Confessions in the Criminal Process

This article undertakes a theoretical exploration of the roles that confessions can play in the criminal process and of the importance that is placed on their voluntariness. It draws on contemporary and historical sources, as well as materials from different legal systems and traditions. Three possible perspectives on the topic are identified: the moral, the epistemic and the political. Adopting each of these perspectives in turn, I set out three distinct dimensions of confessions in the criminal process. In my account of each dimension, voluntariness is construed in the light of a particular understanding of confessions that is conceptually tied to a particular understanding of the criminal process. The conclusion remarks on the interplay of the three dimensions.     

Psychopathy and Culpability: How Responsible Is the Psychopath for Criminal Wrongdoing?

Recent research into the psychological and neurobiological underpinnings of psychopathy has raised the question of whether, or to what degree, psychopaths should be considered morally and criminally responsible for their actions. In this article, we review the current empirical literature on psychopathy, focusing particularly on deficits in moral reasoning, and consider several potential conclusions that could be drawn based on this evidence. Our analysis of the empirical evidence on psychopathy suggests that while psychopaths do not meet the criteria for full criminal responsibility, they nonetheless retain some criminal responsibility. We conclude, by introducing the notion of rights as correlative, that even if psychopaths were to be fully nonresponsible, imposing some form of civil commitment would still be warranted.     

严禁刑讯逼供是我国刑事诉讼的重要原则

我国现行法律明文禁止刑讯逼供。本文针对实践中存在刑讯逼供的问题 ,从理论和实践方面进行了分析和论述 ,并提出了完善证据制度 ,严格司法队伍入口 ,严厉查处司法人员搞刑讯逼供等具体建议。     

Re-Conceptualising the Policing of Hatred: Confessions and Worrying Dilemmas of a Consultant

Community Safety Units in the London Metropolitan Police handle over 9000 reported incidents of ‘hate’ crime each month. This paper explores the work of these Units through its conceptualisation of the notion of vulnerability. The workload of the CSUs includes domestic, racist and homophobic incidents. The victim/perpetrator relationship, it is assumed, provides special motivation for the offender's violence and requires police to consider special support for the victim. The paper begins with an exploration of how the MPS conceptualises ‘hate crime’. Its rationale for dedicated resources for the policing of particular forms of violence can be found, I suggest in the second part of the paper, in the way in which violence itself is conceptualised. I then offer a different term for thinking about hate crime – targeted violence. I go on to argue in depth how the(faulty) logic about violence obscures our ability to take people's ordinary experiences of intimidation, threat and bodily harm seriously in law and in society. The term ‘hate crime’, I conclude, in advertently reinforces this (faulty) logic. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

论自白补强证据规则

在我国,简易程序中的法庭上自白可以不需要补强,除此之外,其他一切刑事案件中的自白都需要补强;在对自白进行补强时,自白的补强证据只要能够保证自白的真实性即可,而不应当在补强的范围上作形式上的要求。自白的补强证据除了应当具备一般意义上的证据能力外,还必须独立于被补强的自白;在程度上,补强证据只要能与自白结合在一起使法官产生确信即可,而不需要达到能独立使法官产生确信的程度。另外,共犯自白在作为认定其他共犯犯罪的证据时同样需要补强证据;共犯自白可以作为其他共犯自白的补强证据。     

Food,Meaning, and the Law: Confessions of a Vegan Semiotician

The essay that follows combines several genres along an unconventional path. It departs from the psycho-semiotic analysis of a personal turning point: the author’s ‘conversion’ to veganism. After exposing the rationale for this change in semiotic terms, however, the essay extends its theorization to the social level, inquiring about the intersection between vegan conviction and commensality. In a world where different food ideologies co-occur, converge, conflict, and sometimes clash, what is the role of the law in establishing value priorities and strike a balance among different sociocultural and political trends? The essay concludes with a synthetic definition, in semiotic terms, of the perspective on food, meaning, and law promoted by the author: a vegan liberalism that is tolerant of food pluralism but simultaneously militates for the evolution of culture and society toward the accomplishment of a utopia, that of a world immune from the exploitation of animal suffering.     

证券犯罪特征的犯罪学分析

证券犯罪是在证券发行与交易的各个必要环节中发生的违法行为 ,同时证券犯罪还具有法定犯罪、白领犯罪、共同犯罪、贪利犯罪等特征 ,对此深入分析可以使我们在预防和惩治证券犯罪时更加具有针对性。     

刑事诉讼法学研究的转型以刑事再审问题为例的分析

我国以往关于禁止双重危险原则的研究表明，刑事诉讼法学研究需要转型。刑事诉讼法学研究的转型首先要确定方向，即遵循刑事诉讼的发展规律，坚持刑事诉讼中“不能放弃的原则”，批判错误的观点，以避免在转型时转向。在此基础上，应当正面应对将禁止双重危险原则引入我国刑事再审制度时所面临的复杂因素。在我国的立法和司法历来尊崇“实事求是、有错必纠”的背景下，不仅需要论证禁止双重危险原则在刑事再审制度中更具有正当性，而且在刑事再审制度中引入禁止双重危险原则时，注意不同的法治发达国家的刑事再审制度的特点及共性，在借鉴时应当力求“阻力最小”，以逐步完善我国的刑事再审制度。     

刑释解教人员重新犯罪心理浅析

刑释解教人员犯罪问题突出早已引起人们的关注,从心理学角度解析刑释解教人员犯罪问题,探究刑释解教人员犯罪的心理机制,有益于实施针对性打防措施。     

什么影响了我们的评判？——对一桩刑事案例的调查分析

某日,甲在该市上海路摆地摊卖国库券。乙有意购买并和甲商定以60元人民币买下甲手中面值1 0 0元的国库券一张,在付钱时,乙掏出30元人民币丢给甲,拿起国库券离开。甲急忙和乙论理,乙不予理睬,甲非常生气,转身从一修鞋摊上取一把鸭嘴榔头向乙颈部后方打去,见有血冒出,甲丢下榔头转身就跑。乙因失血过多抢救不及死亡。这是一个极为常见却不乏争议的重罪案例,它出现在近期举行的一次问卷调查中,是因为调查者想就故意伤害致死与间接故意杀人的区别,在刑法学者、法学专业学生和普通市民之间寻找到某些共同点,以形成更有说服力的定性根据。但事违人…     

Incentives Increase the Rate of False but not True Secondary Confessions from Informants with an Allegiance to a Suspect

One hundred ninety-two students participated in an experimental simulation testing whether incentives would reduce the reluctance of informants to implicate a close other. Half of the students were made to feel interpersonally close to a confederate who either admitted to or denied a misdeed. All students were interrogated and encouraged to sign a secondary confession stating that the confederate had confessed to the misdeed; half were offered an incentive to do so. Contrary to expectations, closeness did not induce reluctance. Instead, the offer of incentive increased the number of participants willing to sign a secondary confession implicating a close other. Further analyses revealed that this increase occurred only for false secondary confessions. Implications for interrogation practices are discussed.     

被教唆者刑事责任新议——我国《刑法》第29条第2款解析

我国《刑法》第29条第2款应在成立共同犯罪的前提下来理解,而共同故意犯罪需把形成共同故意作为前提.被教唆者没有犯被教唆的罪所包括的情形有:被教唆者没有将被教唆的罪实施达到既遂;被教唆者接受教唆者的教唆,但实施了不同于被教唆之罪的犯罪;被教唆者受到教唆者的教唆,产生了实施有别于被教唆之罪的犯意.对教唆者从减处罚的理由在于整个共同犯罪的罪行未完成.     

析犯罪组织黑社会化的动因

犯罪组织黑社会化,是指一般的犯罪组织与社会规范背道而驰、恶性发展成黑社会组织的过程。犯罪组织成员欲获取更大利益(尤其是经济利益)的心理需求,转变为犯罪组织的意识,推动犯罪组织去牟取最大的经济利益,即推动了犯罪组织的黑社会化,这是犯罪组织黑社会化的个体动力。犯罪组织为了生存和发展,为了满足组织成员的需要,必然追求最大的经济利益,从而推动犯罪组织的黑社会化,这是犯罪组织黑社会化的组织动力。因此,获取最大的经济利益,是犯罪组织黑社会化的根本动因。     

“行动中的”刑事诉讼--基于抓捕嫌疑人的侦查技术之展开

抓捕是一项身体技艺,其对侦查人员之资质的要求,在内容上与对法官的资质要求有所不同。由此切入来认识公安的内部构成和检警关系,便具有了不同的视域。在检察院的反贪反渎职能转隶后,由监察委负责抓捕的涉案人员之数量和构成发生了较大变化。从保障抓捕行动的技术需求出发,持枪权和法警、武警配合的问题亟待重新审视。由于抓捕总是处于具体的场域内,而在强制实施抓捕时武警的作用突出,故而武警在司法体制中的地位趋强。抓捕后将涉案人员带离现场和押解的行动有着丰富的细节,从而对于一些诉讼制度的构建具有基础性的决定意义。作为侦查行动技术的抓捕,对国家意志在刑事诉讼中的实现处于基底位置。但是,目的不能说明手段正当。以行动为导向的刑事诉讼法学研究,与从一个元叙事出发进行公理体系的理论推演,这两种方法具有知识互补性。     

犯罪网络分析:社会网络分析在有组织犯罪研究中的应用

在刑事司法领域所使用的"网络"(networks)一词通常是指犯罪组织。一个犯罪网络首先也是一个社会网络,社会网络分析是对社会关系结构及其属性加以分析的一套规范和方法。它主要分析的是不同社会单位(个体、群体或社会)所构成的关系的结构及其属性。自美国"9.11事件"以来,世界各国政府、学者、媒体逐渐认识到社会网络分析在有组织犯罪防控研究中的重要作用,纷纷使用社会网络分析方法对恐怖主义犯罪等有组织犯罪进行犯罪网络分析、研究,通过解构犯罪组织,发现犯罪成员体系、结构特征与行动目标,从而对有组织犯罪进行有效预防和打击。我国应充分认识社会网络分析在现代有组织犯罪防控研究中的重要价值,全面了解国外有关理论与应用发展,积极采取政府资助项目研发与直接设立研究机构等多种手段,促进犯罪网络分析理论与方法在我国的迅速发展。     

刑事政策与刑事立法关系的动态分析

正确认识刑事政策与刑事立法的关系对刑事法制建设具有重要意义。正确认识政策与法的关系是其前提。对二者关系的分析需要从静态和动态两个角度进行。静态考察是为了认识政策与法的区别。动态考察是为了认识二者的联系。刑事政策对刑事立法的动态影响表现在对刑事立法需要的影响 ,对刑事立法内容的影响 ,对刑事立法解释的影响。刑事立法对刑事政策的动态影响表现为 :刑事立法本身的局限性 ,决定了刑事政策存在的价值 ;刑事立法具有规范性和稳定性 ,促使某些刑事政策向立法转化 ;刑事立法具有的国家意志性 ,可以抵制不符合立法基本原则的不适当的刑事政策。     

Interrogative Specialists and False Confessions: Debunking the Con Artist Myth

Within the criminal justice system, confessions are an extremely powerful form of evidence. Unfortunately, innocent people sometimes falsely confess to crimes they did not actually commit. Such travesties of justice have sparked a significant degree of academic research into the false confession phenomenon. Within the existing literature, there exists a conceptual framework that the interrogative methods and actions of law enforcement officers are a key cause of false confessions with some researchers going so far as to suggest that law enforcement interrogators act as confidence men who trick criminal subjects into confessing. However, few researchers have actually questioned law enforcement officers about false confessions and even fewer have consulted with officers who specialize in interrogation. This study is a subset of a larger qualitative case study designed to explore the experiences of 13 federal law enforcement polygraph examiners who specialize in interrogation regarding their approach to criminal interrogation and their experiences with both true and false confessions. This study focused on the personal processes federal law enforcement polygraph examiners use in reviewing Miranda rights and documenting confessions. NVivo software was used to organize the data. Common themes in interview responses were then identified and revealed that participants employ an open, detailed, and straightforward approach in reviewing Miranda rights and documenting the confessions of criminal subjects. These findings contradict the premise that law enforcement interrogators inherently operate as confidence men by tricking and manipulating criminal subjects.