implemented properly. Larger companies are more likely to receive and benefit from a DPA, thus, raising the question of fairness” (Respondent 12). Another academic who was previously a government official stated: “DPAs risk abuse – there have been several instances where prosecutors have forced companies to donate money to favored charities and overstepped their powers. Sometimes DPAs also come with monitors. For example, banks typically have to pay for the auditor, and it becomes extremely intrusive, and it it not clear that they are efficient.”

Research limitations/implications

Several limitations exist in this research. First, it is not a comprehensive study that is representative of the larger population, which limits generalizability. Given the contention of research on DPAs, this qualitative research contributes to the literature, and its findings are likely transferable to multiple settings in which DPAs are used. Second, DPAs are processed and drafted differently across jurisdictions; thus, comparing DPAs across state levels and among departments in the federal government would be equivalent to comparing apples to oranges. This comparison is yet another limitation to the study because criminal justice practitioners operate in both the state and federal jurisdictions. Another challenge in the current study and something that likely will be a problem for future researchers is the difficulty of gaining access to experts in an exclusive field of criminal justice, such as federal prosecutors, Department of Justice officials, federal judges and elite corporate defense attorneys. Ultimately, several obstacles arose during the study, particularly when recruiting participants to gain a large enough sample size to conduct meaningful analysis. This resulted in smaller sample size but rich, in-depth data that achieved saturation among participants.

Practical implications

Several policy implications are identifiable. First, it appears that DPAs are a mainstay of white-collar crime prosecution. No participants advocate for their complete removal from the prosecution process. Participants highlight that DPAs occupy an essential middle-ground between dismissal and criminal charges. Without this mechanism, prosecution would be impeded, and holding corporate criminal actors liable would increasingly become formidable. Although it appears that the system cannot function without DPAs, several respondents emphasize that we must begin to hold individuals accountable alongside corporations. Another policy implication that a minority of participants mentioned within the study involves ensuring that our compliance monitoring system operates appropriately. A majority of participants note that the overarching stipulation that promotes structural change within an organization is adopting a functioning compliance monitoring system, thus, emphasizing the importance of this process operating smoothly and ethically. The selection of an independent compliance monitor may be problematic. For example, a former government compliance monitor notes that not all monitors are experts in the field they are overseeing. A pharmaceutical expert, for example, may be attempting to regulate an automotive organization, which may present unique challenges. An agency of federal professionals dedicated to supervising specific industries such as automotive, pharmaceutical and financial would ensure that organizations are actually implementing the terms of the DPA.

Originality/value

Ultimately, the current research highlights the necessity of empirically studying the benefits and drawbacks of such agreements. Future research on the topic remains onerous due to the scarcity of a centralized database that contains extensive details of DPAs. The present study suggests that the verdict on DPAs is undecided, with more than half of the study's criminal justice professionals advocating for their continued and even increased use. However, about half of the participants, particularly academics, called attention to the agreements’ potential bias. The disagreement among participants is most contentious in the consideration of a DPA centralized database which would immensely aid future research and policy advancements.

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Daphne Sobolev and James Clunie

Predatory trading is a stock market trading technique in which certain market participants exploit information about other market participants' need to trade. Predatory trading…

Abstract

Purpose

Predatory trading is a stock market trading technique in which certain market participants exploit information about other market participants' need to trade. Predatory trading often harms others. Hence, this paper examines the determinants and effects of financial practitioners' and lay people's judgments of predatory trading. Specifically, it investigates how the public availability and reliability of the exploited information affect their ethics and legality judgments and how the latter influence their behavioral intentions and regulation support.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted two scenario judgment studies. In the first study, participants were financial practitioners, and in the second – lay people.

Findings

Practitioners often judge predatory trading to be ethical. Practitioners and lay people incorporate in their ethics and legality judgments the public availability of the exploited information but tend to discount the legal reliability criterion. Lay people justify their ethics judgments using harm, legal or profit maximization principles. Practitioners' intentions to engage in predatory trading and lay people's intentions to let predatory fund managers invest their money depend on their judgments, which influence their regulation support.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to explore people's judgments of predatory trading. It highlights that despite the harm that predatory trading involves, practitioners often judge it to be ethical. Although law tends to lag behind financial innovation, people base their judgments and hence also behavioral intentions on their interpretation of the regulation. Hence, it reveals a dark aspect of the relationship between ethics and legality judgments.

Details

Review of Behavioral Finance, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1940-5979

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2019

Craig Cameron, Janine Ashwell, Melissa Connor, Mary Duncan, Will Mackay and Jeff Naqvi

Work-integrated learning (WIL) poses legal, reputation, operational, strategic and financial risks for higher education providers (HEPs). The purpose of this paper is to explore…

Abstract

Purpose

Work-integrated learning (WIL) poses legal, reputation, operational, strategic and financial risks for higher education providers (HEPs). The purpose of this paper is to explore how HEPs can manage five significant WIL risks involving intellectual property, student disability and medical conditions, the host organisation and the legal literacy of WIL practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a cross-institutional collaboration of WIL practitioners who explored risk management in WIL programmes. The case study is presented as a cross-case analysis to assist WIL stakeholders with evaluating their risk management frameworks. A description about the significance of the risk (in terms of causes and consequences), as well as practices to manage the risk, is presented under each of the five WIL risks.

Findings

WIL practitioners described a series of risk management practices in response to five significant risks in WIL programmes. Four themes underpinning these risk management practices – balance, collaboration, relationship management and resources – are conceptualised as characteristics that can serve as guiding principles for WIL stakeholders in risk management.

Practical implications

The findings can be applied by WIL stakeholders to evaluate and improve existing risk management frameworks, and to improve their legal literacy in relation to WIL. The study also demonstrates the capacity for collaborative research to address practice issues in WIL.

Originality/value

This is the first known study which employs a cross-institutional collaboration of WIL practitioners to contribute towards the body of knowledge examining risk management in WIL programmes.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2023

Ambareen Beebeejaun

Irrespective of various forms of language existent worldwide, it is still imperative that recipients of professional legal advice be communicated in clear terms to avoid a chaotic…

Abstract

Purpose

Irrespective of various forms of language existent worldwide, it is still imperative that recipients of professional legal advice be communicated in clear terms to avoid a chaotic situation and to better fulfil obligations and enjoy the rights to which they are entitled to appropriately. As such, the objectives of this paper are twofold: firstly, this paper aims to assess the extent to which clients of the legal profession prefer plain over traditional legal language in Mauritius, a country using a myriad of languages, and secondly, to suggest recommendations for the legal stakeholders in Mauritius regarding guidelines and mechanisms on plain language provisions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study will use a desk-based research methodology by analysing existing literature on the importance of plain language in legal writing. In addition, an empirical study will be conducted to gather information on clients’ preferences in legal communication.

Findings

The responses were received on a complete anonymous basis, and it was found that in general, clients of the legal profession in Mauritius are more at ease when law practitioners use simple, direct and straightforward terms, sentences structured in active voice rather than passive voice or the use of legal jargons or complicated words. These clients also prefer when their legal advisers explain the legal meaning or interpretation in a document or agreement even if these advices may be longer than shorter sentences with only the legal jargons.

Originality/value

At present, there are few literature on the researched topic and this study will be among the first academic writings on the effectiveness of using plain language in legal documentation in Mauritius. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 65 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 March 2023

Jennifer Elisa Chapman

Present-day courts, practitioners, and scholars continue to cite to and rely upon cases involving slavery and enslaved persons to construe, interpret, and apply common-law

Abstract

Present-day courts, practitioners, and scholars continue to cite to and rely upon cases involving slavery and enslaved persons to construe, interpret, and apply common-law principles of property, contract, family, tort, and other areas of the law. Often a case’s connections to slavery are not acknowledged in citations. This erasing of context causes institutional harms by both embedding slave-based legal analysis in American legal structures and condoning the detrimental impacts of slavery in society. The deleterious effects of slavery persist through citations to cases involving enslaved persons to support such prosaic present-day issues as warranties on window glass. Slavery may no longer be legal, but its long shadow persists in citations and, thereby, is embedded in the information systems informing the legal profession. The information infrastructures that categorize case law and inform legal research ingrain racism in the American legal system by perpetuating and masking case law connections to slavery and enslaved persons. The legal profession has recently been criticized for the continued citation to cases that state good law or persuasive authority but are rooted in the institution of slavery. This chapter builds on this important research and contributes a necessary element to the discussion – namely how legal information infrastructures contribute to continuing citation to slave cases and how the library and information science (LIS) field can help institute change and promote racial justice.

Details

Antiracist Library and Information Science: Racial Justice and Community
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-099-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2020

Robin Tapper

There are many contexts within which to consider the teaching of legal ethics to law students, such as historical, philosophical, or procedural. This paper describes a course with

Abstract

There are many contexts within which to consider the teaching of legal ethics to law students, such as historical, philosophical, or procedural. This paper describes a course with an emphasis on considering purposes of law as a heuristic context. The work is based on the writer’s experiences in establishing a new course in legal ethics for final year law students at the University of Western Australia. The background to the development of the course lay mainly in experience as legal practitioner, legal academic, and investigator of complaints against lawyers.

Details

Educating for Ethical Survival
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-253-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2020

Doron Goldbarsht

This paper aims to explore the ways in which the international standards in the field of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) have reshaped regulatory…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the ways in which the international standards in the field of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) have reshaped regulatory regimes in a globalised world.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper deconstructs the origins and development of international standards in the field of AML and CTF dealing with longstanding legal professional privilege. This paper adopts both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The qualitative aspect comprises a literature review of sources, including scholarly works, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, reports and domestic laws. The quantitative aspect analyses a unique and comprehensive table reproduced below, that indicates Australia’s compliance with all the FATF recommendations over more than a decade with full alternation to FATF’s revisions of its recommendations.

Findings

This paper demonstrates that an understanding of the influence of the FATF norms can shed light on the departure from regular lawmaking processes and emerging forms of international governance. The conclusion suggests that tranche II is coming and Australia will amend it in domestic regime to comply with the international standard, applying the AML/CTF regime to the legal profession and thus interfering with legal professional privilege. The question is not if but when.

Originality/value

This paper fills the gaps in the existing literature by contemplating the future of legal professional privilege globally and in Australia, which provides a case study of a regime that does not yet comply fully with AML and CTF international standard. This approach differs significantly from that of other literature in the field, which deals comprehensively with the theoretical foundations of legal professional privilege, as well as its practicalities and limitations, without considering the influence of the international non-binding norms.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2020

Jorum Duri

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contentious issue whether lawyers become launderers when they accept dirty money as legal fees. Lawyers represent criminal defendants…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contentious issue whether lawyers become launderers when they accept dirty money as legal fees. Lawyers represent criminal defendants who may wish to pay for their legal fees with proceeds of their criminal activities. The paper analyses the legal position of Namibia and Zimbabwe on such tainted fees and proceeds to compare with the different position taken by the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a desk research methodology with reliance on various sources such as statutory laws, case laws, books, journal articles and the internet. Its scope is limited to issue and content analysis relating to the use of dirty money as legal fees.

Findings

The paper shows that lawyers become launderers when they accept dirty money as legal fees with knowledge or suspicion of its origins. It concludes that the prohibition of dirty money as legal fees is important in the fight against economic crime in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Even though it is decriminalised in the USA, the continuous prosecution of lawyers for tainted fees shows that state authorities are aware of the dangers of tainted legal fees.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the few available literature on dirty money and legal fees. It provides sound reasons why prohibition of tainted attorneys’ fees adds muscle to the fight against economic crime. No prior literature is available on tainted legal fees in Namibia and Zimbabwe specifically.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

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