Have you signed your electronic contract?

The ease with which business can be transacted over the Internet raises various issues, not least among which are writing and signature requirements. While it has been established that an electronic record is a functional equivalent of writing, the position appears to be less clear with regard to electronic signatures. This paper examines the signature requirement as it applies to electronic contracts, in particular the form of electronic signature that can serve the functional equivalent of a handwritten signature for the purpose of the English Statute of Frauds 1677 and its various re-enactments. Reference will be made to legislation, the relevant UNCITRAL Model Laws and UN Conventions as well as to the substantial body of case law on paper contracts for analytical and comparative purposes.     

Do you get what you pay for? Type of counsel and its effect on criminal court outcomes

Although the Sixth Amendment of the constitution guarantees assistance of counsel to indigent criminal defendants, questions exist about the quality of this representation. Critics assert that ‘you get what you pay for’ and that public defenders are less effective than privately retained counsel regarding criminal justice outcomes. Some research, however, reveals that public defenders are as effective as privately retained counsel because of their working relationships with prosecutors and judges, the so-called courtroom workgroup. The current study tested the assertion that ‘you get what you pay for’ by examining the effect of type of counsel (public defenders versus private attorneys) on four different case processing outcomes for a large mid-western jurisdiction. Results generally show that type of counsel has no significant direct effect. Tests for interaction, however, suggest that for some defendants, type of counsel interacts with other key variables to influence certain outcomes.     

简论民主法治

回顾我国社会主义民主法治建设所走过的道路,如何实现民主与法治的统一和到位,在理论和实践上都始终是一个需要回答的问题。民主是一种"国体",是一种政治文明的实质;法治则是它的"政体",是一种政治文明的形式。两者之间具有合理的,而且是唯一合理的对应属性。但就目前情况看来,民主与法治之间相互分离的情况仍然存在,具体表现在:法治理念与法治主体的分离;法治作为手段与目的的分离;法治形式与实质的分离。     

滥用银行卡的刑事责任

利用柜员机故障取款,成立盗窃罪;恶意透支成立针对财产性利益的三角诈骗;存款名义人对存款不具有实质性权利而擅自处分存款的,可能成立盗窃、诈骗罪;错误汇款的收款人,出于非法占有的目的利用处分存款的,成立侵占罪;利用捡拾的银行卡取现、转账、刷卡消费的,成立盗窃罪或信用卡诈骗罪,但利用遗忘在柜员机中的银行卡取现、转账的,属于盗窃信用卡并使用,成立盗窃罪;事后参与使用盗窃的银行卡,在信用卡诈骗罪或者盗窃罪范围内成立共犯;抢劫银行卡未使用的,只有抢劫行为本身致人轻微伤或者轻伤以上,才成立抢劫罪,与事后使用行为构成的盗窃罪、信用卡诈骗罪数罪并罚;骗取信用卡并使用是否成立诈骗罪,取决于财产处分意思的内容,超出处分意思范围的,另外成立盗窃罪、信用卡诈骗罪。     

What you sell is what you lend? Revealing complexity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">riba</Emphasis> in loan contract

The purpose of this paper is to resolve and examine the possible modus operandi of riba on selling and loan contract according to the Sharia’s precepts. This paper investigate the Qur’an, hadith, and juristic views on such relevant issues based on the survey done on the several sources, i.e., previous studies, Al-Qur’an and Al-Hadith and juristic views and deviate from the existing studies in two aspects, i.e., the selling and buying of goods do not involve riba and also the banks provide loan without riba. The findings of this paper are: First, the concept of interest in lending is widely accepted both in theory and practice. Second, riba exists in selling and lending. Third, the categorization and application of extensive and complex subjects of riba in economic life bring all speculative and usurious transactions under the rubric of riba prohibition. This paper important because express and disclosure riba in both exchange of goods and loans, also the social and economic developments. This is an original undertaking of this paper.     

‘If you’d had my life,you’d have done it too’: exploring the experiences of adult males who rape elderly females

This study focused on adult males who have committed a sexual offence against elderly victims (aged 55 and over) in order to increase our understanding of this group of offenders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five such individuals. Interview data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four main themes emerged: life's been really tough (where participants talked about difficulties they had faced); I’m not bad, I did what anyone would do (where participants sought to explain their behaviour); Other people haven’t helped or have made things worse (where participants highlighted challenges they faced in relationships and the impact they felt this had); and Coping and pleasure (which highlights the use of sex and alcohol in their lives). Implications for the practice and treatment of individuals offending against elderly victims are discussed.     

死刑限制之司法对策

死刑限制应包括死刑观念、死刑政策、死刑立法和死刑司法在内的全方位限制,而死刑司法限制在其中占有非常重要的地位、具其独到的作用,死刑司法限制是限制死刑适用最直接、最便宜,也是最具活力的方法。死刑司法限制应遵循严格司法解释、疑罪从无和严格核准等原则。死刑司法限制之具体措施包括确立死缓制度作为死刑替代的过渡性措施,严格解释死刑的适用标准,在程序上保障死刑被告人的基本权利以及死刑执行过程中的限制,如彻底禁止游街示众等公开处决的死刑执行方式、公开死刑判决数量和执行数量以及死刑宣判与执行应有一个较长的间隔时间等。     

Are you talking to me? Influencing behaviour and culture in police interviews

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between two types of influencing behaviour in police interviews (being kind and rational persuasion) and three types of interview effectiveness, i.e. the suspects’ willingness to give a statement, their estimation of the quality of the relationship with the detective, and suspects’ admission. We expected that being kind and rational persuasion (arguments referring to logic and rationality) would have a different effect on suspects from cultures that tend to be direct and content-oriented (low-context cultures) versus cultures in which communication is more indirect and context orientated (high-context cultures). To examine this, experienced police detectives interviewed mock theft suspects from low-context (n=25) and high-context (n=27) cultures. As predicted, and particularly for high-context suspects, being kind in terms of rewarding and offering was positively related to the perceived quality of the relationship of the suspect, while being kind in terms of active listening behaviour was positively related to admissions. Furthermore, and as expected, there was a positive relationship between rational persuasion of the police detective and admissions for low-context suspects, but also a negative relationship between rational persuasion and admissions for high-context suspects.