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District Attorney

District attorney

A district attorney is, in some jurisdictions, the title of the local prosecutor, the American public official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminals. Because different levels of government in the U.S. operate independently of one another, there are many differences between persons who perform this function at the federal, state, and county levels. Similar functions are carried out in other jurisdictions by officers such as the Commonwealth's Attorney or County Attorney. The proper title for a federal prosecutor is United States Attorney. Such officers are appointed by the President of the United States, serves under the Attorney General, and prosecute cases in the district courts of the federal government. Most states also have an Attorney General who oversees prosecutions throughout the state. A district attorney of a state is often called a state's attorney. However, the district attorney of a county (often called the county attorney) usually serves as the chief prosecutor for the county, holding the highest office in the county's legal department, and supervising a staff of assistant district attorneys. Depending on the system in place in the particular state or county, district attorneys may be appointed by the chief executive of the region, elected by the people, or hired directly by the supervisor of the particular office in which they work. The equivalent position within England and many Commonwealth countries is the Director of Public Prosecutions.

External link

- [http://www.prosecutor.info www.prosecutor.info] … indexes over 2,900 prosecutor web sites throughout the USA and other countries
- [http://www.ndaa.org/ Website of the National District Attorneys Association] Category:United States law Category:Common law Category:Lawyers Category:Prosecutors
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Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries adopting the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual suspected of breaking the law in a criminal trial.
- [http://www.prosecutor.info www.prosecutor.info] indexes over 2,900 prosecutor web sites throughout the USA and other countries.

Common law countries

Prosecutors are typically lawyers who possess a university degree in law, are recognized as legal professionals by the court in which they intend to represent the state, and, in countries where the distinction is made, are barristers or advocates. They usually only become involved in a criminal case once charges need to be laid. They are typically employed by an office of the government with safeguards in place to ensure such an office can successfully pursue the prosecution of government officials. Often multiple offices exist in a single country due to the various legal jurisdictions that exist. In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and Canada the director of any such office is typically known as the Director of Public Prosecutions and is appointed (as opposed to elected). In the United States the director of any such offices may be known by any of several names depending on the legal jurisdiction (e.g. County Attorney, County Prosecutor, State Attorney, State Prosecutor, Commonwealth's Attorney, District Attorney, City Attorney, City Prosecutor or U.S. Attorney) and may be either appointed or elected. Unlike a defense attorney, a U.S. prosecutor's primary role is to seek justice rather than to prevail. Thus, a U.S. prosecutor's goal is not always a trial conviction. Most criminal prosecutions in the United States, therefore, are settled by a plea agreement. The prosecutor and the defense decide to forego the inherent risks of trial and compromise. This process usually results in the defendant tendering a plea of guilt (or no contest) to either a lesser charge, or to the charged offense with a joint recommendation to the judge of a more lenient sentence than the defendant would have received following a guilty verdict at trial. The defendant benefits by a known outcome and a probable lesser sentence; the prosecution benefits by a known outcome and the expenditure of less time and resources. Most prosecutors will not "plea bargain" certain types of cases. Though Scotland has a common law system (see Scots law), its heritage in civil law leads to a situation more reminiscient of a civil law jurisdiction. Here all prosecutions are carried out by Procurators Fiscal and Advocates Depute on behalf of the Lord Advocate, and, in theory, they can direct investigations by the police. In very serious cases a Procurator Fiscal, Advocate Depute or even the Lord Advocate may take charge of a police investigation. It is at the discretion of the Procurator Fiscal, Advocate Depute or Lord Advocate to take a prosecution to court and to decide on whether to prosecute it under solemn procedure or summary procedure. Other remedies are open to a prosecutor in Scotland, including fiscal fines and non-court based interventions such as rehabilitation and social work. All prosecutions are handled within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Procurators fiscal will usualy refer cases involving minors to Children's Hearings, which are not courts of law, but a panel of lay members empowered to act in the interests of the child. Being backed by the power of the state, prosecutors are usually subject to special professional responsibility rules in addition to those binding all lawyers as a whole. For example, as "ministers of justice," American prosecutors are supposed to act in good faith, and can be disbarred for deliberately hiding evidence that exonerates the defendant.

Civil law countries

Prosecutors are typically civil servants who possess a university degree in law and additional training in the administration of justice. In some countries, such as France, they belong to the same corps of civil servants as the judges. In France, the prosecutor, or procureur (or procureur général in a Appeal Court or the Court of Cassation) is assisted by deputies (substituts). He opens preliminary enquiries, and if necessary asks for the nomination of an investigating magistrate to lead a judiciary information. In the case of an information led by a judge, the prosecutor does not lead the enquiries, but simply lays down the scope of the crimes that the judge and law enforcement forces investigate upon; he may, like defense attorneys, request or suggest further enquiries. During a criminal trial, the prosecutor has to lay the case in front of the trier of fact (judges or jury). He generally suggests a certain sentence, which the court has no obligation to follow — the court may decide on a higher or lower sentence. The procureur has also some other duties regarding more generally the administration of justice. In Germany, the Staatsanwalt (literally 'state attorney') does not just have the "professional responsibility" (as mentioned above) not to withhold exculpatory information, but is required by law to actively determine such circumstances. Category:Legal occupations Category:Prosecution Category:Criminal law ja:検察官

Commonwealth's Attorney

Commonwealth's Attorney is the title given to the elected felony prosecutor in Virginia and Kentucky. While many other states have titles such as District Attorney for their prosecutors, Virginia and Kentucky (along with Pennsylvania and Massachusetts) each style their state as a Commonwealth and have chosen this name for their felony prosecutors. Kentucky derived the title of the office from Virginia, as it did much of its law when it was broken away from Virginia to become the 15th state. Commonwealth's Attorneys are elected in their separate jurisdictions in both Virginia and Kentucky.

External links

- [http://www.prosecutor.info www.prosecutor.info] indexes 2,900+ prosecutor and Commonwealth's Attorney web sites throughout the USA and other countries.
- [http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/Constitution.htm Constitution of Virginia]
- [http://lrc.ky.gov/legresou/constitu/intro.htm Kentucky Constitution]
- [http://leg1.state.va.us/000/src.htm Virginia Statutes]
- [http://lrc.ky.gov/statrev/frontpg.htm Kentucky Statutes]
- [http://www.vbgov.com/dept/oca/ Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Virginia Beach, Virginia]
- [http://www.co.chesterfield.va.us/ConstitutionalOfficers/CommonwealthAttorney/comatty.asp Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Chesterfield County, Virginia (Chesterfield)]
- [http://www.louisvilleprosecutor.com Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Jefferson County, Kentucky (Louisville)]
- [http://www.lexingtonprosecutor.com Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Fayette County, Kentucky (Lexington)] Category:Legal occupations Category:Lawyers Category:Prosecutors Category:Government of Kentucky

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the U.S. federal government in United States district court. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. One U.S. Attorney is assigned to each of the judicial districts, with the exception of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands where a single U.S. Attorney serves in both districts. Each U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer within his or her particular jurisdiction. U.S. Attorneys and their offices are part of the Department of Justice, and thus of the executive branch of the government. U.S. Attorneys are supported by the Justice Department's Executive Office for United States Attorneys.

History

The Office of the United States Attorney was first created by the Judiciary Act of 1789, which provided for the appointment in each judicial district of a "Person learned in the law to act as attorney for the United States...whose duty it shall be to prosecute in each district all delinquents for crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the United States, and all civil actions in which the United States shall be concerned..."

Appointment

The U.S. Attorney is appointed by and serves at the discretion of the President of the United States for a term of four years, with appointments subject to confirmation by the Senate. In practice, if a state has a Senator of the same party as the President, the seniormost such Senator selects the U.S. attorneys for the judicial districts in his or her state. Upon expiration of his or her term, the U.S. Attorney continues to perform the duties of the office until a successor is confirmed. Each U.S. Attorney is subject to removal by the President. When the President nominates a U.S. Attorney, the Attorney General routinely asks the district court that the nominee be installed on an interim basis while awaiting confirmation by the Senate. The Attorney General is authorized to appoint Assistant U.S. Attorneys, but in practice these are generally selected by the U.S. Attorney of each district. When a vacancy occurs, the Attorney General, generally under the directions of the President, may appoint an Interim or Acting U.S. Attorney for a maximum of 120 days, to allow time for the President to appoint a new Attorney. If the appointment expires, the District Court may appoint a U.S. Attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled.

Role

The U.S Attorney is both the primary representative and the administrative head of the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the district. The U.S. Attorney's office is the chief prosecutor for the United States in criminal law cases, and represents the United States in civil law cases as both the defendant and plaintiff. The responsibility in civil law is limited in the same way as the limits on the district court. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has the additional responsibility of representing the District of Columbia in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

List of current U.S. Attorneys' offices

Extinct U.S. Attorney's offices

- U.S. Attorney for the District of Michigan

External links

- [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ United States Attorneys Mission Statement]
- [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/ United States Attorneys' Manual]
- [http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/termstart.htm Memorandum on Starting Date for Calculating the Term of an Interim U.S. Attorney]
- [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/Divisions/index.html D.C. Superior Court Division]
- [http://www.prosecutor.info Index of prosecuting offices in all state and federal jurisdictions, and some foreign jurisdictions.] Category:United States law Category:Legal occupations Category:Prosecutors Attorney Category:Lawyers

Attorney General of the United States

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The current Attorney General is Alberto Gonzales. The Attorney General is America's highest ranking law enforcement officer and is considered "America's lawyer". The office of Attorney General was established by Congress in 1789. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments." (Judiciary Act of 1789, section 35.) Only in 1870 was the Department of Justice established to support the Attorney General in the discharge of his responsibilities. The members of the Department of Justice represent the United States in legal matters generally and offer advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. The Attorney General appears in person to represent the Government before the Supreme Court in cases of exceptional importance. Under most circumstances the United States Solicitor General argues before the Supreme Court on the government's behalf. The Attorney General is a member of the President's Cabinet, the only member who is not given the title Secretary.

External link

- [http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/ls/agbiographies.htm Biographies of the Attorneys General] Justice Attorney General Attorney General

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General or Attorney-General, is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.

Australia

In Australia the Attorney-General is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. The current Attorney General, as of 2005, is Phillip Ruddock. The Justice and Customs Minister is the minister assisting the Attorney-General. The current Minister is Senator Chris Ellison. The Justice and Customs Minister is responsable for the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service. The Australian states each have an Attorney General, who is a state minister with similar responsibilities to the federal minister with respect to state law. Functions of the state and federal Attorneys General include the administration of the selection of persons for nomination to judicial posts, and authorising prosecutions. In normal circumstances the prosecutorial powers of the AG are exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions and staff, however the AG maintains formal control, including the power to initiate and terminate public prosecutions and take over private prosecutions. Statutory criminal law provides that prosecutions for certain offences require the individual consent of the AG. (This is generally for offences whose illegality is of a somewhat controversial nature, or where there is perceived to be a significant risk that prosecutions of a political nature may be embarked upon.) The AG also generally has the power to issue certificates legally conclusive of certain facts (e.g. that the revelation of certain matters in court proceedings might constitute a risk to national security); the facts stated in such certificates must be accepted by the courts and cannot legally be disputed by any parties. The AG also has the power to issue directions of nolle prosequi with respect to an offence, which legally prohibit any person from prosecuting it.

Brazil

In Brazil the Attorney General - Procurador Geral da República - is the head of the federal prosecution service - Ministério Público Federal ([Procuradoria Geral da República])- an autonomous organ in charge of criminal prosecution, the defence of minorities' interests, the environment, and the protection of constitutional values. The Attorney General heads a group of independent magistrates who work to investigate and prosecute criminal and civil offenses committed against society and, specially, against racial, sexual, religious and political minorities or the environment. The task of advising the President, head of the Executive Branch, is left to the Advocate General, office in charge of deffending the federal government, and the Minister of Justice, a cabinet member who is in charge of the federal police, amongst other duties, organ which investigating activities are overseen by federal prosecutors (Procuradores da República) in the Attorney General's office.

Canada

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General are combined into one cabinet position in Canada. The Attorney General is the chief law officer of the Crown. The Minister of Justice is concerned with questions of policy and their relationship to the justice system. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (previously titled Solicitor General) is a separate cabinet position and administers the police, prisons, and security agencies of the federal government. See also Attorney General of Ontario

England and Wales

The Attorney General for England and Wales is similarly the chief law officer of the Crown in England and Wales, and advises and represents the Crown and government departments in court. In practice, the Treasury Solicitor normally provides the lawyers to do the actual appearance in court, although the Attorney General may appear in person if he wishes. He provides legal advice to the Government; for example, on the legality of the second Gulf War. He also acts as the representative of the public interest; for example, in relation to charities. The Attorney General has supervisory powers over the prosecution of criminal offences, but is not personally involved with prosecutions; however, some prosecutions (e.g. Riot) cannot be commenced without his consent, and he has the power to halt prosecutions generally. Criminal prosecutions are the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service, headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Attorney General may appeal cases to the higher courts where, although the particular case is settled, a point of law of public importance is at issue. The Attorney General of the Duchy of Cornwall is the chief legal adviser to the Prince of Wales, and there is a separate Attorney General for the Duchy of Lancaster, which is owned by the Crown. : For Scotland, see Lord Advocate

Northern Ireland

During the period of direct rule in Northern Ireland from 1973 to 1998, the Attorney General for England and Wales was also Attorney General for Northern Ireland. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland executive is now advised by an Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

Hong Kong

The Attorney General of Hong Kong, renamed Secretary for Justice after transfer of sovereignty in 1997, is the legal adviser of the Hong Kong Government and heads the Department of Justice, assisted by the Solicitor General. Crimes and offences are prosecuted at the suit of the Secretary of Justice. The Secretary of Justice, appointed (ceremonial) by the Central People's Government in Beijing on the advice of the Chief Executive, is an ex-officio member of the Executive Council. The position is normally held by a legal professional, and, before July 2002, a civil service position.

India

The Attorney General of India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in dealing with the Supreme Court of India. The attorney general is usually a highly-respected Senior Advocate of the Court, and is appointed by the ruling government. The office of the Attorney General was created by the Constitution of India, and attorneys general have the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote. Unlike e.g. the Attorney General of the United States, the Attorney General of India does not have executive authority and is not a government minister; those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India. The attorney general is assisted by the Solicitor General of India and several additional solicitors general.

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland the Attorney-General is the principal law officer of the state and legal adviser to the Government of Ireland. He is not a member of the Government though he attends cabinet meetings. He is appointed by the President of Ireland upon the nomination of the Taoiseach. Before 1974 all crimes and offences were prosecuted at the suit of the Attorney General. Since then indictable criminal offences have been prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to Government is a constituent department of the Office of the Attorney General. Prior to 1922, a similar role was performed by a UK Government Minister, the Attorney-General for Ireland. : See also: Chief State Solicitor

Mexico

: See: Attorney General (Mexico)

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Attorney-General is the chief law officer and primary legal advisor of the New Zealand government. Historically, the post could be held either by a politician or by a senior jurist, but today, it is invariably held by a member of Parliament. The Attorney-General attends Cabinet, but the post is not the same as the Minister of Justice. The Attorney-General has departmental responsibility for the Crown Law Office, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and the Serious Fraud Office.

United States

In the Federal Government of the United States, the Attorney General is a member of the Cabinet and as head of the Department of Justice is the top law enforcement officer and lawyer for the government. The attorney general may need to be distinguished from the Solicitor General, a high Justice Department official with the responsibility of representing the government in the Supreme Court. In cases of exceptional importance, however, the Attorney General may choose to represent the government himself in the Supreme Court. The individual U.S. states also have Attorneys General with similar responsibilities. The majority of state Attorneys General are chosen by popular election, as opposed to the U.S. Attorney General who is a Presidential appointee. : See also: District Attorney

External links

- [http://www.prosecutor.info www.prosecutor.info] indexes over 2,900 prosecutor web sites throughout the USA and other countries
- [http://www.eatoncounty.org/prosecutor/pa-world.htm www.eatoncounty.org/prosecutor/pa-world.htm] indexes international (non-USA) Attorney General web sites
- [http://www.pgr.mpf.gov.br/ Home page of the Brazilian Attorney General]
- [http://www.irlgov.ie/ag/ Home page of the Irish Attorney General]
- [http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/index.html Home page of the Canadian Department of Justice]
- [http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/ Home page of the Attorney General of the United States]
- [http://www.ag.gov.au/ Home page of the Australian Attorney-General's Department] Category:Legal occupations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as The Commonwealth, is an association of independent sovereign states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire. It was once known as the British Commonwealth of Nations or British Commonwealth, and some still call it by that name, either for historical reasons or to distinguish it from the other commonwealths around the world, such as the Commonwealth of Australia and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of State of 16 Commonwealth Realms, is the Head of the Commonwealth; this title, however, does not imply any political power over member nations, and does not automatically belong to the British monarch. The Commonwealth is primarily an organisation in which countries with diverse economic backgrounds have an opportunity for close and equal interaction. The primary activities of the Commonwealth are designed to create an atmosphere of economic cooperation between member nations, as well as the promotion of democracy, human rights, and good governance in them. The Commonwealth is not a political union of any sort, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organisation's other members. While some nations of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth Realms, recognize the British Monarch as their head of state, the majority do not.

Origins

Although performing a vastly different function, the Commonwealth is the successor of the British Empire. In 1884, whilst visiting Adelaide, South Australia, Lord Rosebery described the changing British Empire, as its former colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations". The formal organisation of the Commonwealth has its origins in the Imperial Conferences of the late 1920s (conferences of British and colonial Prime Ministers had occurred periodically since 1887), where the independence of the self-governing colonies and especially of Dominions was recognized, particularly in the Balfour Declaration at the Imperial Conference in 1926, when the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This relationship was eventually formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. 1931 After World War II, the Empire was gradually dismantled, partly owing to the rise of independence movements in the then-subject territories (such as that started in India under the influence of the Mohandas Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah), and partly owing to the British Government's strained circumstances resulting from the cost of the war. The word "British" was dropped in 1946 from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect the changing position. Burma (1948) and Aden (1967) are the only former colonies not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Among the former protectorates and mandates, Egypt (1953), Israel (1948), Iraq (1932), Bahrain (1971), Qatar (1971), United Arab Emirates (1971), Jordan (1946), Kuwait (1961) and Oman (1971) never became members of the Commonwealth. The Republic of Ireland was a member but left the Commonwealth upon becoming a republic in 1949. However, the Ireland Act 1949 was passed by the Parliament of Westminster and gave citizens of the Republic of Ireland a status similar to that of other citizens of the Commonwealth in UK law. The issue of republican status within the Commonwealth was resolved in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. India agreed that when it became a republic in January 1950 it would accept the King as ‘symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such Head of the Commonwealth’. The other Commonwealth countries in turn recognised India's continuing membership of the association. (At Pakistan’s insistence, India was not regarded as an exceptional case and it was assumed that other states would be accorded the same treatment as India.) The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. As the Commonwealth grew, the United Kingdom and the pre-1945 Dominions (a term that was formally dropped in the 1940s) became informally known as the "Old Commonwealth", particularly in the 1960s onwards when some of them differed with poorer, Afro-Asian (or New Commonwealth) members over various issues at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings. Accusations that the old, "White" Commonwealth has different interests from African Commonwealth nations in particular, as well as charges of racism and colonialism, arose during heated debates concerning Rhodesia in the 1970s, the imposition of sanctions against apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s and, more recently, over the issue of whether to press for democratic reforms in Nigeria and then Zimbabwe. The term "New Commonwealth" is also used in Britain in debates over non-white immigration from these countries. In recent years, the term "White Commonwealth" has been used in a derogatory sense to imply that the wealthier, white nations of the Commonwealth had different interests and goals from the non-white, and particularly the African members. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has used the term frequently to allege that the Commonwealth's attempts to catalyse political changes in his country is motivated by racism and colonialist attitudes and that the White Commonwealth dominates the Commonwealth of Nations as a whole. In Britain, the term New Commonwealth was used in the 1960s and 1970s to refer to recently decolonised countries that were predominantly non-white and underdeveloped. The term was often used in reference to immigration to Britain from "New Commonwealth" countries.

Membership

immigration The Commonwealth encompasses a population of approximately 1.8 billion people, making up about 30% of the world's total. India is the most populous member, with a billion people at the 2001 census, while Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria each contain more than 100 million people; Tuvalu, by contrast, the smallest, has only 11,000 inhabitants. The land area of the Commonwealth nations equals about a quarter of the world's land area, with Australia, Canada (the world's second-largest nation by area) and India each having more than 1.5 million square miles. Membership is open to countries that accept the association's basic aims. Members are also required to have a present or past constitutional link to the United Kingdom or to another Commonwealth member. Not all members have had direct constitutional ties to the United Kingdom: some South Pacific countries were formerly under Australian or New Zealand administration, while Namibia was governed by South Africa from 1920 until independence in 1990. Cameroon joined in 1995 although only a fraction of its territory had formerly been under British administration through the League of Nations mandate of 1920–46 and United Nations Trusteeship arrangement of 1946–61. There is only one member of the present Commonwealth which has never had any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member. Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony was admitted in 1995 on the back of the triumphal re-admission of South Africa and Mozambique's first democratic elections, held in 1994. The move was supported by Mozambique's neighbours, all of whom were members of the Commonwealth and who wished to offer assistance in overcoming the losses incurred as a result of the country's opposition to white minority regimes in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. In 1997, amid some discontent, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that Mozambique's admission should be seen as a special case and should not set a precedent.

Non-members

Tongue in cheek, Charles de Gaulle twice suggested that France, though it was never a member of the British Empire (even if for centuries English/British monarchs claimed the title 'King of France') should apply for Commonwealth membership; this idea was never realised, but may be seen as a follow-up to a proposal made by Churchill to join the British and French governments during World War II, instead of the puppet regime of Vichy France. David Ben-Gurion suggested that Israel join the Commonwealth, but this proposal was opposed by most Israelis for suggesting dependence upon the United Kingdom, and by the organisation as suggesting a firmer support for Israel than it actually offered. Egypt and Iraq have never shown an interest in joining the Commonwealth, despite their histories of British rule. Similarly Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Oman are not members. Nor is the United States, which was formed from former British colonies in 1776 and maintains close cultural ties with the United Kingdom. Hong Kong also did not join the Commonwealth following the end of British rule in 1997, as it became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.

Suspension

In recent years the Commonwealth has suspended several members "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for failure to uphold democratic government. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation. Fiji, which had ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth 1987–1997 as a result of a republican coup d'etat, was suspended 2000–2001, after a military coup, as was Pakistan from 1999 until 2004. Nigeria was suspended between 1995 and 1999. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns with the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF government, before withdrawing from the organisation in 2003.

Termination of membership

As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. Pakistan left the Commonwealth in 1972 in protest at Commonwealth recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined in 1989. Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth in 2003 when Commonwealth Heads of Government refused to lift the country's suspension on human rights and governance grounds. Although Heads of Government have the power to suspend member states, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members. However, Commonwealth Realms which become republics automatically cease to be members unless, like India in 1950, they obtain the permission of other members to remain in the organisation as a republic. The Republic of Ireland did not apply for re-admittance after becoming a republic in 1949, as the Commonwealth at the time did not allow republican membership. However the leader of its Opposition at the time, Eamon de Valera, believed the Republic of Ireland's decision not to apply to stay was a mistake. He and his successor as Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, both considered re-applying. Éamon Ó Cuív, a minister in the present Irish Government (and himself de Valera's grandson), raised the issue of the Republic's possible reapplication a number of times in the 1990s. However, the issue arouses both some hostility and indifference in Ireland, where some people still associate the Commonwealth with British imperialism, even though the majority of member states are now republics. The Republic of Ireland was the first nation ever to leave the Commonwealth and not rejoin. South Africa was effectively prevented from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961 as a result of hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, after the end of apartheid in 1990. The declaration of a republic in the Fiji Islands in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians in Fiji political power, was not accompanied by application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after racialist provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made.

Organisation and objectives

Queen Elizabeth II is the nominal Head of the Commonwealth. Some members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth Realms, also recognize the Queen as their head of state. However, the majority of members are republics, and a handful of others are indigenous monarchies. The Queen's position as Head of the Commonwealth is not hereditary, and when and if the present Prince of Wales becomes King, it will be for Commonwealth Heads of Government to decide whether he assumes the role of Head of the Commonwealth. Since 1965 there has been a London-based Secretariat. The current (2005) Commonwealth Secretary-General is Don McKinnon, a former Foreign Minister of New Zealand. The organisation is celebrated each year on Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March. The Commonwealth has long been distinctive as an international forum where highly developed economies (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) and many of the world's poorer countries seek to reach agreement by consensus. This aim has sometimes been difficult to achieve, as when disagreements over Rhodesia in the 1970s and over apartheid South Africa in the 1980s led to a cooling of relations between the United Kingdom and African members. The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth presidents or prime ministers assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Prime Ministers' Conferences and earlier Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc. The most important statement of the Commonwealth's principles is the 1991 Harare Declaration, which dedicated the organisation to democracy and good government, and allowed for action to be taken against members who breached these principles. Before then the Commonwealth's collective actions had been limited by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other members.

Benefits of membership and contemporary concerns

The Commonwealth has often been likened to an English gentlemen's club, and the issue of membership - who is and who is not a member of the organisation - often seems to be more important, and certainly attracts much more attention, than what the organisation actually does. This is because the main benefit of membership is the opportunity for close and relatively frequent interaction, on an informal and equal basis, between members who share many ties of language, culture, and history. In its early days, the Commonwealth also constituted a significant economic bloc. Commonwealth countries accorded each others' goods privileged access to their markets ("Commonwealth Preference"), and there was a free or preferred right of migration from one Commonwealth country to another. These rights have been steadily eroded, but their consequences remain. Within most Commonwealth countries, there are substantial communities with family ties to other members of the Commonwealth, going beyond the effects of the original colonization of parts of the Commonwealth by settlers from the British Isles. Furthermore, consumers in Commonwealth countries retain many preferences for goods from other members of the Commonwealth, so that even in the absence of tariff privileges, there continues to be more trade within the Commonwealth than might be predicted. On the United Kingdom's entry to the European Union, the Lomé Convention preserved some of the preferential access rights of Commonwealth goods to the UK market. In more recent decades there has been a mutual decline of interest in maintaining active inter-Commonwealth relations, and the organisation's direct political and economic importance has declined. Realist critics have argued that in the 21st Century the organisation is an inherently arbitrary alliance with members that are united only through a historical accident of British colonialism. They argue that the organisation lacks a balanced membership, and point out that it is very unusual for any international organisation to exclude highly important regions of the world such as most of Western Europe and South America from membership. Indeed, many Commonwealth members look increasingly to regional partners, non-Commonwealth as well as Commonwealth, to form their most important alliances. The United Kingdom has forged closer relationships with other European countries through the European Union; the UK's entry was widely felt as a betrayal by citizens of the "Old Commonwealth" whose economies had been developed on the assumption of access to British markets. Similarly, former British colonies have forged closer relationships with non-Commonwealth trading partners and closer geographic neighbours. Reaction to immigration from the new Commonwealth countries into the United Kingdom in the 1950s and early 1960s led to the restriction of the right of migration. The Commonwealth today mainly restricts itself to encouraging community between nations and to placing moral pressure on members who violate international laws, such as human rights laws, and abandon democratically-elected government. Key activities today include training experts in developing countries and assisting with and monitoring elections. Some Commonwealth countries give Commonwealth citizens privileges that are not accorded to aliens: for example, in the United Kingdom, the right to vote is given to all Commonwealth citizens resident in that country. This is reciprocated mainly in the Commonwealth Caribbean, even to the point where in some of the countries (including the UK) resident Commonwealth citizens may even be elected or appointed to the national legislature. However, these privileges are largely not on a reciprocal basis, and it is up to each country to decide what privileges it accords to Commonwealth citizenship, with the exception of the Commonwealth Scholarship. Other privileges that the United Kingdom grants Commonwealth citizens include access to immigration programmes such as the working holidaymaker visa. Some of the privileges offered by the individual countries have eroded over the last few decades, although most countries continue to afford special treatment in the area of immigration (e.g. right of abode in UK for some) and visas.

Cultural Links

The Commonwealth is also useful as an international organisation that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer developing nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds. The common inheritance of the English language and literature, the common law, and British systems of administration all underpin the club-like atmosphere of the Commonwealth. Mostly as a result of their history of British rule, many Commonwealth nations share certain identifiable traditions and customs that are elements of a shared Commonwealth culture. Examples include common sports such as cricket and rugby, driving on the left, parliamentary and legal traditions, and the use of British rather than American spelling conventions (see Commonwealth English). None of these is universal within the Commonwealth countries, nor exclusive to them, but all of them are more common in the Commonwealth than elsewhere. The Commonwealth countries share many links at non-governmental levels, with over a hundred non-governmental organisations that are organised on a Commonwealth wide basis, notably in the areas of sport, culture, education, and other charitable sectors. A multi-sports championship called the Commonwealth Games is held every four years, two years after each Olympic Games. As well as the usual athletic disciplines, the games include sports popular throughout the Commonwealth such as bowls. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is an important vehicle for academic links, particularly through offering scholarships, principally the Commonwealth Scholarship, for students to study in universities in other Commonwealth countries. There are also many non-official associations that bring together individuals who work within the spheres of law and government, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. In recent years the Commonwealth model has inspired similar initiatives on the part of France and Portugal and their respective ex-colonies, and in the former case, other sympathetic governments: the organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese-speaking countries).

Literature

The shared history of British rule has also produced a substantial body of writing in many languages - Commonwealth literature. There is an Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies ([http://www.aclals.org ACLALS]) with nine chapters worldwide. ACLALS holds an international conference every three years. The [http://aclals.org/events/2k4/participants.htm 13th Triennial] was held in Hyderabad, India, in August 2004; the next will be held in 2007 in Calgary, Canada. In 1987, the Commonwealth Foundation established the [http://www.commonwealthwriters.com/ Commonwealth Writers Prize] "to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin." Caryl Phillips won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 for A Distant Shore. Mark Haddon won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2004 Best First Book prize worth £3,000 for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Although not affiliated with the Commonwealth in an official manner, the prestigious Booker Prize is awarded annually to an author from a Commonwealth country. This honour is one of the highest in literature.

Commonwealth Business Council

The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at the Edinburgh CHOGM in 1997. The aim was to utilise the global network of the Commonwealth more effectively for the promotion of global trade and investment for shared prosperity. The CBC acts as a bridge for cooperation between business and government, concentrating efforts on these specific areas:
- Enhancing Trade
- Mobilising Investment
- Promoting Corporate Citizenship
- Facilitating ICT for Development
- Public Private Partnerships Commonwealth countries are major stakeholders in the process and success of the Doha Development Agenda. Together the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries account for 30 per cent of the world’s population and about 25 per cent of its international trade and investment. Commonwealth countries account for 40 per cent of WTO membership. CBC’s trade development objectives include encouraging trade facilitation and further liberalisation of services; encouraging developing countries to play an active role in the WTO, and in new trade rounds, by maximising their negotiating strength through cooperative action. The CBC helps to mobilise investment into Commonwealth countries through measures including ensuring access to international capital markets; strengthening 26 domestic capital markets; encouraging regional integration; committing the private sector to work together with governments to help achieve a successful market economy for generating investment. A key feature of CBC is its global membership, comprising corporate members from both developed and developing countries. This gives CBC the capacity to make a special contribution to the debate on corporate citizenship, dominated by developed countries. The CBC has been working to involve private sector engagement in facilitating the implementation of an Information Communications Technologies for Development programme. The CBC programme enhances collaborative partnerships between the various stakeholders including governments, private sector, donor agencies and civil society. Major goals include:
- Bridge the digital divide for both social and economic development.
- Promote ICT for development in Commonwealth countries.
- Promote an experience exchange among stakeholders in Commonwealth countries.
- Promote business and government cooperation for development.
- Create awareness and enhance the knowledge of policy makers regarding economic, technical and legal aspects of implementation of ICT for development.
- Provide and facilitate training and capacity building. CBC believes that there remains a significant gap for independent support to emerging market governments in the structuring and transacting of ICT infrastructure opportunities. The key CBC objectives are:
- Examine how support from highly experienced individuals can assist through the creation of an infrastructure technical advisory unit.
- Provide senior-level government support to provide focused advice.
- Provide mechanisms that will help governments leverage the huge capacity of the private sector to address the demand for better infrastructure. The CBC has a dedicated team, CBC Technologies, based in London focused on the international technology and global services industry throughout the Commonwealth.

List of Commonwealth members

- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by continent
- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by date joined
- List of members of the Commonwealth of Nations by name

References

- The Constitutional Structure of the Commonwealth, by K C Wheare. Clarendon Press, 1960. ISBN 0313236240

External links

- [http://www.thecommonwealth.org The Commonwealth Secretariat]
- [http://www.commonwealth.org.uk/ The Commonwealth Institute, London]
- [http://www.rcsint.org The Royal Commonwealth Society]
- [http://rcs.ca/ The Royal Commonwealth Society (of Canada)]
- [http://empiremuseum.co.uk/ British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, Bristol, England]
- [http://www.acu.ac.uk/ Association of Commonwealth Universities]
- [http://sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies/index.htm University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies]
- [http://aclals.org Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies]
- [http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21707 The Commonwealth as a popular club]
- [http://www.globaled.org.nz/schools/pdfs/factsheets/Commonwealth.pdf What is the Commonwealth]
- [http://www.cpahq.org The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association]
- [http://www.chogm2005.mt The Commonwealth Meeting in Malta, 2005] Category:International organizations Category:Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Category:British Empire Category:Current British colonies Category:Former British colonies ko:영국 연방 ms:Negara-negara Komanwel ja:イギリス連邦

Director of Public Prosecutions

The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several jurisdictions around the world.

Australia

Australia has a Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, which was set up by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983 and started operations in 1984. Australian states and territories also have their own DPPs. The Australian Director of Public Prosecutions is Damian Bugg QC, who gained the position as a result of his successful prosecution of Martin Bryant with regards to the Port Arthur Massacre case in 1996. Prior to that, he was the Tasmanian Director of Public Prosecutions. Each state and territory has their own. They can be researched on the internet. Ultimate authority for authorising prosecutions lies with the Attorney General. However, since that is a political post, and it is desired to have a non-political (public service) post carry out this function in most circumstances, the prosecutorial powers of the AG are normally delegated to the DPP. However, the AG still retains the ultimate authority, and may overrule the decisions of the DPP with respect to prosecutions.

Hong Kong

The Director of Public Prosecutions of Hong Kong heads the Prosecutions Division of the Department of Justice, which is responsible for prosecuting trials and appeals on behalf of Hong Kong, providing legal advice to law enforcement agencies, exercising on behalf of the Secretary for Justice to bring criminal proceedings, and providing advice and assistance to bureaux and departments in relation to any criminal law aspects of proposed legislation.

Republic of Ireland

The Director of Public Prosecutions has been responsible for prosecution, in the name of the People, of all indictable criminal offences in the Republic of Ireland since the enactment of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974. Before 1974 all crimes and offences were prosecuted at the suit of the Attorney General. The DPP may also issue a certificate that a case should be referred to the Special Criminal Court, a juryless trial court usually reserved for terrorists and organised criminals. The current DPP is James Hamilton.

Republic of South Africa

In South Africa public prosecutions are conducted by an independent National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). The current NDPP, Vusi Pikoli, is head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). His predecessor, Bulelani Ngcuka resigned his position in the wake of an unsuccessful smear campaign involving supporters of convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik. The NDPP is supported by a Chief Executive Officer, Marion Sparg, Deputies, regional Directors of Public Prosecutions (DPP's), and several Special Directors. The National Director is also head of the controversial Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) - commonly known as the Scorpions - which deals with priority and organized crime. In 2005, the unit instituted proceedings against the country's Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, leading to his dismissal.

United Kingdom

In England and Wales, the office of Director of Public Prosecutions was first created in 1880 as part of the Home Office, and had its own department from 1908. The DPP was only responsible for the prosecution of a small number of major cases until 1986 when responsibility for prosecutions was transferred to a new Crown Prosecution Service with the DPP as its head. In Northern Ireland a similar situation existed, and the DPP now heads the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland. Scotland has a different heritage, the public prosecutor is the Lord Advocate who heads up the Crown Office and Proucrator Fiscal Service. All investigations by the police are nominally under the direction of the Lord Advocate and local Procurators Fiscal, and all prosecutions are carried out in the name of the Lord Advocate.

External links

- [http://www.eatoncounty.org/prosecutor/pa-world.htm www.eatoncounty.org/prosecutor/pa-world.htm] — indexes DPP web sites throughout the world
- [http://www.npa.gov.za/ The National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA)]
- [http://www.cps.gov.uk/ The Crown Prosecution Service] — website of public prosecution in England and Wales
- [http://www.dppireland.ie/ Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions] — website of the Irish Director of Public Prosecutions
- [http://www.cdpp.gov.au/ Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions] — website of the Australian federal Director of Public Prosecutions Category:Prosecution Category:Common law Category:Lawyers

Category:United States law

Note: Statutes should be included in :Category:United States federal legislation, instead of :Category:. Category:Law by country Law ja:Category:アメリカ合衆国の法律

Category:Lawyers

Category:Jurists Category:Legal occupations Category:People by occupation

Category:Prosecutors

Prosecutors usually work as or for the highest ranking local elected law enforcement official. Many former prosecutors including many of those listed on this page went on to hold other political offices.

Category:District attorneys

- [http://www.prosecutor.info www.prosecutor.info] …… an index of over 2,900 prosecutor web sites throughout the USA and other countries Category:Criminal law Category:Lawyers by type

Monopólium

A monopólium olyan eladót jelent egy piacon, amelynek nincsen versenytársa. A kifejezés a görög „monosz” (egyetlen) és „polein” (eladni) szavak összetételéből származik. A monopólium fogalmát egy adott termék és egy földrajzi értelemben vett hely szempontjából releváns piacon lehet értelmezni. A természetes monopólium esetén az egyetlen eladóval nem éri meg versenyezni (annyival jobb a technológiája, vagy az adott terméket legolcsóbban egy helyről, nagy mennyiségben lehet kínálni). A mesterséges monopólium esetében az egyetlen eladót nem a kiváló technológia vagy az alacsony költségszintje, hanem valamilyen jogi-intézményi védelem óvja a versenytársaktól. Az állam monopóliuma olyan közszolgáltatásokra terjed ki, amelyeket a társadalom nem kíván piaci alapokra helyezni. Ezek közül a honvédelem és jogalkotás inkább természetes monopóliumként, az igazságszolgáltatás pedig (részleges) mesterséges monopóliumként írható le.

A monopólium különös esetei

Egyetlen vásárló esetén gyakran keresleti monopóliumról vagy monopszóniáról, egyetlen eladónál pedig kínálati monopóliumról vagy egyszerűen csak monopóliumról beszélünk. Ha egy piacon mind vevőből, mind eladóból csak egy van, akkor a monopólium kétoldalú. A szócikk további megállapításai a kínálati monopóliumra vonatkoznak. Ha egy jószág piacán monopólium van, de a jószágnak ismert egy vagy több közeli helyettesítője, amelyeknek a piacai szintén monopolisztikusak, akkor monopolisztikus versenyről beszélhetünk. Valódi monopólium csak olyan jószág piacán alakulhat ki, amelynek nincs közeli helyettesítője. Egyértelmű, hogy a piacot uraló egyetlen vállalat – a monopolista – viselkedése különbözik egy versenyzői piac vállalatainak magatartásától. A monopolista megteheti, hogy az általa kínált javak paramétereit – árát, minőségét, stb. – szabadon válassza meg, bár a javak kereslete számára is erős korlátot állít. Általában véve azt kell mondanunk, hogy a monopólium nem tudja biztosítani a javak olyan hatékony elosztását, mint a versenyzői piac. Éppen ezért a közgazdászok csak akkor tartják szerencsésnek a monopóliumot, ha az adott piacon semmiképpen nem lehet a versenyt biztosítani.

Monopólium kialakulásának okai

Monopólium több okból is kialakulhat egy piacon, például:
- ha két vállalat már nem tudna nyereségesen működni – ez a természetes monopólium esete;
- ha a piacra való belépésnek erős korlátjai vannak (pl. magas fix költségek);
- ha a monopolista kizárólagos joggal rendelkezik valamilyen erőforrás felett;
- ha az adott piacon a monopólium állami vagy társadalmi érdek (pl. honvédelem, pénzkibocsátás);
- ha a monopolista hagyományosan uralja a piacot, és megakadályozza mások belépését.

A természetes monopólium

A természetes monopóliumok olyan helyzetben alakulnak ki, amikor ugyanazon termék vagy szolgáltatás piacon legalább két vállalkozás nem tud tartós nyereséget felmutatni. Ekkor hosszú távon csak egyetlen, monopolhelyzetben lévő vállalat maradhat fenn az iparágban. Ilyen helyzet akkor állhat elő, ha a piac mérete relatíve kicsi egy vállalat hatékony méretéhez képest, például a magas fix költségek következtében. A természetes monopólium különleges esete, amikor a monopólium valamilyen megismételhetetlen természetes adottság következménye: például egy áruszállítási piacon csak egyetlen, kikötésre alkalmas öböl van, és csak itt lehet kikötőt üzemeltetni.

A monopólium mikroökonómiai modellje

természetes monopóliumok Ahhoz, hogy egy monopolhelyzetben lévő vállalat kínálati döntését egyszerű mikroökonómiai eszközökkel modellezni tudjuk, fel kell tennünk, hogy:
- az eladni szándékozott javak homogének, vagyis senki sem tudja őket minőségük szempontjából megkülönböztetni;
- a monopolista célja profitjának maximalizálása;
- a profitnak a kibocsátott mennyiség szerinti függvénye minden pontjában differenciálható. Egyelőre azt is feltesszük, hogy a monopolista csak egyetlen árat állapíthat meg (ezt p-vel jelöljük). A profitot (

\pi\,

) a kibocsátás függvényében így írhatjuk fel:

\pi (y)=R(y)-C(y)\,

R(y) az összes bevételt, C(y) pedig az összes költséget szimbolizálja, szintén a kibocsátás függvényében. Ha a profit maximális,

\pi (y)

deriváltja 0-val lesz egyenlő:

\frac = MR(y) - MC(y) = 0

MR a határbevétel, MC pedig a határköltség jele. A fenti egyenletből következik, hogy a profitmaximalizáló kibocsátás mellett

MR(y) = MC(y).\,

A monopolista tehát olyan kibocsátási szintet fog magának meghatározni, amely mellett egy pótlólagos jószágegység termelésének költsége (a határköltség) egyenlő az abból származó bevétellel (a határbevétellel). A határköltség és a kereslet árrugalmassága között teremt kapcsolatot az alábbi összefüggés:

MR(y) \approx p(y) \cdot \left (1 + \frac \right)

Az előző két egyenletből pedig következik, hogy

MC(y) \approx p(y) \cdot \left (1 + \frac \right).

Ha az „egyenletben” szereplő három függvényt ismerjük (p(y) a keresleti függvény inverze), akkor az egyenlet megoldása a monopolista profitját maximalizáló kibocsátás lesz.

A monopóliumból eredő hatékonyságveszteség

A monopolista kínálati döntését szemléltető ábrán is látszik, hogy közönséges jószág, vagyis negatív meredekségű keresleti függvény esetén a monopolista mindig a függvénynek a határköltséggörbétől balra eső szakaszáról választ magának ár-kibocsátás kombinációt (méghozzá azt a kombinációt, amely mellett a profitja maximális). Azt is tudjuk, hogy versenyzői piac esetén az egyensúlyi kombináció a keresleti függvény és a határköltséggörbe metszéspontjában lesz. Megállapítható tehát, hogy monopólium esetén
- az ár nagyobb,
- a kibocsátott mennyiség pedig kisebb, mint ha a piacon tökéletes verseny lenne. Annak, hogy az ár magasabb, az lesz a következménye, hogy a monopolista hosszú távon is profitot tehet zsebre, ellentétben a versenyzői piacok vállalataival. Végső soron azonban ez „csak” azzal jár, hogy pénz csoportosul át a vevőktől a monopolistához, amit megfelelő eszközökkel – például adók révén – az állam akár vissza is juttathat. Nagyobb a gond a kibocsátással, ami monopólium esetén kisebb lesz, mint versenyzői piacon. A „hiányzó” jószágmennyiség megtermelése ugyanis társadalmi szempontból haszonnal járna, mert a vevők rezervációs ára – az a maximális összeg, amit még megfizetnének ezért a jószágmennyiségért – nagyobb, mint az előállítás költsége. (Hiszen a rezervációs árak görbéje, a keresleti görbe a határköltséggörbe fölött helyezkedik el.) Úgy is mondhatjuk, hogy a monopólium a javak előállításának és elosztásának nem Pareto-hatékony formája. Azt a pénzben kifejezett veszteséget, amit ez a kimaradó jószágmennyiség eredményez, a monopólium holtteher-veszteségének nevezzük.

A monopolista profitnövelési technikái

A következőkben olyan technikákat veszünk szemügyre, amelyeket a monopolhelyzetben lévő vállalat, a piac speciális jellemzőit kihasználva, profitjának növelésére „vethet be”. Ezek a technikák többnyire társadalmi szempontból is hasznosak, ugyanis a monopólium kibocsátását közelebb viszik a Pareto-hatékony kibocsátási szinthez.

Árdiszkrimináció

A monopolista kínálati döntésének levezetésekor feltettük, hogy az általa eladni szándékozott jószágnak csak egyetlen árat állapíthat meg. A gyakorlatban azonban sok esetben nincs így: a monopolista megteheti, hogy a jószágot a vevői számára különböző árakon kínálja. Ezt a jelenséget hívjuk árdiszkriminációnak. Az árdiszkriminációnak három fajtáját különböztetjük meg. Pareto-hatékony

Elsőfokú (tökéletes) árdiszkrimináció

Elsőfokú árdiszkrimináció esetén a monopolista minden egyes vevőjétől a rezervációs árát kéri. Belátható, hogy ebben az esetben a teljes fogyasztói többlet a monopolista profitjává válik. Mivel egy pótlólagos jószágegység rezervációs ára egészen a keresleti függvény és a határköltséggörbe metszéspontjáig nagyobb, mint a jószágegység előállításának költsége (a határköltség), ezért a tökéletesen árdiszkrimináló monopolistának érdemes a „metszéspontig” termelni. Így elsőfokú árdiszkrimináció esetén a monopólium Pareto-hatékonnyá válik, nem lesz holtteher-vesztesége. Viszont a monopolista csak akkor tud elsőfokú árdiszkriminációt alkalmazni, ha minden vevőjének ismeri a rezervációs árát. Ez a gyakorlatban nagyon ritka, ezért a tökéletes árdiszkrimináció (ahogy a neve is sugallja) a profitnövelésnek inkább ideális, mint valóságos technikája.

Másodfokú árdiszkrimináció (Nemlineáris árképzés)

Ha a monopolista az általa kínált jószág egységárát a vásárolt mennyiségnek, esetleg a jószág minőségének függvényeként szabja meg, akkor másodfokú árdiszkriminációt alkalmaz. Az egyik leggyakoribb profitnövelési technikáról van szó, ami ráadásul nemcsak a monopóliumokra jellemző: számos üzletben kaphatunk árengedményt, ha egy áruból többet vásárolunk. Belátható, hogy a monopolvállalat kibocsátása ennek a technikának az alkalmazásakor is közelebb kerül a Pareto-hatékony mennyiséghez.

Harmadfokú árdiszkrimináció

Harmadfokú árdiszkriminációra akkor nyílik lehetőség, ha a monopolista által kínált jószág piaca valamilyen szempont(ok) alapján kisebb csoportokra bontható. Például a tömegközlekedést használják kisgyermekek, diákok, nyugdíjasok, és így tovább. Ekkor a monopolista megteheti, hogy az egyes csoportoknak más és más árat állapítson meg. Ezzel mind magát, mind a jószág vásárlóit jobb helyzetbe hozza, tehát a piacot a Pareto-hatékonyság irányába mozdítja el. Gondot okozhat, hogy a vásárlók megpróbálhatják „más csoportba tartozónak” kiadni magukat, hogy kevesebbet kelljen fizetniük. Az ilyen kijátszások megakadályozása olykor sok ráfordítást jelent a monopolista számára.

Árukapcsolás

Az árukapcsolás (angol bundling) lényege, hogy egy vállalat az általa előállított javakat kötegekben (bundle) árusítja. A szoftvercsomagok tipikus példák az árukapcsolásra. Ezt a technikát sem csak monopolhelyzetben lévő vállalatok alkalmazzák. angol

Kétrészes árképzés

Bizonyos javak valamilyen külső körülmény miatt vagy természetüknél fogva együtt kerülnek eladásra, mint például a vidámparkok egyes szolgáltatásai. Ilyenkor felmerülhet az a kérdés, hogy az eladó a javak vásárlásáért külön-külön, vagy pedig együttesen kérjen ellenszolgáltatást, illetve ha mind a két alkalommal kér (tehát pl. a vidámpark bejáratánál és az egyes játékoknál is), akkor milyen arányban ossza meg a szolgáltatások árát. Megállapítható, hogy a monopolista akkor tudja a legnagyobb profitot elérni, ha az egyes szolgáltatásokért a keresleti és a határköltséggörbe metszéspontjához tartozó (vagyis a versenyzői) árat kéri, „a bejáratnál” pedig azt a fogyasztói többletet, amit – a fogyasztói többlet definíciója szerint – a szolgáltatások vásárlói még hajlandóak pluszban megfizetni. A végeredmény megegyezik az elsőfokú árdiszkriminációéval: a monopolista a rezervációs árak összegéhez jutott hozzá. Persze a monopolistának ismernie kell a fogyasztói többlet értékét ahhoz, hogy ezt a technikát sikeresen alkalmazhassa. Kategória:Mikroökonómia ja:独占

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Monopólium

A monopólium különös esetei

Monopólium kialakulásának okai

A természetes monopólium

A monopólium mikroökonómiai modellje

A monopóliumból eredő hatékonyságveszteség

A monopolista profitnövelési technikái

Árdiszkrimináció

Elsőfokú (tökéletes) árdiszkrimináció

Másodfokú árdiszkrimináció (Nemlineáris árképzés)

Harmadfokú árdiszkrimináció

Árukapcsolás

Kétrészes árképzés