New visual technologies in court: directions for research

Litigation is being transformed by new visual communication technologies, including videoconferencing, PowerPoint, and computer animations. Yet the effects of these visual technologies on legal decision making are largely unknown. In order to understand better the most pressing issues surrounding technology in the courtroom, psychologists, lawyers, and representatives from technology companies and funding agencies attended a Research Conference on Courtroom Technology organized by the Federal Judicial Center. The goals of the conference were to identify issues raised by courtroom uses of new technologies that could be illuminated by empirical research and to suggest designs and methods for conducting that research. This paper emerged from that conference. The authors provide an overview of considerations that should guide research in this area, including a framework that takes into account features of the technology, the audience, and the legal strategy of the user of the technology. They outline a paradigm for conducting such research, illustrate it with several possible empirical studies of varying levels of experimental and conceptual complexity, and identify directions for subsequent research.     

法学方法论视野中的法官说理

法院应是人们讲理的场所,法官应该说理,通过说理以增强判决的说服力与可接受性。法官不说理导致判决的可接受性低,当前申诉、上访、执行难等现象就是明证。为此,研究法官说理方法成为加强法官说理必然途径。研究法律解释、法律推理、法律论证等法学方法有助于完善法官说理的方法,有助于从法官说理能力、说理权责、说理激励等方面构建法官说理机制。     

法庭调解语言中的修辞技艺探析——以亚里士多德的古典修辞学思想为线索

亚里士多德的古典修辞学理论认为,修辞是一种在每一事例上发现可行的说服方式的能力,其功能不在于说服,而在于发现存在于每一事例中的说服方式。他认为凭借修辞方法和说话人的努力可以达成的说服论证包括三种:运用说话人的品格(ethos)、激发听众的某种情感(pathos)和运用逻辑论证(logos)。亚里士多德这些技术性的说服修辞技巧以及他关于法庭(司法)演说、议事(或政治)演说和展示性(夸耀性)演说的分类,均可创造性地应用于法庭调解实践当中,具有重要的方法论意义。     

举证责任转移的内在机理及其程序化

举证责任转移必须从作为诉讼目标的原告的初次主张开始，其基本条件是主张有力并得到有效证明。转移的实质是征询对方的对立的并可成立的主张。转移的关键是主张方已经作出了有足够说服力的证明。举证责任转移程序之理论模式是，按照时间顺序将主张的不断推进流程化，而且以诉讼主张为单位构成一个个严密的环节。每一环节诉讼主张的确立应设置“程序空间”，法官中立是举证责任转移合理运作的关键。刑事举证责任转移的来源于无合理怀疑证明标准的特殊性表现是公诉人初次主张的有效性要求较高，被告方反驳主张的有效性要求较低。     

Persuasive Narratives and Costly Actions

Persuasive narratives can induce some individuals to engage in costly actions. Entrepreneurs of suicide missions frame the necessity of violent behavior within the context of persuasive narratives to attract potential recruits. Herein we report results from an experiment to test factors involved with costly action linked to a persuasive narrative. We recruited 164 participants (M = 21, SD = 5.20) and measured hormones, electrodermal activity, and personality to predict who would be influenced by the narrative's message. We found that the persuasive narrative we tested resulted in costly action by those who are high-perspective takers and are more physiologically aroused by the narrative. The findings fill lacunae in the literature, providing a novel approach to examine costly behavior (like martyrdom missions) in the laboratory.     

司法判决说服性的修辞学审视——围绕听众的初步分析

听众就是说话者在论辩过程中想通过其论辩来影响的人的总称。在佩雷尔曼的修辞学理论中,听众可分为普遍听众、特殊听众和说话者本人。司法判决的听众可以分为法官自身、当事人、当事人的辩护人或代理人以及关注该案的人。听众是司法判决过程中的旁观者;听众需要被说服,法官需要通过司法判决去说服听众;听众自己也有裁判天平,因而其裁判倾向会形成修正性的民意。司法判决可以从事实层面、法律层面和伦理道德层面去说服听众。     

The admissibility and persuasiveness of expert evidence

Parenting plan evaluators are expert witnesses who offer their opinion. Courts in common law jurisdictions generally do not accept evidence of an opinion as it is not considered to be reliable evidence from which to establish a fact. An exception to that general principle is expert opinion evidence. In short, an opinion from a person with specialized knowledge or expertise about the area in which they are an expert may be sufficiently reliable to form an evidentiary basis from which to make a finding of fact, provided the opinion meets certain criteria. These criteria will be discussed in this article, as well as what is relevant, reliable and persuasive evidence. The relevant legal principles will be examined in an historical and contemporary, theoretical and practical context. The authors reflect on their considerable experience as consumers of expert evidence and apply this to parenting plan evaluations, as well as considering future challenges in the field.