Amendment Of China＇s Criminal Procedure Law Highlights Human Rights Protection：on Privilege Against Self- Incrimination and Exclusionary Rule

此次我国《刑事诉讼法》修改,规定了不得强迫任何人证实自己有罪,还增加了非法证据排除的规定。这些新增内容之间存在紧密联系,每一项又有各自的意义。“不强迫自证其罪”条款是“尊重和保障人权”的进一步体现,关系到我国刑事侦查、检察和司法部门的职责和个人权利的保障;非法证据排除是落实不强迫自证其罪的具体措施,通过约束侦查部门取证行为对侵犯个人权利提供了补救措施。这些都是我国《刑事诉讼法》在原则性和制度方面的重大修改。文章详细研究了新增加的这些条款的确切含义,指出其中的进步意义,分析了存在的问题,提出执行新增加的这些法律条文必须注意的事项。     

The Advent of Preventive Criminal Law: An Erosion of the Traditional Criminal Law?

Criminal law in contemporary societies is undergoing a transformation or according to some, even a paradigm shift. The reach of criminal law is now extended to terrains that were hitherto immune to criminalization. These new forms of criminalization. in post-heroic risk societies are targeting conduct well before it causes a harm. The prime examples of this preventive criminalization. are pre-inchoate offences, crimes of possession of “innocent” objects and crimes of abstract endangerment. The common trait of these offences is that they enable the so-called preponing criminal liability (Vorverlagerung), through which the earliest of preparatory acts, neutral, everyday activities such as merely standing around or merely possessing may well fall within the reach of criminal law. This phenomenon is now taking place virtually everywhere considered by many as an erosion of the traditional post-enlightenment criminal law model. Yet, proponents of the preventive criminal law are suggesting that such laws are needed in order to avert risks (terrorist attacks, for instance) while they are at preparation phase. There is, therefore, a tension between the traditional criminal law and new security interests that pose new questions which need to be addressed by a meticulous analysis. In this article I shall try to deal with following questions: Whether these preventive offences are inherently incompatible with the rule of law? How far a law-abiding nation can go in criminalizing preparatory acts? Are there any promising constraining constitutional principles or instances that delimit preventive criminalization?     

The International Criminal Court and Mali: Towards More Transparency in International Criminal Law Investigations?

The author takes a closer look at the Situation in Mali and the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP)’s initiation of full investigations on the basis of article 53(1) ICC Statute. In accordance with OTP Regulation 29(1), the OTP produces so-called ‘article 53’ reports that analyze the legal position in conflict situations that are under pre-investigation against the background of the following legal criteria: jurisdiction; admissibility; and the interest of justice. These reports give an analytical basis for the Chief Prosecutor to render a positive or negative decision on whether a certain conflict reaches the level of formal criminal investigations. In Mali, the Chief Prosecutor took the fast lane, passing by several other situations that have been under pre-investigation for a longer period of time. To a certain extent, as will be outlined in this contribution, this can be explained by the self-referral mechanism and certain particularities in Mali. However, some selective choices remain the OTP’s mystery, covert due to the nebulosity of ‘gravity’.     

Child Witnesses and the International Criminal Justice System: Does the International Criminal Court Protect the Most Vulnerable?

While warfare has always caused human suffering, modern armedconflicts have been synonymous for the deliberate and systematicattacks on non-combatants, many of whom are children. As theyoften possess the best and sometimes only evidence of a particularcrime, it is likely that children will be asked to testify beforethe International Criminal Court. Given that they are the mostvulnerable of all witnesses, the Rome Statute contains variousprovisions designed to protect the interests of children. Whilethe Court's witness protection regime will help reduce the stressand trauma associated with giving evidence, various improvementscould be made to ensure that children are provided with thenecessary protection that their susceptible status requires.     

Causes of Legal Procedure Deficiency in Chin

在去滁州市检察院采访路上就听说,前阵子,滁州市检察院两个处长主动提出要辞去领导职务,一问方知,原来两人所领导的处室在去年的全省考评中虽跻身全省前三名,却没能拿到第一,自认为拖了大家的后腿,没颜面再做这个领导。这听来未免夸张,但得知2005年度,滁州市检察院蝉联检察业务     

Criminal Justice “Hollywood Style”: How Women in Criminal Justice Professions Are Depicted in Prime-Time Crime Dramas

With the abundance of prime-time crime dramas on television, it is imperative that researchers examine how female criminal justice professionals are depicted in the world of fiction versus in reality. In this study, a content analysis of 10 prime-time television crime dramas was conducted. Of the 69 characters observed, female criminal justice professionals were portrayed as young, White, and single. Female characters were more provocatively dressed, and they also were more likely to be victims of crime. Unlike previous studies that showed that female characters were underrepresented on prime-time television, here women were overrepresented as crime scene investigators, detectives, and special agents. Stereotypical images of women as subordinate, nurturing, affectionate, and sexually attractive still prevail. However, compared to their male counterparts, female characters were equally assertive, self-confident, and competitive.     

Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal?: ‘Redeemability’ and the Psychology of Punitive Public Attitudes

Several studies have sought to link punitive public attitudes to attribution style and/or lay theories of crime. This research finds that those who believe criminal acts are the result of freely chosen and willful behavior are more likely to be punitive than those who feel crime is the result of external circumstances and constraints. These analyses focus on only one dimension of attributions: locus of control (internal/external). In this analysis, we include a second dimension, thought to be a better predictor of attitudes in social psychological research: stability/instability. In addition to measuring lay theories of crime causation, we also test for “belief in redeemability” (or beliefs about the ability of deviants to change their ways). Our hypothesis is that this other dimension of personal attributions (stability/instability) may be as critical in explaining support for highly punitive criminal justice policies as beliefs about criminal responsibility. We find evidence supportive of this model in an analysis of data from postal survey of residents of six areas in England.     

History’s Challenge to Criminal Law Theory

After briefly sketching an historical account of criminal law that emphasizes its longstanding reach into social, commercial and personal life outside the core areas of criminal offenses, this paper explores why criminal law theory has never succeeded in limiting the content of criminal codes to offenses that fit the criteria of dominant theories, particularly versions of the harm principle. Early American writers on criminal law endorsed no such limiting principles to criminal law, and early American criminal law consequently was substantively broad. But even with the rise of theories in the mid-nineteenth century that sought to limit criminal law’s reach, codified offenses continued to widely and deeply regulate social life and exceed the limits of those normative arguments. This essay suggests that this practical failure of criminal law theory occurred because it was never adopted by an institutional actor that could limit offense definitions in accord with normative commitments. Legislatures are institutionally unsuited to having their policy actions limited by principled arguments, and courts passed on the opportunity to incorporate a limiting principle for criminal law once they began, in the Lochner era, actively regulating legislative decisions through Constitutional law. The one avenue through which criminal law theory has had some success in affecting criminal codes is through the influence of specialized bodies that influence legislation, especially the American Law Institute advocacy of the Model Penal Code. But the institutional structure of American criminal law policymaking permits an unusually small role for such specialized bodies, and without such an institutional mechanism, criminal law theory is likely to continue to have little effect on actual criminal codes.     

Expanding the Boundaries of Criminal Justice: Emphasizing the “S” in the Criminal Justice Sciences through Interdisciplinary Efforts

At its very core, the phrase “criminal justice sciences” points to the interdisciplinary nature of our field. However, efforts to promote and support interdisciplinary teaching and research face significant barriers. In this paper, I address how interdisciplinarity is conceptualized, the history of criminal justice as an interdisciplinary field, why we should promote interdisicplinarity, barriers we confront in interdisciplinary efforts, the degree to which ACJS members engage in interdisciplinary practices, factors related to interdisciplinarity, and opportunities for increased interdisciplinary research in criminal justice. To grow as an academic field, I conclude that we must look to other disciplines such as biology, computer science, policy, and women’s studies as we expand our disciplinary boundaries.     

Functions of China＇s Civil Pretrial Procedure

我国长期以来秉承庭审中心主义,对于庭审前程序的功能仅定位为为庭审做准备。但当下审前程序的功能已经由单一的准备功能发展为包括准备、化解纠纷等在内的复合型功能,即由为开庭审理做准备以保证诉讼的顺利进行,发展为提供了一个无须审判而结束案件纠纷的解决途径。由此,我国的民事庭审前程序应当具有疏松减压、导向庭审、化解纠纷、整合救济资源与保障社会救济以及彰显庭审前程序价值的功能。     

Why Criminal Law: A Question of Content?

I take it as obvious that attempts to justify the criminal law must be sensitive to matters of criminalization—to what conduct is proscribed or permitted. I discuss three additional matters that should be addressed in order to justify the criminal law. First, we must have a rough idea of what degree of deviation is tolerable between the set of criminal laws we ought to have and the set we really have. Second, we need information about how the criminal law at any given time and place is administered, since the law in action is bound to differ radically from the law on the books. Finally, we must have some basis for speculating what life would be like in the absence of a system of criminal justice—if the state ceased to impose punishments.

Criminal Justice Reform and the System’s Efficiency

This article discusses key issues that affect the efficiency and credibility of criminal justice systems. It discusses the consequences of an ineffective criminal justice system, which include unnecessary delays within the court process, ‘cracked’ or ‘collapsed’ trials, and lack of public confidence. It notes that a successful system must contain strategic, integrated, and sustainable mechanisms that enhance the entire criminal justice process. The article examines a number of initiatives taken by various countries, noting the measurable and sustainable results, while also suggesting ways that these programs could be improved. Finally, the author notes the importance of measuring the outcomes and impact of the suggested initiatives in an effort to promote transparency and accountability, as well as effectively record successful strategies.     

Examining Criminal Justice Practitioners’ Views on Collateral Consequences Policy

With the recent emphasis on reentry and the reintegration of offenders back into society, both academics and policy makers have voiced concern over both the process of applying collateral consequences in a particular case and the expanding number of collateral restrictions, some of which are quite severe. Many of these restrictions create significant barriers to reintegration for offenders released from incarceration. While reforms have been proposed, there is a lack of research examining the perceptions of criminal justice actors about collateral consequences of conviction. As parties most familiar with the application of consequences in cases, and the burdens they place on involved parties, the present study surveyed practitioners in a large Midwestern state. The findings suggest that judges, defense attorneys, probation and parole supervisors, and prosecutors are troubled by the role of collateral consequences in offender reentry and are not opposed to repealing or reforming some of these policies. Further, there are significant differences between practitioner groups as to reforms that should be implemented within the state’s criminal justice system.     

1981 Review—Current Criminal Justice Projects Here and Abroad

The study of transnational environmental harm demands appreciation of specific methodological and conceptual issues that impinge upon the data collection process. Some of these issues include the ethics and politics of ‘outsiders’ researching other people's territory, the differential availability and types of data in different jurisdictions, the ways in which state denial and corporate resistance impede the research process, and the importance of utilising a wide range of data sources as a means to substantiate claims about harms and the causes of harms. The paper presents an exploration of methodological issues in the study of harms that are global, cross‐national, and/or localised, but which are intrinsically transnational in nature regardless of scale and scope. By understanding the challenges presented to those working in this area, we are also able to identify directions for future methodological development.     

Forensic Psychiatric Examination in Criminal Cases in the United States

作者介绍了美国司法精神病鉴定的一些一般情况．美国法医精神病学家常受法院的委托，对刑事被告人进行精神状态鉴定和诉讼行为能力、责任能力评定．本文阐述了在美国的刑事案件审理过程中，对各种诉讼行为能力（包括受审能力、接受处决能力、放弃法定权利能力等）的认识及评定要点。论述了美国法律对判断有无刑事责任能力的历史发展变化．美国联邦及各州法律对刑事被告人责任能力评定中辨认和控制两要素存在不同看法，在司法实践中各州不尽相同，有些州只要鉴定人检查被告人有无辨认能力；有些州只强调有无控制能力；还有些州则要求鉴定人检查被告人有无辨认能力和控制能力，即两种能力都要．鉴定人检查被告人在作案当时有无精神病，主要根据临床经验及病史材料．     

Wither Criminal Justice? An Argument for a Reformed Discipline

The American criminal justice system fails to achieve justice, reduce crime, and provide equal protection to Americans regardless of their social class, race, and gender. But, criminal justice as an academic area of study has become a popular and fast growing liberal arts major in the United States, churning out tens of thousands to work in the criminal justice system. Given the demonstrable harms caused by criminal justice, which are suffered disproportionately by the least powerful people, academic criminologists and criminal justicians have the obligation to promote a reformed discipline. This article briefly summarizes the evidence of bias in the criminal justice system and then turns to how these biases relate to criminal justice as an academic discipline. Using the war on drugs as an example, I argue that the practice of criminal justice as an academic endeavor runs counter to the goal of promoting social justice in America. One of the ironic conclusions of this article is that criminal justice as an academic discipline must get smaller if we are to achieve larger goals of social justice outlined here. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Order 53 in Fiji – Practice,Procedure and Cases

UNDERSTANDING CRIMINAL LAW Professor CMV Clarkson ISBN 0421717505 Sweet and Maxwell, 4th edn, 2005

THE GRENADA REVOLUTION Richard Hart ISBN 0953774279 Caribbean Labour Solidarity and the Socialist History Society 2005     

Criminal Court-Ordered Psychiatric Evaluations:Does Gender Play a Role?

This study examines potential gender differences among defendants referred by criminal courts for psychiatric evaluations by analyzing demographic, clinical, and criminal history variables and evaluation findings. This study offers a large sample size of 718 females, as well as 3,627 males. Bivariate logistic regression and heterogeneity analyses were utilized to assess potential differences. Females were older; diagnosed more with mood, anxiety, and borderline personality disorders; less likely to have prior felony convictions; and more likely to be in the community than jail at the time of the evaluation. In addition, when controlling for other factors, females were more likely to be evaluated as having a mental disease or defect, to need hospitalization pending trial, and to be incompetent to stand trial.     

Violence and Massacres -- Towards a Criminal Law of Inhumanity?

The law's responses to massacres seem to vacillate between twomodels: (i) the model of the ‘criminal law of the enemy’inspired by the national criminal law and rendered topical againby the attacks of September 11; (ii) the model of the ‘criminallaw of inhumanity’ symbolized by the paradigm of crimesagainst humanity. The latter model is better suited to takeaccount of the qualitative dimension of massacres, i.e. thefact that they, besides being mass offences (quantitative criterion),also offend against humanity. To establish a ‘criminallaw of inhumanity’ as a model with a universal, or universalizable,dimension, three conditions are necessary, which concern (i)the definition of the crimes, (ii) the assignment of responsibilityand (iii) the nature of the punishment. As for the definitionof the crime, one could implicitly deduce from the list of actsconstituting crimes against humanity (Article 7 of the InternationalCriminal Court Statute) that humanity so protected has two inseparablecomponents: the individuality of each human being, not reducibleto membership in a group, and the equal membership of each inthe human community as a whole. With regard to the second condition,it is not sufficient to hold responsible the de jure or de factoleaders; intermediaries and perpetrators, at all levels of hierarchy,must also be held accountable. As for the third condition, itis not sufficient to content oneself with the watchword of thefight against impunity without bringing up the nature and functionsof the punishment; hence the necessity not only to rethink therole ‘criminal’ law can play in a policy of punishment,but also to focus on prevention, reparation and reconciliation.Finally, the author suggests that the proposed model of a ‘criminallaw of inhumanity’ must be built through the interplaybetween municipal law and international law. On the one hand,the wealth of national legal systems — also with regardto penalties and responsibility — should be better integratedinto international criminal justice; on the other, nationalcriminal systems should be better adapted to conditions of internationallaw, through the introduction into domestic law of the definitionsof the crimes and also the rules for assigning criminal responsibility.