Selected works
Deepfake Detectors in Criminal Proceedings: Technical and Legal Challenges, in: Jusletter 17. November 2025, https://jusletter.weblaw.ch/fr/juslissues/2025/1262/deepfake-detectors-i_791536e187.html
The emergence of deepfakes in judicial proceedings poses a genuine threat to the administration of justice. As their detection has become virtually impossible to the human eye, AI-based detectors may offer valuable support. Yet these tools raise significant concerns regarding their scientific validity and the principle of equality of arms between the prosecution and the defence. Unless such technologies are required to meet the same procedural and evidential standards as forensic experts, their use in criminal proceedings risks giving rise to miscarriages of justice. This contribution proposes concrete measures to safeguard the integrity of the judicial process.
L’art au renfort de la justice – À propos de : Franck Leibovici et Julien Seroussi, muzungu à la cpi (des œuvres-outils), École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Collège de France, https://laviedesidees.fr/L-art-au-renfort-de-la-justice
Lors d’un colloque réunissant des historiens du droit, un intervenant a affirmé avec aplomb que tous prétendaient connaître Surveiller et punir, mais peu semblaient l’avoir lu. Il en va de même de la Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI) : tous la connaissent, mais peu savent ce qu’il s’y passe réellement. Nul besoin de confesser l’état de nos connaissances, car le livre muzungu à la cpi : des œuvres-outils fournit un accès bienveillant à la CPI, et ce quel que soit l’état de nos connaissances sur cette institution. À la différence des tribunaux ad hoc créés pour juger les crimes commis durant les conflits au Rwanda et en ex-Yougoslavie puis dissous quelques années plus tard, la CPI entre en vigueur en tant que juridiction pénale permanente en 2002. Elle juge les personnes accusées de crimes graves tels que les génocides et les crimes contre l’humanité. Sa création ainsi que son fonctionnement sont inscrits dans le Statut de Rome, un traité adopté en 1998 par 120 États lors d’une conférence convoquée par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. Celui-ci établit ainsi sa compétence internationale pour juger les crimes commis uniquement après cette date.
Prosecutorial Sentencing and Wrongful Convictions in Summary Proceedings: a Comparison of Penal Orders in France, Germany and Switzerland in Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mks-2023-0019/html
Summary proceedings and especially penal orders have become increasingly relevant in criminal justice systems across Europe. The prosecution holds significant power and convictions cannot guarantee that defendants understand their judgment. This contribution compares laws and empirical data on penal orders in France, Germany and Switzerland, with a focus on the role of the prosecution and the rights of the defence. I argue that while penal orders offer an efficient way of processing minor crimes, they also pose a high risk of erroneous sanctions and wrongful convictions. The contribution concludes that in order to protect the rights of the defence, the balance of power between the prosecution and the defendant needs to be improved by granting a hearing before a judgment is rendered, and by translating the penal order and delivering it in judicial appointments. The findings provide valuable insights into the need for continued reform in the area of summary proceedings.
The Criminal Justice System in Germany, book chapter in Jospeter Mbuba (Ed.), Comparative Criminal Justice – International Trends and Perspectives, Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, with Carsten Momsen & Aneta Leszczynska, https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538173145/Comparative-Criminal-Justice-International-Trends-and-Practices
In Comparative Criminal Justice: International Trends and Practices, Dr. Jospeter Mbuba has assembled an impressive group of scholars from across the globe to offer perspectives on the criminal justice systems of nineteen countries. With the countries drawn from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, North America, Western Europe, The Middle East, and The Pacific, this is one of the most comprehensive comparative studies one can ever come across. The volume is a must read for criminal justice policymakers and practitioners and should prove an invaluable resource for those interested in understanding how differences in geographical, historical, and cultural spaces impact the nuances of law enforcement, judicial processes, and penal systems.
Penal Orders and the Risk of Wrongful Convictions in Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice
https://boap.uib.no/index.php/BJCLCJ/article/view/2981
The expansion of simplified criminal procedures has been important over the last thirty years. While they certainly produce judgments at a reduced cost, recent findings hint at their higher risk of wrongful convictions. This article sheds light on the emergence of penal orders in Germany, first used by the Prussian police as mandate orders. Today, numerous countries apply penal orders to minor offences and impose penalties that have become harsher over time. The procedural shortcuts of penal orders, which made them successful in the first place, entail considerable risks of wrongful convictions. Courts are able to render justice more swiftly, but at what cost? In Germany, convictions are recorded in the Central Criminal Register and exclude convicted persons from work in many fields. This article contends that the procedural shortcuts of penal orders, which allow a preliminary prosecutorial investigation to be rendered as a judicial decision, require additional safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions.
Penal Orders for Misdemeanours and Felonies in France: A Procedural Economy at the Expense of the Defence? in International E-Journal of Criminal Sciences, https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/inecs/article/view/23304/20881
The French Code of Criminal Procedure allows misdemeanoursand felonies to be tried under a simplified procedure called penal orders. This entirely written procedure is directed by the prosecution with the support of the police. Once their decision is taken, prosecutors send their file to a judge who would then issue the penal order. If the defendant does not object, the conviction equals a judgment rendered by a court at the end of a trial. The lack of hearing of the defendant and the rights of the defencebeing reduced to their minimal expression might produce erroneous convictions. Although this procedural economy succeeds in unburdening the courts, it comes at the cost of defendants. This contribution discusses the procedure and the rights of the defence in France. It also proposes solutions that could address the shortcomings of penal orders.
The Birth of Criminalistics and the Transition from Lay to Expert Witnesses in German Courts in Journal on European History of Law, with Leonie Benker, http://www.historyoflaw.eu/english/journal_on_european_history_of_law.html
The European judicial setting underwent profound changes with the shift from testimonial to material evidence at the end of the 19th century. Expert witnesses possessing specialist knowledge entered the courtroom, throwing shadow on lay witnesses who suddenly were considered unreliable. This evidential mutation arose from the emergence of specialist knowledge delivered by expert witnesses. New laws were required and judgments were passed in order to clarify the respective competency of experts and judges. Three guideline judgments of the Imperial Court of Justice involving experts are discussed and put in parallel with the principle of free evaluation of evidence as well as with wrongful convictions.
Die strafrechtliche Schuldfähigkeit von drei tauben Mördern in Preußen zwischen 1727 und 1828, book chapter in Marion Schmidt & Anja Werner (Hg.), Zwischen Fremdbestimmung und Autonomie: Neue Impulse zur Gehörlosengeschichte in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-4716-7/zwischen-fremdbestimmung-und-autonomie/?number=978-3-8376-4716-7
Aus einem historisch-kriminologischen Blickwinkel legt Raluca Enescu vor dem Hintergrund der preußischen (Rechts-)Reformen anhand von drei Mordprozessen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert den Wandel juristischer Vorstellungen von der strafrechtlichen Schuldfähigkeit gehörloser Menschen frei. In ihrem detailreichen close reading arbeitet Enescu die in der Rechtsprechung und in der auf Lautsprache basierenden Rechtspraxis produzierten Bilder von Gehörlosigkeit heraus. So zeigt sie, dass ertaubten Menschen größere Einsicht in die Kategorien Recht und Unrecht zugetraut wurde als gehörlos Geborenen. Für die Angeklagten hatte ihre Gehörlosigkeit insgesamt einen ambivalenten Effekt. In den früheren Fällen sahen die Richter entgegen der damals gängigen Praxis von Todesstrafen ab, da die Delinquenten durch ihre Behinderung bereits „gestraft“ seien. Im jüngsten Fall hingegen wurde einem gehörlos Geborenen die Fähigkeit abgesprochen, zwischen Recht und Unrecht unterscheiden zu können – eine Diskriminierung, die zum Freispruch führte. https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-50214
The Imperial Court of Justice, Police Authorities and Bertillon’s Measurements in Journal on European History of Law, http://www.historyoflaw.eu/english/journal_on_european_history_of_law.html
At a time of social and political tensions, the Imperial Court of Justice rendered a unique judgment addressing the practice of police forces with a method of identification developed a few years earlier by Alphonse Bertillon, an anthropologist working at the police prefecture in Paris. An analysis of the line of argumentation of the judges shows how this decision extended the use of identification techniques and sheds light on the objective of their activities more than a century ago. Bertillon’s initial incentive to identify recidivists shows moreover how technical and scientific developments can serve law enforcement and contribute at the same to the production of wrongful convictions.
The Legal Capacity of Deaf Persons in the Decisions of the Imperial Court of Justice in Law, Crime, & History, with Anja Werner, https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/solon/vol6/iss2/5/
The inclusion of deaf persons in a judicial setting raised questions about their ability to bear witness, be convicted, conclude a marriage, make a will and, of course, about the ability of the court to communicate with them. In their decisions, the judges of the Imperial Court of Justice in Leipzig shed light on their interpretation of the capacity of deaf persons to participate in the legal realm. The motivation of their judgments drew comparisons with different categories of citizens to compensate for incomplete laws. They also took into account developments in the education of deaf persons regarding their communication skills and mental capacity. The decisions illustrate that legal and scientific knowledge was closely linked to the effect that deaf persons were granted full legal capacity.
Conviction Paradox and Compensatory Punishment in Criminal Trials in Jusletter, https://jusletter.weblaw.ch/juslissues/2013/738/_11826.html
Does a conviction for a serious crime require less evidence than one for a minor offence? Subsequently, if judges render a guilty verdict while having doubts, will they compensate for it with a more lenient sentence? A case of simple or aggravated assault was presented with a low or high probative value of evidence to four groups of judges. Their sentencing sheds light on the pitfalls of judicial reasoning.
Serial Effects of Evidence on Legal Decision-Making in European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, with André Kuhn, https://journals.copmadrid.org/ejpalc/art/4de81d9105c85bca6e6e4666e6dd536a
The order in which evidence is presented to a criminal court might influence the verdict. This study investigated the serial position effect in a judicial context. 1831 Swiss criminal judges received a filmed mock trial with a specific order stemming from the combination of three witnesses: a forensic expert, an eyewitness and an alibi witness. The evidence order was completely counterbalanced and each witness represented a different type of testimony chosen in accordance with the legal practice. If judges rendered their verdict on the basis of the first witness, a primacy effect would be observed. Conversely, if the last testimony would be preponderant, a recency effect would influence their judgment. Results showed a recency effect based on a defence eyewitness whose placement in the last position provoked significantly less condemnations. Furthermore, the probative value estimated by the judges for each piece of evidence was not associated with its serial impact. Results are discussed in relation to legal decision-making and the identification of a central witness mediating order effects.
L’Absence de Dénonciation des Agressions à Caractère Sexuel in Revue Suisse de Criminologie, https://www.academia.edu/527870/Labsence_de_Dénonciation_des_Agressions_à_Caractère_Sexuel
Un crime ne peut généralement pas être directement observé par les institutions ayant le pouvoir d’en retrouver et d’en poursuivre les auteurs. Ce qui est en revanche enregistré par les instances policières ou juridiques, ce sont diverses formes de réaction au crime (identification d’un suspect, acquittement, incarcération, etc.). Les activités de ces autorités sont donc principalement de nature réactive, en ce sens qu’elles réagissent aux faits portés à leur connaissance plutôt que d’aller au devant de ceux-ci pour les recueillir activement. Ce travail a pour champ d’étude un type particulier de réponse au crime: la dénonciation d’un comportement délictueux. Les agressions à caractère sexuel deviennent officiellement de plus en plus fréquentes. Malgré cette évolution, peu de victimes semblent porter plainte pour ce genre de délit; selon nos source, seules 17% des victimes l’ont fait en 1989 et 19% en 1996. Etant donné ce faible taux de dénonciation, il nous a semblé intéressant de mettre en lumière les éléments associés à une absence de renvoi, afin de se donner les moyens de changer cet état de fait par la mise sur pied de campagnes ciblées de sensibilisation aux éléments associés à la décision de ne pas porter plainte, en montrant notamment leur importance et leur rôle favorisant davantage les auteurs que les victimes, s’ils aboutissent à une absence de dénonciation.
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