Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

Securing of a democratic order is a vertical process (“from above downwards”) responding to the needs and concerns of certain persons and community groups and looking for the public trust, consent and support. Thus it is based on transparency and dialogue. There are social scientific and moral debates over what practices are most conducive to a democratic police (e.g., centralization vs. decentralization, specialists vs. generalists, internal vs. external controls, closeness or distance from those policed, maximum or minimum discretion, single vs. lateral entry). But it is clear that a democratic police can take many forms.

The article presents the current issues and latest trends of the legal and administrative aspects of ensuring public security in the field of how road traffic safety is ensured. The legal regulation in this area and the problems of organizing the activity of institutions responsible for traffic safety are discussed; the situation of traffic safety in Lithuania and other countries in the Baltic region is studied. Utmost attention is attached to the organization and coordination of comprehensive measures, dedicated to the reduction of the rate of accidents. The authors applied general scientific methods of studying objective reality, peculiar to legal sciences: systematic document analysis, meta-analysis, structural-functional analysis, teleological, comparative, critical approach, generalisation and prediction. As a result in this research is emphasised the importance of decentralisation in ensuring public security at the level of the road traffic safety; the main guidelines of modernization in this field are presented.

The Part II is the continuation of the discussions begun in the last issue of Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues 6(3) in area of ensuring public security in the fight against crime and focuses in particular on the importance of creating models for control and prevention of new crime acts. Also, the problems of prevention and control of some conditionally distinguished criminal processes – shadow economy, corruption, fight against human trafficking and domestic violence – are scrutinized. In consideration of the limited scope of the work and striving for the concentration of the research, analysis of these criminal processes is conducted just to the extent it is important in order to distinguish the main topical issues pertaining to the modernization of coordination for ensuring public security.

The Part I of article presents the current issues and latest trends of one of the public security policy one of priority – ensuring public security in combating crime. In article covers the main quantitative and qualitative indicators of the present-day crime in Lithuania and in the world; the key problems of crime prevention optimization and legal regulation and institutional problems of criminal process control are elucidated. This research focuses in particular on the importance of creating models for control and prevention of new crime acts. Also, the problems of prevention and control of some conditionally distinguished criminal processes – shadow economy, corruption, fight against human trafficking and violence in family environment – are scrutinized. As a result in this research is emphasised the importance of decentralisation in combating crime; the main guidelines of optimization and modernisation in this field are presented. The authors applied general scientific methods of studying objective reality, peculiar to legal sciences: systematic document analysis, metaanalysis, structural-functional analysis, teleological, comparative, critical approach, generalisation and prediction.

The long-term existence of the civilization of Ancient Rome within the framework of one national formation should be acknowledged as a unique example of national sustainability. Such sustainability was also ensured by the successful economic growth, the elements of social policy implemented by state authority etc. However, the particular emphasis should be placed on the role of very effective Roman legal system – it is the legal institutes developed within the framework of this system should be acknowledged as one of the most essential factors ensuring the sustainable development of Ancient Rome and public security. Roman “infamy” (infamia – Latin) is an example of such very important legal institute. Infamy (infamia – Latin) was applied in the situations when a Roman not only broke the law thus facing the criminal or civil liability, but also came into the collision with the society’s ethical views on what is good and what is particularly undesirable thus taking a risk to lose the reputation and to have specific restrictions regarding rights. According to the information found in the primary sources of Roman law, the shield of infamy (infamia – Latin) protected a wide range of issues significant for the society (the state military defence, morality, family values, the interests of national economic circulation, an individual’s life, health, economic interests, the right for the just trial and just settlement of individual and property disputes) thus serving as a driving force for the sustainable development of the state and society of Ancient Rome and public security.