Media effects on jurors

This article examines the impact on jurors of exposure to media coverage of legal issues. Jurors' decisions may be influenced by a broad range of legally relevant information gleaned from media sources, including newspaper reports, radio and television news, advertising, movies, and televised crime shows and courtroom scenes. The article gives examples of these influences from real-world cases and from simulated research studies. It focuses on the impact of trial-relevant publicity on jurors in cases unrelated to the one being publicized; the ways that media representations of the justice system may influence jurors' expectations and decisions; the influence of insurance company advertisements on jurors' damage awards; and the impact of viewing pornography on jurors' decision making. The paper also explores the psychological processes by which each of these effects may occur and evaluates proposed remedies.I thank Alan Siegel for his comments on an earlier draft.     

“What He Did Was Lawful”: Divorce Litigation and Gender Inequality in China

Sociolegal research has shed considerable light on gender inequality in the civil justice system. Existing research, however, rarely looks beyond court proceedings to examine gender inequality stemming from the prior stages in civil litigation. This article fills the gap by addressing the question of whether and how the early moments in disputing produce inequality between women and men. Based on a mixed‐methods study of divorce litigation in China, I identify two critical moments in the early stages in disputing: the initiation stage and the suit‐filing stage. Findings from the two stages indicate that, early on in disputing, the legal profession routinely dismisses and violates women's rights in marriage and family. Moreover, due to the legal profession's failure to convert important rights on the books into formal claims, women's marital grievances and rights claims fall through cracks long before they can enter court proceedings. These findings suggest that gender inequality can result not only from judicial decision making, but also from dispute processing conducted prior to—and outside of—court proceedings.     

Judicial precedents in civil law systems: A dynamic analysis

This paper uses a simple dynamic model to describe the evolution of judicial decision making in civil law systems. Unlike the common law systems, civil law jurisdictions do not adopt a stare decisis principle in adjudication. In deciding any given legal issue, precedents serve a persuasive role. Civil law courts are expected to take past decisions into account when there is a sufficient level of consistency in case law. Generally speaking, when uniform case law develops, courts treat precedents as a source of “soft” law, taking them into account when reaching a decision. The higher the level of uniformity in past precedents, the greater the persuasive force of case law. Although civil law jurisdictions do not allow dissenting judges to attach a dissent to a majority opinion, cases that do not conform to the dominant trend serve as a signal of dissent among the judiciary. These cases influence future decisions in varying ways in different legal traditions. Judges may also be influenced by recent jurisprudential trends and fads in case law. The evolution of case law under these doctrines of precedents is modeled, considering the possibility for consolidation or corrosion of legal remedies and the permanence of unsettled case law.     

民事诉讼受理制度改造的理性视角

民事诉讼受理是纠纷进入司法程序的初始必经阶段,对于当事人诉讼权利保障意义重大.随着经济体制改革的深化和经济的快速发展,许多深层次的矛盾不断出现,民众的诉求越来越多,而我国的法律体系和社会保障机制还不够完善,人民法院作为解决矛盾纠纷的专门机构,应当担负起为构建和谐社会提供有力司法保障的历史任务,最大程度地吸纳化解矛盾纠纷.然而,现行民事诉讼受理制度所规定的起诉条件,既包括实体内容又包括程序要求,确定性有余而灵活性、包容性不足,虽然能够一定程度地起到过滤纠纷,节约司法资源的作用,但其对于新型权利诉求进入诉讼渠道的阻隔作用日益显现,甚至为个别地方限制当事人正当诉权的行使提供了借口.在改造方案的设计方面,应当理性审视现有司法资源和司法环境,更宜采渐进式而非跃进式的方案,避免由于准备不足而导致司法不堪重负,制约正常功能的发挥.     

民事诉讼能力的影响因素

目的探索精神病人民事诉讼能力的影响因素,为民事诉讼能力量化评定奠定基础。方法以司法部司法鉴定科学技术研究所2002—2005年期间进行民事诉讼能力评定案例中的被鉴定人为研究对象,采用RTHD和自编的民事诉讼相关情况调查表,从医学要件和法学要件两方面探索民事诉讼能力影响因素。结果共纳入100例研究对象,分为有或无民事诉讼能力两组,在一般状态、认知障碍、情感症状、行为异常和法律心理能力等方面均存在显著差异,自知力、记忆力、智能对民事诉讼能力具有显著影响,两组社会功能也存在显著差别。结论在精神症状的影响下,精神病人理解表达、判断和控制能力等明显受损,不能正常地进行民事诉讼。     

When a corporation rapes: perceptions of rape in civil court for corporate defendants

In recent years, the coupling of poor outcomes for rape victims in criminal court and the widening scope of legal responsibility for sexual assault has prompted plaintiffs to file civil suits for rape against corporations. Unfortunately, we know little about juror perception of civilly litigated rape against corporate defendants and most jury research involving corporate defendants concerns non-sexual injury cases (e.g. premises liability, automobile accidents). With the increasing number of corporations being sued civilly for rape, we need to understand how civil juries perceive these cases. The present study investigated mock jurors’ perceptions of a fictional civil rape trial against a hotel. Community members (N?=?155) read one of three trial summaries: Civil rape trial against the alleged perpetrator, civil rape trial against a hotel, or criminal rape trial. Results indicate females have higher pro-plaintiff judgments than males in civil court, perceptions of greed typically associated with civil litigation apply to rape, and favorable plaintiff decisions are most likely against a corporate defendant. Also, mental models suggest mock jurors conceptualize criminal and civil rape cases against an individual similarly. We discuss our results in terms of psychological, legal and practical expectations when suing for rape.     

确保审判不受传媒干扰的法律思考

传媒对诉讼案件的不规范报道在很大程度上干预了独立审判 ,而现代法制国家关于报道诉讼案件应遵循的规则早已成为系统的法律规定。我国应借鉴域外的调整规则 ,根据中国国情 ,应对传媒采访报道诉讼案件的时间、方式、范围以及对录音录像等设备的使用进行规范 ,设置传媒采访报道诉讼案件的相应规则 ,并运用现有的法律规定 ,最大限度地消除传媒报道对审判的负面影响 ,确保审判不受其干扰。     

转型时期我国民事诉讼法学的主要任务与重心

民事诉讼法学的研究任务和重心会因为社会时期或阶段的不同而有所不同。在我国当下社会转型时期,法治初创阶段,民事诉讼法治也处于大规模的建构和实践之中。因此,民事诉讼法学的研究任务就应当集中于对民事诉讼制度原理的研究,以适应民事诉讼法治的大量建构和实践的需要。民事诉讼法学的大量研究资源也应当集中投入其中。过去由于受错误司法政策的引导和影响,将有限的学术研究资源投向了与民事诉讼原理研究关系不大的一些领域,从而导致了民事诉讼法学研究重心的偏移,也导致了民事诉讼理论研究本身的贫困化。应当将民事诉讼法学研究的主要任务和重心回归于民事诉讼法制度原理的探究,真正推动我国民事诉讼法治的发展,提升民事诉讼法学理论研究的水平。     

论公权力提起民事再审

在民事诉讼中,法院决定再审和检察院抗诉提起再审作为两种运用公权力提起再审的方式与民事诉讼法的程序价值相违背,应当废除.同时,可以在立法上设计更科学的公益诉讼制度来填补相应的空白.     

民事诉讼中的附属问题分析

民事诉讼中的附属问题是民事诉讼中对与诉讼相关的行政事实或证据判断问题,在诉讼中对它的认定和判断决定着民事案件性质或裁判结论。民事纠纷,会因行政权的介入而使问题变得复杂化。为了从根本上解决民事纠纷,保障当事人的权益,必须探讨新的制度来加以解决。     

探析民事强制执行检察监督的方式

随着民事强制执行理论研究和实践的不断深入,民事强制执行的各种问题也日益增多,我国民事执行检察监督方式缺乏法律规制并在实践操作中实施得较为混乱就是一例。从民事执行监察监督方式的基本含义及其存在的意义出发,在分析确定民事执行检察监督方式的基本原则的基础上,提出我国应当把民事起诉、刑事起诉、抗诉和检察建议作为我国法定的民事执行检察监督方式。     

民事诉讼调解模式研究

在民事诉讼调解社会化和构建多元化纠纷解决机制的当前语境中,从权力配置的视角对民事诉讼调解进行模式化的分析并提炼出权力独享型民事诉讼调解、权力共享型民事诉讼调解和权力分享型民事诉讼调解三个概念是对民事诉讼调解进行一般性研究的创新尝试,不仅可以为社会公众认知各式各样的民事诉讼调解提供智识上的帮助,而且可以通过对不同模式的民事诉讼调解之运作机理的概括、解释来为民事调解的现代转型提供支持。     

我国商事诉讼制度的解析与重构

基于民商实体法之间的显著差异,导致商事诉讼在许多方面均区别于民事诉讼。无论是否设有独立的商事法院,商事诉讼仍以不同的形式在各国得以存在。重构我国的商事诉讼制度,应以既有的民事诉讼制度为基础,同时建立若干适应商法特性的特别诉讼制度来实现商法的功能。     

德国民事司法改革及其借鉴意义

本文分析了德国民事司法制度存在的问题及其原因 ,论述德国近年来为解决诉讼拖延及成本过高问题所采取的各种改革措施 ,包括简化程序、集中审理、限制上诉以及鼓励ADR方式等 ,并探讨德国民事司法改革对我国的借鉴意义。     

环境民事公益诉讼研究——兼议人民检察院的环境民事公益诉讼职责

环境民事公益诉讼是公来参与环境保护的一条重要途径。无救济即无权利是法治的最高信条之一，如果环境公共利益不能通过诉讼得到救济，环境个体利益就很难实现。中国民事诉讼要求原告与本案有直接利害关系，对环境民事公益诉讼造成了制度上的障碍。如何跨越这一障碍，探索环境民事公益诉讼的有效途径，明确人民检察院的环境民事公益诉讼职责，是摆在我们面前的重要课题。     

行政行为对民事审判的拘束力

法院在民事诉讼中应当如何对待相关联的行政行为,涉及司法审判的自主性和行政行为的拘束力。两大法系解决此类问题的制度背景和基本思路不同,但面对相同的价值冲突,实际处理方法有相通之处。在中国的法律实践中,出现了多样化的解决方案,开始形成自己的路径。文章借鉴域外经验并总结中国实践,提出解决中国问题的思路。文章倡导尊重司法审判的自主性,并指出行政行为对民事审判的拘束力是相对的、多样的、情境性的。     

Uses and abuses of eyewitness identification confidence

When attempting to identify an offender whom they saw commit a crime, eyewitnesses are frequently asked to indicate their confidence in their memories. Confidence judgments may be expressed prior to seeing a line‐up, after making an identification decision or in the courtroom. Such judgments can exert an important influence on decision making within the criminal justice system. Here, I examine theory and evidence that bear on the likely usefulness of such confidence judgments for diagnosing the accuracy of the associated identification. Contrary to often expressed views, I argue that confidence recorded immediately after the identification test is informative about the identity of the offender. Confidence expressions obtained at other times are likely to be misleading. Important directions for future confidence research are identified.     

Trial by media?: Media reliance,knowledge of crime and perception of criminal defendants

Previous research has linked extensive news media coverage of crimes and the criminal process to pretrial jury bias against defendants. Most research, however, has tested the effects of reading fabricated crime stories on mock jury decisions or general perceptions of crime. Using telephone interviews, this study examines whether perceptions of the defendant in an actual double homicide were related to reliance on local news media for news and information. The results provide clear evidence that potential jurors who are exposed to media coverage of crimes form biases against criminal defendants. Newspaper and television reliance were found to be positively related to perceptions of guilt. The results also show that newspaper reliant individuals knew significantly more facts about the case. Television reliant individuals judged the defendant's character as significantly more negative.     

试论协同型民事诉讼模式的建立

本文侧重论述了未来民事诉讼模式的建立问题。文章认为,长期的职权主义或超职权主义现象应当结束。根据中国的国情、民事诉讼与生俱来的社会公益性以及各国改革的经验,未来的民事诉讼不应该是纯粹当事人主义而应该是协同型民事诉讼模式。     

分立抑或统一：我国公益诉讼制度构建与分歧消解

我国公益诉讼制度的缺位与公益诉讼受关注的现实程度极不相称，其根本原因在于理论研究的分歧与对实务运行的担忧，因此，以整体公益诉讼理念为指导，打破民事公益诉讼、行政公益诉讼、环境公益诉讼等部门视域的局限，适应公众迫切期望公益诉讼制度迅速建立的“民心所向”，积极探索统一公益诉讼实务运作路径，构建私权对公权制约的涵盖各类公益诉讼内容的综合公益诉讼制度，允许不特定的合法主体依据法律规定，以自己名义向法院提起公益诉讼，维护国家与社会公共利益，是构建具有中国特色公益诉讼制度的正确选择。