单位犯罪刑事责任中行为归责与责任归责理论之整合

现有单位刑事责任理论均未有效地解决单位与单位自然人之间的关系,以及各自的刑事责任原理。单位刑事责任理论应包括:一是单位自然人的行为可以归责于单位本身,也即行为归责,是一种因果关系意义上的客观归属,具有法定性、利益性、身份或业务择一性、代理性等特征;二是单位犯罪行为可以归责于单位,是一种责任承担意义上的主观责任归属,强调单位行为人的主观可归责性,具有整体性、间接性、双重性和特定程序性等特征,包括故意和过失两种罪过;同时,单位人在行为归责的前提下,也要对自己的行为承担责任,也是一种主观责任归属。从行为归属到责任归责,单位犯罪刑事责任理论借此得以重构。     

致特殊体质被害人死亡案件中的刑事归责问题

对于行为人以较轻的殴打行为造成特殊体质被害人死亡的案件,一般认为行为人的殴打行为与被害人的死亡结果之间存在因果关系,但死亡结果能否归责于行为人则存在争议。如果将结果归因与结果归责相区分,将事实判断与规范归责层序化,笼罩在因果关系理论上的迷雾将散去,归责问题也将迎刃而解。客观归责理论不仅为我们判断归责提供了规则体系,更为重要的是提供了一种思维方法。这种方法论上的启迪,也许能够推进我国刑法因果关系理论向前迈进并逐渐融入追求刑法精确化、精细化、精致化的潮流中。     

事实判断与规范归责:因果关系与客观归责的功能界分

因果关系与客观归责是客观构成要件中两个各自独立的构成要素。客观归责理论将因果关系问题与归责问题加以分离,在确定了某一行为是造成某一结果的原因后,还要再以规范的观点来检验,是否如此的结果要归责于这一行为。根据条件说来判断因果关系,在归责的问题上,注重于结果在客观上可否归责于行为,如果行为制造了法所不容许的危险而且实现了构成要件该当的结果,那么行为就具有了归责可能性。客观归责明确区分了归因与归责,归因问题属于事实范畴,根据因果关系理论判断;归责问题属于评价范畴,依据客观归责理论处理。     

从归因到归责:客观归责理论研究

客观归责理论是德国刑法学在因果关系理论基础上发展起来的学说,旨在解决客观上的可归责性问题。归因与归责的区别在于:归因是一个事实问题,通过因果关系理论解决;归责是一个评价问题,通过客观归责理论解决。客观归责理论所确立的有关规则,对犯罪构成的客观要素进行实质审查,从而使犯罪构成论更加合理化。我国有必要对客观归责理论加以借鉴。     

试论刑法上的因果关系——从吕世海故意伤害一案说起

对刑法因果关系中介入因素的判断,及其刑事责任的确定等问题,在目前的刑法理论与司法实践中尚存争议。本文认为介入因素是否中断刑法因果关系,可参照＂三个条件说＂的观点,综合考虑各案的具体情形,而因果关系仅是行为人承担刑事责任的客观基础,其必然性与偶然性的区分,不是界定行为人承担刑事责任的标准。本文将从一个具体案例入手,对上述问题发表相关见解。     

客观归责理论:质疑与反思

我国刑法学界近年对引进德国刑法理论中的客观归责理论呼声很高,然而,作为一种外来理论,客观归责理论自身有诸多值得质疑之处。客观归责理论实际是因果关系理论而非其自身定位的构成要件理论;它早已超越对归责问题的探讨,而渐至成为与可罚性概念相当的犯罪成立理论;它在"客观归责"的同时其实也一直在进行着"主观归责";它以模糊三阶层犯罪论体系为代价进行归责判断,从而极大地削弱了阶层犯罪论体系所具有的人权保障机能;它不是一个自洽的理论,而是统合了各种不同内容的混合体。解决我国刑法因果关系问题不必引进客观归责理论,相当因果关系说可作为予以借鉴的学说。     

反思客观归责

客观归责理论对于犯罪论体系的构建意义重大。从它与因果关系的关系来讲,是归因判断与归责判断的结合,在这个基础上,可以重新定位条件理论的内涵。客观归责在三阶层犯罪论体系中理应属于构成要件该当性的讨论范围,并且是实质的客观构成要件。客观归责理论虽然对客观构成要件与主观构成要件的关系造成冲击,但并未改变主观构成要件对客观构成要件的方向指引以及客观构成要件作为主观构成要件的事实基础这样一个基本的关系定位。另外,客观归责理论的内部构造及检视规则仍然需要再检讨,以裨于客观归责理论的合理化。讨论客观归责理论最大的价值应当是给犯罪论体系的选择与引荐提供一个理论依据。     

也谈正确认识和认定刑法上的因果关系

认识刑法中的因果关系,应当先从行为的客观性质着手确定行为与结果有无因果关系,然后再结合行为人的主观罪过确定其行为是否属危害行为,进而确定其刑事责任的轻重;刑法中的因果关系是危害行为与危害结果之间的一种内在的、本质的联系,危害行为（即原因）的产生带有偶然性,刑法上因果关系本身是必然性和偶然性的辩证统一;应当正确区分因果关系中的原因与条件;不能把刑法上的因果关系与构成犯罪和承担刑事责任等同起来。     

论缓和的结果归属

结果归属可以分为三种类型:通常的结果归属(客观归责)、严格的结果归属与缓和的结果归属。将他人自杀死亡的结果归属于行为人的引起行为,就是典型的缓和的结果归属。缓和的结果归属具有两个特点:一是结果归属的条件缓和,即尽管不符合通常的结果归属条件,但仍然将结果归属于行为人的行为;二是结果归属后的刑事责任追究比较缓和,即虽然将自杀死亡结果归属于行为人的引起行为,但并非令行为人承担故意杀人罪、过失致人死亡罪的刑事责任,只是使行为人承担相对较轻犯罪的刑事责任或者作为从重处罚的情节。缓和的结果归属具有中国特色,在当下有其存在的原因与理由,不能以德国的客观归责理论为标准否定中国的缓和的结果归属现象。相反,一部分缓和的结果归属现象可以得到维持,与此同时,也要从构成要件的行为、因果关系、主观责任方面对缓和的结果归属现象进行适当限制,并禁止基于缓和的结果归属对行为人适用加重的法定刑。     

客观归责理论的方法论意义兼与刘艳红教授商榷

客观归责理论和相当因果关系说都是实质的归责理论,它们都要解决把结果视作谁的"作品"的问题。如果仅仅考虑个案处理,即便不采用客观归责理论,单纯运用条件说和相当因果关系说,疑难案件也能够得到处理。但是,相当因果关系说在方法论上有诸多缺陷,而客观归责理论在方法论上的优势非常明显:用多重规则确保检验时没有遗漏;建立正面判断和反向检验交互进行的检验标准;展示一般预防的刑罚效果;凸显评价的层次性、充分性;确保刑法判断的客观化。我国刑法学者否认客观归责理论,主张在因果关系判断时采用相当因果关系理论,再通过故意、过失限定归责范围的观点,貌似有理,但在方法论上存在根本的错误。如果在进行客观归责判断时,根据一定的检验标准,根本就不需要将某个后果这一"杰作"算到行为人头上,也就没有追问其有无罪责的必要性、可能性。客观归责理论主张对故意犯、过失犯的认定,可以将原本就应该放在构成要件符合性阶段考虑,但过去一直被错误地置于责任中分析的要素提早到客观归责来思考,使之实现犯罪判断要素的正确"归位"。因此,客观归责理论只是强调客观判断必须优先进行,不会模糊三阶层理论。如果充分认识到客观归责理论在方法论上的独特意义,同时,为了确保司法上不出错,肯定客观归责理论,并将相当因果关系说的内容融入客观归责中,就是我国刑法理论未来需要认真对待的问题。     

What similes in Sāṃkhya do: a comparison of the similes in the Sāṃkhya texts in the Mahābhārata, the Sāṃkhyakārikā and the Sāṃkhyasūtra

In Sāṃkhya similes are an important means to communicate basic philosophical teachings. In the texts similes are frequently used, especially in the Sāṃkhya passages in the Mahābhārata, in the Sāṃkhyakārikā and in the Sāṃkhyasūtra. This paper compares the similes in these three texts and analyses changes in the philosophy as revealed in the similes. A comparison of the similes of Sāṃkhya texts produced over more than one thousand years reveals changes in the emphasis in this philosophical system. The purpose of the similes in the Sāṃkhya passages of the Mahābhārata is to produce an intuitive understanding of the separateness of puruṣa and prakṛti. The similes are designed to lead the listener to understand this basic dualism. In the Sāṃkhyakārikā the most difficult issues are the relationship between prakṛti and puruṣa and the idea of prakṛti working for the salvation of puruṣa. One whole chapter of the Sāṃkhyasūtra is devoted to similes.     

The Brahman and the Word Principle (Śabda)

The literature of Bhartṛhari and Maṇḍana attention in contemporary times. The writings of the prominent linguistic philosopher and grammarian Bhartṛhari and of Manḍana, an encyclopedic scholar of later seventh century and most likely a senior contemporary of Śaṅkara, shape Indian philosophical thinking to a great extent. On this premise, this study of the influence of Bhartṛhari on Maṇḍana’s literature, the scope of this essay, allows us to explore the significance of Bhartṛhari’s writings, not only to comprehend the philosophy of language, but also to understand the contribution of linguistic philosophy in shaping Advaita philosophy in subsequent times. This comparison is not to question originality on the part of Maṇḍana, but rather to explore the interrelationship between linguistic philosophy and the monistic philosophy of the Upaniṣadic tradition. Besides excavating the role of Bhartṛhari writings on the texts of Maṇḍana, analysis this will reveal the interrelatedness of the Advaita school of Śaṅkara often addressed as ‘pure non-dualism’ (Kevalādvaita) and the Advaita of Bhartṛhari, identified as ‘non-dualism of the word-principle’ (Śabdādvaita).     

The Realism of Universals in Plato and Nyāya

It has become commonplace in introductions to Indian philosophy to construe Plato’s discussion of forms (εἶδος/ἰδέα) and the treatment in Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika of universals (sāmānya/jāti) as addressing the same philosophical issue, albeit in somewhat different ways. While such a comparison of the similarities and differences has interest and value as an initial reconnaissance of what each says about common properties, an examination of the roles that universals play in the rest of their philosophical enquiries vitiates this commonplace. This paper draws upon the primary texts to identify the following metaphysical, epistemological, semantic and soteriological roles that universals play in the philosophy of Plato and of Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika:

Metaphysical: causal of the existence of x Metaphysical: constitutive of the identity/essence of x Epistemological: cognitively causal (i.e. of the cognition of one over many) Epistemological: epistemically causal (i.e. of knowledge of x) Semantic: necessary condition of speech and reason Epistemological: vindicatory of induction (Nyāya only) Metaphysical: explanatory of causation (Nyāya only) Soteriological: cathartic contemplation (Plato only)

These roles provide us with motivations or reasons to believe that universals exist. As we examine these motivations, we find pressures mounting against our assimilating Platonic forms and the universals of Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika in the discourse about common properties. It is especially when we appreciate the utterly different contribution that universals make in securing our highest welfare that we realize how Plato and the two sister schools are not so much talking somewhat differently about the same thing, but talking somewhat similarly about different things. This better understanding of this difference in these philosophies opens a route for our better understanding of their unique contributions in the ongoing dialogue of philosophy.     

The Descent of Power: Possession,Mysticism, and Initiation in the Śaiva Theology of Abhinavagupta

This paper surveys the key terms śaktipāta and samāveśa (both of which refer to religious experience) in the primary sources of Tantric Śaivism over several centuries of textual development, building up a theory as to their range of meanings. It specifically focuses on their usage by Abhinavagupta (Kāshmīr, 10th century) by presenting a complete translation of chapter 11 of his Tantrasāra. The paper thus serves to (a) illuminate the nature of spiritual experience and the qualifcations for religious praxis in Śaivism, (b) give insight into the worldview of the Tantric Śaivas, and (c) help in pinpointing a specific and significant issue in the phenomenological study of religion generally. An earlier version of this paper has been published in a somewhat different form in Evam: Forum on Indian Representations vol. 4, published by Samvad India, New Delhi, India. This paper could not have been written without two years of intensive study with Professor Alexis Sanderson of All Souls College, Oxford, whose scholarship has proved essential in advancing my understanding of Śaivism. Also very helpful was Dr. Somadeva Vasudeva, now of Columbia University, whose database and encyclopedic knowledge have been invaluable. The germ of the idea for this article was suggested to me when Professor Paul Muller-Ortega (University of Rochester) first pointed out to me the passage beginning at MVT 2.14.     

Without Negative Origins and Absolute Ends: A Jurisprudence of the Singular

This paper is a preparatory analysis for a jurisprudence of the singular. Through a critical analysis of the negativity and the absolving character of the transcendental metaphysics of law and justice it reads mainly through M. Heidegger, Heraclitus, G. Agamben and J-L. Nancy a realignment of the questioning of justice that takes its provisional name in ‘dike’, at thepoint where the routes of ontology, the juridical and the political intersect and reveal the pseudo-propriety of their presuppositions. Without the transcendental dialectical discourse of the origin and its absolving-absolute ‘ends’, this paper re-poses the urgency of thinking the singular-multiple ‘right’ otherwise. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Sovereign Event in a Nation's Law

This article interrogates the relationship between the sovereign event and a legal decision that purports to place sovereignty beyond law. It argues that sovereignty cannot be regarded as unitary, and elaborates the process of iterability by which the sovereign event is split from the outset. This dynamic is examined through an interrogation of the non-justiciability of sovereignty in Mabo v. Queensland (No. 2)(1992). Along with the unitary conception of sovereignty, Mabo (No. 2) deployed an absolute measure for community in the form of the ‘skeletal principle’ of the doctrine of tenure. The paper argues that a conception of the political that affirms the One sovereign source of community and law instead of the original dis-position of law, nation and community repeats the original violence, and will, at best, run aground on the righteous (mis)recognition of the ‘appropriate savage’. It concludes with an indicative rethinking of community through the thought of Jean-Luc Nancy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Student mentoring to enhance graduates’ employability potential

This paper considers whether the adoption of a subject-specific, classroom-based, voluntary extra-curricular student mentoring scheme could provide an effective mechanism and andragogic approach to enhance higher education students’ employability potential pre-graduation.Over the three-year pilot, 26 more advanced (second to fourth year) undergraduate students actively mentored nearly 400 first year undergraduate students during workshops delivered annually within forensic and policing focused courses. In total, 17 mentors anonymously completed online, post-scheme surveys. Survey data was quantitatively analysed to evaluate the scheme, establish which skills and attributes mentors had developed and investigate whether mentors could appropriately identify example skills within professional terminology used during employer recruitment. In addition, this paper reflects on the implementation of remote student mentoring during the COVID-19 pandemic and its adoption within a blended learning framework.The results from this research strongly support mentoring as an effective mechanism to develop undergraduate employability skills, significantly developing mentors’ self-confidence and self-efficacy in their interpersonal and communication skills. Although mentors were aware of university graduate attributes and thought they could evidence these with appropriate examples, in practice this was not necessarily the case. As a result, a framework is proposed to enable mentors to identify their skills and how they may align with competencies sought by relevant forensic and policing employers. However, other andragogic practices may need to be implemented to maximise the potential for successful graduate employment.     

The emergence of a group of four characters (Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha) in the Harivaṃśa: points for consideration

There are good reasons to think that Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha already form a sort of implicit tetrad in the HV. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to often overlooked data related to this tetrad. (1) Upon first reading, the sequence of the HV episodes appears to be somewhat disconnected, and might lead one to conclude that no such grouping of these figures had as of yet taken place. Nevertheless, a closer look at the structure of the text makes it clear that these four characters are one of the main focuses of the narrator’s interest. (2) The relationships of these four heroes to one another and to other deities will be examined. In addition to their close kinship, these heroes with the exception of Aniruddha, are also said to be incarnations of other entities; thus the logic underpinning this grouping must be located at this other level. (3) Considered against the backdrop of the entire HV, one realizes that a basic pattern is established in which the presence of the goddess, under various names and functions, is required not only to facilitate Saṃkarṣaṇa’s and Kr̥ṣṇa’s births and actions on earth, but also the actions of Pradyumna and Aniruddha. In fact, neither Kr̥ṣṇa Vāsudeva, nor Saṃkarṣaṇa, nor Pradyumna nor Aniruddha can act entirely independently of her assistance. (4) The HV does not employ the word vyūha in connection with the group of Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Nevertheless, during the battle waged to deliver Aniruddha, the idea of vyūha is present even if the word itself is not. HV 110.47–49 describes a true trivyūha composed of three fighters (Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa and Pradyumna), who are arranged in such a way as to protect one another. The episode of Aniruddha’s liberation appears to be the missing link, showing clearly that at least Kr̥ṣṇa, Saṃkarṣaṇa and Pradyumna are capable of assuming a vyūha as they fight the Rudraic forces.     

Prepartum Psychosis and Neonaticide: Rare Case Study and Forensic‐Psychiatric Synthesis of Literature

Peripartum psychosis is a rare but serious psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of a mood episode with psychotic features. Although controversy surrounds the nosological status of peripartum mental disorders, these conditions continue to be of exceptional interest to the medical and forensic mental health communities. The aim of this study was to report a rare case of prepartum psychosis which escalated to the endpoint of neonaticide and summarize literature on peripartum mental disorders and infanticide. A 30‐year‐old mother murdered her newborn with the spike of her serum delivery system and planned to commit suicide while in hospital after hallucinating due to an acute puerperal psychotic disorder with a prepartum onset and postpartum deterioration. Her disorder was not managed until neonaticide. Throughout this paper, the significance of a multidisciplinary approach for the optimal management of these incidents is highlighted and diagnostic as well as therapeutic issues are addressed.     

Forensic identification science evidence since Daubert: Part I--A quantitative analysis of the exclusion of forensic identification science evidence

The U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Kumho Tire Co. Ltd. v. Carmichael transformed the way scientific expert evidence was reviewed in courts across the United States. To gauge the impact of these rulings on the admission of forensic identification evidence, the authors analyzed 548 judicial opinions from cases where admission of such evidence was challenged. Eighty-one cases (15%) involved exclusion or limitation of identification evidence, with 50 (65.7%) of these failing to meet the "reliability" threshold. This was largely because of a failure to demonstrate a sufficient scientific foundation for either the technique (27 cases) or the expert's conclusions (17 cases). The incidence of exclusion/limitation because of a lack of demonstrable reliability suggests that there is a continuing need for the forensic sciences to pursue research validating their underlying theories and techniques of identification to ensure their continued acceptance by the courts.