Books

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is pivotal not only in the criminal justice system, but also in the proper functioning of South Africa’s democracy. This monograph focuses on the independence, accountability and performance of the NPA in relation to its core function of prosecution. The monograph finds that the prosecutorial decision to decline to prosecute is both specifically and systematically exercised to such an extent that proportionally fewer cases are placed on the court roll each year and fewer still are brought to trial. The best indication of this is that the number of verdicts and the number of persons sentenced to prison show a general decline. It concludes that this tendency to decline to prosecute is currently the central malaise affecting the NPA.

Actively supported by a network of Member States, and United Nations and non-United Nations partners, the Department for Peacekeeping Operations, through its Criminal Law and Judicial Advisory Service, has taken significant steps to develop a platform of tools, materials and training programmes which will guide and support the work of its justice and corrections components in the field and also be of utility for the entire United Nations system. 

This Handbook serves as an essential “textbook” for judicial affairs officers working in post-conflict environments. It does not seek to prescribe the strategic and programmatic decisions of individual missions, which operate with differing mandates and under unique circumstances. Rather, it provides an invaluable reference guide for use prior to, and during, deployment in the field.

Strengthening a country’s capacity to develop, maintain and manage a viable, safe, secure and humane prison system is an integral part of sustainable, nationally-owned peacebuilding efforts and an important building block for preventing relapse into conflict. This Prison Incident Management Handbook is intended to provide guidance to United Nations
corrections officers and other partners that assist national prison authorities in addressing the many prison security challenges. It provides a framework to maintain good order in prisons and exercise safe and humane control of prisoners.

This manual was developed to support the training programme on the Evaluation of Humanitarian Action (EHA), delivered in collaboration with ALNAP. This training is facilitated by Margie Buchanan-Smith and John Cosgrave, who are responsible for developing this manual to support the trainings.

The trainings are further supported by a set of presentations, exercises, and case studies specific to each training, and by a bibliography of evaluation references.

There are two trainings. The first is an introductory to intermediate level training which runs for three days. This training is open to evaluators, evaluation managers and users. It presents an opportunity for learning and exchange between participants from different backgrounds and who play different roles. This 3-day training programme has been developed drawing on a variety of sources and is constantly updated.

The second training focuses on advanced topics. This training is for evaluators and evaluation managers who already have extensive experience of evaluations of humanitarian action. The course focuses on areas which often pose challenges for evaluators and evaluation managers. It is an opportunity for participants to reflect on their own experience and the experience of peers to improve their work.

This manual contains most of the reference materials that are used on both trainings, and more, and is therefore constantly being updated. For ease of use and accessibility it has been divided into eight sections.

Articles by Ukrainian and foreign authors included in this issue of the Almanac present different views and assessments of the state and prospects of Ukraine’s security sector development. The Almanac is structured into four sections and annexes. The first section reviews general issues dealing with the national security policy, the state and development of the security sector. The second section covers defence issues, the third – with internal security structures, the fourth – the state and prospects of Ukraine’s defence industry. Annexes carry supporting materials supplementing the articles.