History of the criminal accusation process. Synthesis of the development of criminal charges in time and space
| Author | Armand Gurakuqi |
| Position | Prosecutor at the Prosecutor's Office at the First Instance Court of Tirana, Albania |
| Pages | 129-142 |
Vo
l.
5
N
o
. 1
M
arch, 201
9
ISS
N 2410-391
8
A
cces on
l
ine at www.ii
p
cc
l
.or
g
12
9
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Sciences
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustria
Histor
y
of the criminal accusation proces
s
S
y
nthesis of the development of criminal charges in time and space
P
h
D (C.) Arman
d
Gura
k
u
qi
Prosecutor at the Prosecutor’s
O
ce at the First
I
nstance Court o
f
Tirana,
A
lbania
Abstract
I
n order to completely understand the prosecution in a criminal case, it is necessary to analyze
i
ts development in time, presenting at the same time its characteristics in di
erent parts o
f
the world. This component of a criminal process has experienced numerous changes from
a
ncient times until nowadays. Such changes have been simulated by the developments o
f
the
organizing and functioning of states and simultaneously even by the cultural, historical and
s
ocial speci
fi
cs o
f
various countries.
T
his paper will cover the investigation and the indictment, in di erent historical periods,
v
arious states, starting from antiquity until the 19th century. The analysis objectives will be the
s
pecifi cs demonstrated by diverse law systems, concretely of the “civil law” and the “common
l
aw” systems, in relation to the criminal prosecution.
A
presentation of the evolution of this
p
hase of a criminal process will help to be er understand its features in actual times.
A
t the
s
ame time, such analysis could create a base for the explanation of di erences between the
s
ystems o
f
law regarding investigation and indictment.
Ke
y
words
:
Criminal prosecution, indictment, antiquity, middle-age.
Introduction
From anti
q
uit
y
to modern times, the
p
rocess o
f
bringing criminal charges against
someone an
d
p
roving t
h
em
h
as un
d
ergone an extraor
d
inar
y
evo
l
ution, t
h
at
h
as
w
alked in the
f
ootste
p
s dictated b
y
the needs o
f
the state and societ
y
. Thus, the stage
of
re
p
resenting the
p
rosecution in
f
ront o
f
the bod
y
in charge o
f
ruling on the ma er
h
as changed.
I
n anti
q
uit
y
, the chargeswere entirel
y
p
rivate and an
y
individual had
the right to accuse another
p
erson, and subse
q
uentl
y
collect evidence against him
/
her
and seekfor his
/
her
p
unishment. State structures were not involved in the criminal
p
rosecution
p
rocesses, save
f
or some countries
f
or s
p
eci
fi
c cases related to to
p
state
le
v
e
l
s
’
i
nt
e
r
es
t
s.
During the Middle
A
ges, criminal accusation continued to be entrusted to the
i
n
d
ivi
d
ua
l
,
b
eing t
h
us sti
ll
viewe
d
as a
p
rivate ma er. But
d
ue to s
h
ortcomings
w
ith this s
y
stem and challenges
p
resented in terms criminal
p
rosecuting o
enses,
i
n con
d
itions w
h
ere t
h
e nee
d
to
p
ena
l
ize i
ll
ega
l
acts increase
d
in t
h
e societ
y
, t
h
e ro
l
e
of
state organs in the investigation and criminal
p
rosecution
p
hase also increased.
During the 13
th
to
th
e
18
th
centuries, in di
erent countries, di
erent models o
f
the
accusing
p
rocess could be
f
ound. Thus, in Florence o
f
the 13
th
to
t
he
1
5
t
h
centuries
,
an
i
ncrease o
f
the role o
f
the courtwas noted, which,while im
p
lementing the in
q
uisitorial
s
y
stem, too
k
a centra
l
ro
l
e, not on
ly
d
uring t
h
e conviction an
d
execution stage,
b
ut
ac
q
uire
d
an en
h
ance
d
ro
l
e a
l
so
d
uring t
h
e crimina
l
investigation an
d
p
rosecution
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