行政诉讼调解制度探析

根据我国《行政诉讼法》的规定:人民法院审理行政案件,除行政赔偿诉讼外,不适用调解。然而,在行政诉讼实践中,由法官主持当事人就行政纠纷进行协商的情况普遍存在,大量的案件被法官、原告、被告三方‘协调处理",这种做法实质上就是"调解"。最近最高院出台的《最高人民法院关于行政诉讼撤诉若干问题的规定》为行政诉讼调解提供了法律依据,使行政诉讼调解实现了质的突破。     

建构我国行政诉讼之调解制度

我国现行的行政诉讼法明确规定行政诉讼不适用调解。对于行政诉讼中是否适用调解的问题,大多数学者持否定态度,目前在审理行政诉讼案件时,很多法院都采取调解的手段促成原告撤诉或被告改变具体行政行为,有效降低了行政案件的信访投诉率,维护了社会稳定、和谐。我们应如何看待审判实践对理论提出的挑战?本文认为,必须对现有行政诉讼调解的立法进行反思,并构建具有我国特色的行政诉讼调解制度。     

论行政诉讼中调解制度的适用

调解制度在我国民事诉讼中素有东方经验之称,多年来为解决民事纠纷立下汗马功劳,而且其适用范围已扩张至刑事公诉案件领域,而我国现行行政诉讼法却明文规定人民法院审查行政案件,不适用调解。但现行行政诉讼法颁布14年以来,我国行政诉讼的撤诉率逐年上升。本文研究了行政诉讼不适用调解制度之弊端,分别从三个方面来分析:一是居高不下的行政诉讼撤诉率,二是现行法律规定与行政诉讼目的背道而驰;三是合法性审查原则往往流于形式;最后再对行政诉讼中适用调解制度的可行性进行了分析。     

先予执行的案件不应以撤诉结案

我国《民事诉讼法》第一百三十一条第一款规定“宣判前,原告申请撤诉的,是否准许,由人民法院裁定。”笔者认为:在民事诉讼中,原告向人民法院提出先予执行申请,人民法院采取了先予执行措施后,原告再向人民法院提出撤诉请求时,人民法院应裁定不准许撤诉,必须继续诉讼程序,直至以民事调解或判决方式来明确当事人双方的民事权利与义务。应依此方式结案,其理由是:     

论行政诉讼中调解制度的适用

调解制度在我国民事诉讼中素有“东方经验”之称，多年来为解决民事纠纷立下汗马功劳，而且其适用范围已扩张至刑事公诉案件领域，而我国现行行政诉讼法却明文规定人民法院审查行政案件，不适用调解。但现行行政诉讼法颁布14年以来，我国行政诉讼的撒诉率逐年上升。本文研究了行政诉讼不适用调解制度之弊端，分别从三个方面来分析：一是居高不下的行政诉讼撤诉率，二是现行法律规定与行政诉讼目的背道而驰；三是合法性审查原则往往流于形式；最后再对行政诉讼中适用调解制度的可行性进行了分析。     

建立我国行政诉讼调解制度的构想

尽管"行政诉讼不适用调解"已成为行政诉讼的特殊原则之一,在现实的行政审判中却存在着大量通过法院协调、调解结案的案件。本文从现代行政的需要、行政法的平衡精神及维护法治统一的角度出发论证了行政诉讼中引进调解制度的必要性,并阐述了关于在我国建立行政诉讼调解制度的构想。     

论行政诉讼和解的法理基础

我国于1989年颁布的《行政诉讼法》确立了行政诉讼不适用调解的原则。行政诉讼之不适用调解,意味着不以调解为结案方式,但并未禁止当事人双方达成和解,以撤诉终结诉讼。司法实践中,行政诉讼撤诉率一直居高不下。有人对1990—2000年全国一审行政案件结案情况进行调查发现,全国一审行政案件撤诉率从未低于1/3,最高达到57.3%。这样的结论同样适用于今天。而在这些     

论行政诉讼调解制度之可行性

《行政诉讼法》关于行政案件不适用调解制度的规定面临理论与现实的诸多挑战,为解决行政诉讼立案数与撤诉率两极分化及信访难问题,理论与实务皆在积极探索行政诉讼调解制度。本文从剖析"公权力不可处分"的理论障碍着手,阐述规定与实践的变相操作,分析行政诉讼调解的有益性,也对其提出期待限定,论证调解制度在行政诉讼中的可行性。     

我国行政诉讼调解制度正当性解读

对传统行政诉讼不适用调解理论的反思 法院调解，亦称诉讼调解。是指在审判人员的主持下，双方当事人通过自愿协商、达成协议、解决争议的活动和结案方式。我国《行政诉讼法》明确规定，人民法院审理行政案件（行政赔偿案件除外），不得适用调解，即法院在审理行政案件过程中，不能为解决行政纠纷而召集双方当事人进行协调，     

行政诉讼中调解机制之理论基础与功能定位

行政诉讼法第50条规定押“人民法院审理行政案件,不适用调解。”这一在行政诉讼领域排斥调解的立法规定在行政诉讼法修改草案的提出过程中引发了学者的深入讨论。行政诉讼目的、司法活动中非对抗性理念、公权力与私权利并非不可调和以及行政酌处权作为行政诉讼中调解机制的理论基础,并将其功能上定位于判断型调解。     

行政投诉案件中原告资格的本土逻辑与实践反思

举报投诉人原告资格问题是行政诉讼理论和实践争议的焦点。《行诉解释》第12条第5项认可了投诉人的原告资格,但在理论和实践中仍存在较大的争议,需要梳理并回应。就保护规范理论而言,在实体法和程序法没有规定主观公权利的前提下,诉讼法及其司法解释也可以赋予投诉人原告资格,并可以据此推导出与原告资格相对应的主观公权利;就保护必要性而言,第5项中合法权益的规范功能能够替代保护必要性的适用;就投诉人的定位而言,第5项与司法实践存在冲突,建议将第5项对投诉人的定位由其他利害关系人改为行政相对人。     

The effects of complainant age and expert psychological testimony in a simulated child sexual abuse trial

Mock jurors viewed a videotape of a simulated child sexual abuse trial and then deliberated to a unanimous verdict. The complainant was described as either a 13- or 17-year-old female child. Jurors voted to convict more often when the younger complainant was seen, and the younger complainant was rated as more credible than the older complainant. Female jurors voted the defendant guilty more often and rated the complainant as being more credible than male jurors. Jurors voted to convict more often and rated the defendant as less credible when expert psychological testimony was specific to the case than when they were presented with either general expert testimony or no expert testimony. Jurors who saw a psychological expert testify became less accepting of child sexual abuse misconceptions than those in the no expert control condition. The implications of these findings are discussed.Millbrook Correctional Centre     

An Archival Analysis of Actual Cases of Historic Child Sexual Abuse: A Comparison of Jury and Bench Trials

Logistic regression analyses were used to predict verdicts from 466 Canadian jury and 644 Canadian judge-alone criminal trials involving delayed or historic allegations of child sexual abuse. Variables in regard to the complainant and offence were selected from the legal, clinical, and experimental literatures, including mock juror research. Of six variables that had been related to decisions reached in mock juror research concerning delayed allegations of child sexual abuse (i.e., repressed memory testimony, involvement in therapy, length of delay, age of complainant, presence of experts, and frequency of abuse) two (age of complainant and presence of expert) predicted verdicts. An additional five variables (duration, severity, complainant–accused relationship, threats, and complainant gender) were also examined: of these, threats and the complainant–accused relationship reliably predicted jury verdicts. For judge-alone trials, five variables predicted verdict: length of the delay, offence severity, claims of repression, the relationship between complainant and accused, and presence of an expert. Implications of the jurors' and judges' differential sensitivity to these variables for future simulation and archival research are discussed.     

The evidence notwithstanding--a case report on a rape.

This report concerns the rape of a woman by a stranger. The complainant stated that, during the course of the rape, penetration took place without ejaculation: these details were later confirmed by a suspect. This suspect, who was identified by the complainant, confessed and was convicted. Laboratory findings, however, indicated that the suspect could not have been the source of the semen found on the complainant's underpants. Further, a vaginal swab taken from the complainant contained intact sperm cells, an indication of a recent sexual contact. In spite of the presence of semen on the underwear which could not have come from the suspect, and the nonoccurrence of an ejaculation during the rape, the complainant maintained that she had not had a sexual contact for a month prior to the rape. This apparent contradiction and its implications are discussed.     

Court orders publication ban in trial for identity of HIV-positive witness

In September 2001, an Ontario trial judge in a criminal assault case ordered a ban on publishing the identities of both the HIV-positive complainant and the man accused of assaulting the complainant, or any evidence from the legal proceedings that would tend to identify them.     

The Effects of Prior Workplace Behavior on Subsequent Sexual Harassment Judgments

A dual processing model of sexual harassment judgments predicted that the behavior of a complainant in a prior case would influence evaluations in an unrelated subsequent case. In the first of two experimental scenarios depicting social-sexual conduct at work, the female complainant's conduct was manipulated to be aggressive, submissive, ambiguous, or neutral. Half of the participants were asked to reflect upon the first scenario after reading it and before answering responsibility questions. The other half simply reviewed the scenario and answered the questions. When the complainant acted aggressively, her behavior in the first scenario caused men who reflected on the fact pattern to find less evidence of harassment. Most interestingly, an aggressive complainant observed in the first scenario caused participants (especially women) to rate lower the likelihood that a neutral complainant in a second independent case was the victim of gender discrimination. Across cases, men found less evidence of harassment than did women.     

Using a Five-Stage Model to Evaluate Workplace Discrimination Injuries

Psychological assessment for workplace discrimination injuries is often complex, as each complainant has a particular personal history and context, including different coping skills, psychopathologies and unique life circumstances. A five-stage model based on best practice guidelines can assist forensic assessment practitioners in determining compensatory damages for psychological or psychiatric injuries and in formulating defensible, evidence-based reports that meet legal standards. The model incorporates legally relevant theories of causation to guide the evaluating psychologist to discern the nature and extent of any injury, and whether discrimination was the likely proximate cause. The focus is not on diagnosis but on functional performance (cognitive, affective, interpersonal and physical) in four key contexts: activities of daily living, relationships, the workplace and hedonic pursuits. This assessment method compares functioning in the complainant’s life until the “day before” the alleged discrimination event with the complainant’s condition at the time of the alleged discrimination, and any symptoms or reactions experienced subsequently. The five-stage model provides a systematic method to examine compensatory damages claims and increase the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the forensic evaluation.     

Complainant emotional expressions and perceived credibility: Exploring the role of perceivers’ facial mimicry and empathy

Purpose

This research investigated the roles of perceivers’ facial mimicry and empathy in the emotional victim effect (EVE) – the finding that complainants tend to appear more credible when exhibiting (vs. not exhibiting) negative emotional displays during their statements. Because facial mimicry plays a key role in empathic responding, it was hypothesized that inhibiting and facilitating perceivers’ mimicry would attenuate and amplify the EVE, respectively.

Methods

Participants (N = 362) in an experiment were instructed to mimic or not to mimic facial expressions (controls received no mimicry instructions) while watching a statement by an emotional or non‐emotional rape complainant. Participants rated the complainant's believability and the extent to which they experienced cognitive and affective empathy.

Results

The perceived believability of the complainant was not affected by complainant emotions, thus failing to replicate the EVE. However, the inhibition of mimicry unexpectedly reduced the perceived believability of the complainant, apparently by decreasing participants’ cognitive empathy.

Conclusions

The current findings suggest that mimicry inhibition may increase scepticism in the context of credibility assessment. This has important implications for decision‐making in legal settings and for research on the process of credibility attribution. Moreover, the failure to replicate the EVE adds to the cumulative evidence on the underlying effect size for the phenomenon.     

Prospective lawyers’ rape stereotypes and schematic decision making about rape cases

Abstract

Two studies explored stereotypic information processing in rape cases by prospective lawyers in Germany. In Study 1, 451 undergraduate law students rated rape scenarios varying with respect to defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy (force versus exploitation of the complainant's alcohol-induced defencelessness). Acceptance of rape myths was also measured. Likelihood of defendant liability was rated to be lower when there was a prior relationship between the parties and when the defendant exploited the complainant's defencelessness as compared to when he used force (except in the ex-partner rapes where blame was higher in the alcohol-related than in the force-related cases). Complainant blame was higher when there was a prior relationship between the parties and was higher in the alcohol-related cases than in the force-related cases, except in the ex-partner rape where the pattern was reversed. Participants with high rape myth acceptance held the defendant less liable and blamed the complainant more, especially when the two had known each other. Study 2 largely replicated these findings with 129 postgraduate trainee lawyers and showed that sentencing recommendations also varied as a function of defendant–complainant relationship and coercive strategy. Providing participants with the legal definition of rape did not reduce reliance on rape stereotypes.