Demetra Fr. Sorvatzioti, Assistant Professor, Law Department, School Of Law, University Of Nicosia.
‘‘We don’t need drug treatment courts,
we have already the appropriate mechanisms
for dealing with the problem.’’[4]
Abstract
Drug addiction is a cause of crime and non-treatment of the addiction leads to recidivism. Internationally, certain states have established drug treatment courts [DTC] . These courts and their teams arrange and monitor treatment for offenders where crimes are linked causally to their addiction. Research on the evaluation of DTC’s has proven their effectiveness. These courts use a multidisciplinary approach in dealing with addiction and crime; they operate with a structured procedure; the therapeutic plan is designed according to the needs of the offender. This paper introduces the functioning of DTCs operating according to therapeutic jurisprudence principles and focuses on the role of judge. While the establishment of DTCs is proposed for the Greek criminal justice system, work needs to be done on how to incorporate the model into Greek criminal procedure and drugs legislation. Now that good practices for DTCs’ are well-known, the adoption of this court model into the Greek system would be easier than before. The interdisciplinary approach to both drug addiction and crime have proven to be effective in tackling the problem.
Key Words: Criminal Justice, Drugs, Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Drug Addict Offender, Recidivism
