Criminal responsibility for two consecutive crimes

Criminal legally responsible for responsibility in Israel his crimes unless the is defined in terms of polarity： all or nothing. An individual is court has determined that he is exculpated from criminal responsibility; there is no diminished criminal responsibility. The authors present a unique case where two expert psychiatrists determined that the accused was culpable for the first crime, rape, but was exculpated from criminal responsibility for the second crime, stabbing, which was committed immediately thereafter. As per the court approved plea bargain, the accused was charged only with rape, and was sentenced to incarceration in the psychiatric ward of the prison. The social significance of the expert psychiatric opinion and the court ruling will be examined in this paper.     

The right to a fair criminal trial： A South African perspective

The right to a free and fair trial is one of the most basic human fights afforded to mankind. In South Africa, prior to 1994, this right was afforded to accused persons by common law only. The criminal justice system in South Africa however has been changing radically since 1994 due to the inception of first the Interim Constitution and later the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. South Africa has a history of human rights abuses-also with regard to criminal trials. The right to a fair trial is now constitutionally enshrined and protected by the Bill of Rights. As a result thereof the application of this right by the South African courts has also changed and what would have passed muster in this regard prior to 1994 would not necessarily do so now. This paper seeks to explain what the right to a fair criminal trial in a democratic South Africa entails with reference to South Africa＇s international obligations in this regard as well as the provisions of the South African Constitution and case law.     

Imagining the law and the constitution of societal order in Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker＇s 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ address

Legal scholar James Boyd White has challenged both lawyers and rhetoricians to imagine the law as an enterprise of language. In contending that members of the legal profession should see law as an activity of speech and imagination occurring in a social world, he has urged lawyers to view the legal profession as an interaction of authoritative texts and as a process of legal thought and argument instead of thinking of law as a technical system of regulations and applying its rules in a mechanical way. By asking members of the legal professional to consider law as rhetoric, White has encouraged them to recognize the socially constitutive nature of language, which runs contrary to a perspective of law as machine or, rather, the law as only a mechanistic system of rules and regulations. His ideas have inspired the ＂law and literature＂ movement, which has motivated other scholars to analyze the texts of judicial opinions, for example, according to White＇s theories. However, this essay takes White＇s concept of imagining the law and applies it public address and, specifically, to the 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ speech given by former Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker. Chief Parker＇s address reveals a vision for the City of Los Angeles in which Parker, himself, asks his audience of citizens and civic leaders to share for advancing a specific agenda for law enforcement＇s role in society.     

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS AND THE EXCLUSIONARY RULES IN CHINA

Wrongful conviction is the shadow of the criminal justice system. Under this shadow are the flaws and deficiencies of the system, which must be shed light on in order to instigate and promote reforms and improvements to the system. Extracting confessions with torture is a major cause for wrongful convictions in China. The exclusionary rules against illegally obtained evidence should be an effective way to eliminate tortures from criminal justice. The Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Examination and Evaluation of Evidence in Death Penalty Cases and the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning Exclusion of Illegal Evidence in Criminal Cases and the newly amended Criminal Procedure Law have made progresses in this regard, but we still have a long way to go to turn the laws on paper into the rules in action.     

THE HEDGEHOG DILEMMA IN THE COURT-MEDIA RELATIONSHIP IN CHINA

This paper explains why Schopenhauer＇s ＂Hedgehog Dilemma＂ may be the most apposite metaphor for the relationship between the courts and the media. Whatever they get from each other, the media＇s role representing the public and the court＇s role representing justice are both essential to modern democracy. Therefore, their relationship has attracted attention, not just in legal and media professions, but also in public and government debate. In the last two decades, China ＇s highest court has issued judicial interpretations and guidelines to regulate the activities of the media and the court, which has brought the topic to a new level of discussion. As a drafter of these official documents, the author will comment on development in this field and their interaction with values inherent to democracy.     

Using court culture to strengthen the administration of trial courts

Managerial culture defines the character of administrative practices in trial courts, shaping the way cases are handled, participants in the legal process are treated, and how a court functions as an institution. In fact, the notion of local legal culture is part of the conventional wisdom. What is missing in such discussions are the benefits of a comprehensive methodological approach to translate rich ideas and hunches into the measurement of court culture. In response, researchers at the National Center for State Courts have developed an analytical framework including a conceptual typology of culture, an instrument for measuring managerial culture and a schema for interpreting results within and between courts. The essay concludes with an invitation for the People＇s Republic of China to adapt the framework to understand the nature of culture in their courts of first instance.     

DATA ANALYSIS OF PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LEGAL WORKERS IN CHINA

Since the reform and opening up, the legal profession in China has changed dramatically. In terms of both quantity and quality, the legal profession has stepped into a new phase. A tendency towards widespread litigation and more professionals.＂ judges, lawyers and law students, can be clearly evidenced. Along with the development of the legal profession, other types of legal workers including business arbitrators, grassroots paralegal service workers （grassroots paralegals）, and mediators have experienced great changes. To a certain extent, they have become more marginalized than before. The development of the legal profession is extremely unbalanced. Whether in terms of the number of lawyers or the income generated by lawyers, the inter-provincial gap in China is huge. The development of the legal profession also brings out the issue of judicial corruption. From the number of letters and visits related to lawsuits and the National People＇s Congress deputies ＇votes on the reports of the Supreme People＇s Court and the Supreme People＇s Procuratorate, the level of legal corruption can be noted. This＂ problem has become a crucial challenge to the reputation of the legal profession and the judicial creditability of the country. The same amount of attention should be paid to judicial corruption as to the quality of legal services.     

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ＂MODERNITY AND CHINESE LEGAL CULTURE＂ HELD AT RENMIN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA LAW SCHOOL

The legal reform of the late Qing Dynasty that took place more than one hundred years ago has usually been considered as the starting point of the transformation and modernization of Chinese legal culture. Following that, both the Republic of China＇s legal system, and the Chinese legal system drawing on Western experience since the opening-up, have been （to a large extent） developed by the purpose of pursuing modemity. Hence, the relationship between modernity and Chinese legal culture is the crucial point in understanding the development of Chinese legal system in modem times, and also a point in comprehending the ongoing legal system construction in a global perspective.     

Victim impact statements and the role of the South African criminologist

This article explores the developments in the plight of victims as well as the professional role of the South African criminologists in offering assistance to victims of crime by compiling victim impact statements on behalf of victims. The VIS has a significant contribution to make in a stage of the judicial process where acknowledgement of a victim takes place after a judgment or a guilty conviction. During the trial process a victim in legal terms does not exist. It is only at this final stage before sentencing that the court will view the complainant as a victim. It is imperative that the complainant＇s voice is heard as a victim-one who has suffered loss regardless of its shape and form. The all encompassing contribution of the VIS lies in its empowering nature due to the fact that it also can contribute to crime prevention by lowering the crime rate and reducing the cyclical nature of violence and crime.     

Foster children＇s right to family： A description and analysis of the legislative approach in Sweden

This paper emphasizes the foster children＇s right to family life and investigates whether change of custody and guardianship to foster parents is a successful option to achieve this right. Using CRC as the base for my definition of the right to family I will include the right to continuity, well-being and a family environment in the understanding of the term ＂right to family＂ in this article. These rights may, primarily, be fulfilled by the child＇s parents, and, if necessary for the best interest of the child, be complemented or substituted by foster or adoption parents. The analysis of different solutions concerning state interventions will base on Swedish law. In Sweden, a child in need of help or assistance as a result of abuse, neglect, or other inappropriate behavior in the home setting may be helped by the Social Welfare Committee-voluntarily or by a court order-in the child＇s home or a foster home. Other alternatives contain judicial involvement by changing custody and guardianship or making a decision for adoption. Since many years ago, the most commonly used alternative for children needing long term placements outside their homes in Sweden has become foster care. This development of many long-term placements has been criticized for not fulfilling the needs of the children, especially their needs for family continuity, stability and well-being. As a consequence, an amendment to the Social Services Act 200l was enacted in 2003 which states that the Social Services Committee shall consider the ＂permanence＂ of foster care by changing custody and guardianship to the foster parents three years later since a child starts in foster care, and every six months thereafter, as long as the child remains in the foster parents＇ care. Assuming that the foster parents are fit and willing to become custodians and guardians, and the child views the foster home as his or her home, the District Court can decide to change the custody and the guardianship to the foster parents. The assessment is to be based solely on the best interest of the child, and not on the fitness or wishes of the original custodian. However, can changing the custody and guardianship assist foster children＇s right to family？ This paper elaborates on this question by describing a legal reform in Sweden.     

Editor’s Note

Envisioning a well-ordered society composed of filial subjects who obeyed the law, avoided disputes, shunned religious heresy, paid their taxes, and peacefully engaged in agriculture, the Kangxi emperor’s “Sacred Edict of Sixteen Maxims” (圣谕十六条) has often been considered a declaration of the alien Qing dynasty’s Confucian bona fides. While the rhetoric of the pronouncement echoed traditional moral values, the political acumen of the Qing rulers was readily apparent in the eighth maxim, “explain the laws to warn the ignorant and obstinate.” Melding moral and legal education, the eighth maxim specifically endorsed the efficacy of the law. The importance placed on legal knowledge was abundantly clear in one of the earliest commentaries, which explained all sixteen maxims with examples of applicable legal guidelines. Thus, the “Sacred Edict” was a shrewd maneuver that endorsed traditional moral values, but it also foreshadowed a “legislative turn” in the Qing rule that was discernible in the evolving ethos of criminal justice. Despite the extensive efforts to propagate the “Sacred Edict,” violent crime was on the rise in the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns. When transformation through moral “teaching and cultivation” (jiaoyang 教养) failed to alleviate social conflict, Qing rulers reconsidered and revised the established practice of criminal justice and the existing concept of criminal behavior. By the end of the eighteenth century, the effort to stem the tide of violent crime relied less on ideological exhortation and more on legislation that articulated harsh punishments. This “legislative turn” in Qing criminal justice resulted in an aggressive policy of deterrence that facilitated the greater use of capital punishment.     

LEGAL EDUCATION IN CHINA： ACHIEVEMENTS,PROBLEMS AND THE FUTURE （1949-2013）

China＇s legal education had been experiencing a rather tough way of growing up after founding of PRC and did has achieved some achievements in the early days, but the following destruction period of nearly 20 years almost ruined all of them. Since the reform and opening up, China＇s legal education had been rapidly recovering and developing, there had been an unprecedented thriving scene. After constantly summing up experience, reforming and adjustment, China＇s legal education gradually stepped into independent and scientific development mode. But with the same time, behind the prosperity scene, China＇s legal education is problematic both in quantity and in quality. In quantity, the biggest problem of china＇s legal education is its imbalanced development, lies both in regional distribution and in their charging authorities. In quality, there are four serious problems which affect its healthy development： lack of professional education idea; lack of elite education idea; lack of legal ethics education and lack of professional skill education. In the future, China＇s legal education should put more efforts on resolving these problems, that is to say, more efforts should be put on the quantitative balance. Meanwhile, concerning its quality, measures will have to be taken for bringing it back to the essential attributes of legal education, only by so doing can China＇s legal education be incorporated into the mainstream of global legal education culture     

The Niqab in Canada： Is it a charter right？

Although religious beliefs and practices came under Constitutional protection in 1982 by section 2（a） of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the struggle to define what constitutes freedom of religion continues. Currently freedom of religion from the court＇s perspective is a right to be protected as long as its expression does not bring harm or discrimination to others. This definition is one that the courts have already applied to several other different rights. It is a position that while ostensibly static is capable of fluid change as society changes over time. To set in stone how far a freedom may extend is to deny the fact that society does and will continue to change. Views on what constitutes religious beliefs are fluid and a requirement on the extension of protection to those beliefs and actions is argued could hamper the development of multiculturalism.     

GLOBALIZATION OF LAW： A CHINESE PERSPECTIVE ENCOUNTER： HOW DUNCAN KENNEDYAND CHINESE LEGAL SCHOLARS VIEW LEGAL TRANSPLANTS AND THE RULE OF LAW -- A COMMENTARY ON THE HARVARD-RENMIN VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ON DUNCAN KENNEDY＇S THREE GLOBALIZATIONS OF LAW AND LEGAL THOUGHT

Concerned about China＇s future, a panel of Chinese legal scholars invited Professor Duncan Kennedy to discuss legal transplants and the rule of law. This commentary contextualizes their ideas and concerns and aims to clarify some concepts and arguments that underlay their discussion. At times though using the same words the participants were talking about different things. By legal transplants, the Chinese scholars were initially speaking of specle laws, while Duncan Kennedy was referring to legal thought. By law being political, Duncan Kennedy largely meant the distributive and discretionary nature of adjudication, while the Chinese participants were criticizing the interference by the Party and the government with judicial practice. Yet through this encounter, much was exchanged and debated. Regarding the triggers of legal transplants, the Chinese participants emphasized the law＇s quality and the donor＇s power, while Duncan Kennedy was more interested in chance and the recipient＇s strategy. Among the multiple ways of defining the rule of law, both sides agreed that it should be an institutional framework within which an independent judiciary checks the executive power. Nonetheless, each side had their own hopes and reservations on how this institutional framework can enable judges to faithfully apply the law.     

DEVELOPING LANGUAGE ACCURACY WITH ESP （LEGAL ENGLISH） COURSES TAUGHT IN NON- NATIVE SPEAKING ENVIRONMENTS

The article deals with the issue of linguistic accuracy in the broader context of teaching legal English. The development of any legal English syllabus should rely on the careful balancing of legal and linguistic emphases at every step and in every aspect of the course--from the preparatory stage of selecting learning materials to the final stages of language output. The commitment to this sort of balance is illustrated by means of accuracy-sensitive examples from the Anglo-American court practice and serves as the foundation in the development of in-class tasks and activities. Language instructors are to consistently guide the learners＇ progresses by providing the appropriate forms of activities and constant feedback. Teaching legal English in non-native speaking environment demands more attention to cultural issues. Defining all the elements of the course against learners＇ cultural background can facilitate the acquisition of legal and linguistic skills and prepare them for future encounters with other legal systems.     

Another victim of the ＂banana war＂： Some reflections on the status of the principle of liability in the absence of unlawful conduct in the community legal system

Articles 235 and 288 second paragraph EC provide remedies for damages caused by Community institutions, to individuals, legal bodies or States that concern legal obligations outside the scope of contractual relations. Although it did not receive any real application, the principle of liability in the absence of fault is mentioned by the Court in a couple of cases. This article seeks to explore this principle in its due context and in the light of comparative law. To that effect, it is first necessary to make a short recall of the historical case law in this field, to analyze afterwards the latest jurisprudential developments （FIAMM/FEDON case）, and finally to consider the future prospects of this principle in the Community law through two options. One alternative would be to adopt more lenient conditions for the application of Community＇s liability for fault and notably a progressive abandon of the current serious fault regime and the adoption of the simple fault regime. Another option would be to remove the tort nature from the no-fault liability and to move from the reparation of damage to a compensation for the breach of the equality.     

Cheating in sport： Lithuanian case for legal regulation

Globally much attention is paid to cheating in sports, known as ＂war on performance enhancing drugs＂,＂concern for criminalization＂, ＂eradicating menaces to sport＇s integrity＂ etc. Meanwhile, in Lithuania the legal framework of cheating in sport is quite new and almost every kind of law is theoretically possible, therefore it is important to ascertain the relationship between disciplinary, civil, administrative and criminal law. Two dangerous forms of cheating are chosen to analyze in this work： doping and match-fixing. In conformity with said analysis primary guidelines for potential legal regulation are offered.     

THE EFFECTS OF CRIMINAL LAW ON ARBITRATION

While arbitration is essentially a private law institution, its various aspects have ties to criminal law. Therefore, it is highly important to examine particular circumstances that criminal law norms may have on the arbitration procedures, or arbitral awards, as well as the consequences of these affects. In this respect, the implementation of the rules of Criminal Procedure, in particular rules regarding inadmissible evidence--in the arbitration proceedings; direct or indirect influence of criminal court judgments on arbitration proceedings; or criminal responsibility of arbitrators, are some of the important issues that deserve to be examined. In this study, these issues will be evaluated with respect to the theory and the practice of Turkish Law.     

Contrastive analysis of Chinese and American court judgments

Whether in legal practice or jurisprudence, court judgments or case briefs are one of the most important legal genres for the legal profession. This paper aims to examine contrastively the linguistic characteristics, moves and rhetoric of Chinese and American court judgments, with the aim of specifying the rhetorical preferences that are characteristic of “standard” judgments. Legal cultures are employed to account for the generic and rhetorical differences. This study also has an underlying pedagogical motivation in that the results would be of great value and interest to the Chinese students of Language for Legal Purposes （LLP） and the lawyers practicing foreign legal affairs.