May Mediators Draft Settlement Agreements?

This article surveys the current law in various states as well as the Model Rules of Professional Conduct regarding whether a mediator‐lawyer may draft a settlement agreement at the conclusion of a mediation. It includes a look at the traditional boundaries between a lawyer and a mediator and concludes with a recommendation on how California should approach whether a mediator‐lawyer should be allowed to draft a settlement agreement for parties at the conclusion of a mediation.     

Radiographic demonstration of esophageal and tracheal fistulas at autopsy using a contrasting medium that vulcanizes at room temperature

Esophageal and tracheal fistulas, which occur in 0.05% of medicolegal autopsies, were demonstrated in three cases by a postmortem radiographic technique using silicone rubber/lead oxide as a contrasting medium that vulcanizes at room temperature. In one 83-year-old male, a tracheoesophageal fistula was detected, which had developed after surgical repair of an esophageal rupture caused by a flexible fiberoptic endoscope. In a second case, carcinoma of the esophagus in a 78-year-old male had eroded the trachea and arcus of the aorta creating a fatal tracheoesophagoaortic fistula. In a third case, 55-year-old female developed a tracheobrachicephalic artery fistula as a result of an infiltrating cystic adenocarcinoma of the trachea, resulting in a fatal hemorrhage into the trachea. The results of this study indicate that diagnostic radiologic methods using a vulcanized contrasting medium are useful in supplementing normal dissection in autopsy cases with suspected fistulas of the esophagus or trachea.     

A statistical approach to drug sampling: a case study.

In many countries it is left to the discretion of the court to accept or reject conclusions based on sampling procedures as applied to the total drug exhibit. As an alternative to this subjective approach, a statistical basis is presented using binomial and hypergeometric distributions to determine a lower limit for the proportion of units in a population which contains a drug, at a given confidence level. A method for calculating the total weight of a drug present in a population within a given confidence interval is also presented. In the event of no failures (all units sampled contain a drug), a sample size of six or seven units is generally sufficient to state that a proportion of at least 0.70 of the population contains a drug at a confidence level of at least 90%. When failures do occur in the sample, point estimation is used as the basis for selecting the appropriate sample size.     

A Fragment on Cnutism with Brief Divagations on the Philosophy of the Near Miss

This fragment is taken, mid-sentence as it were, from a longer discourse. It is plucked in process from a discussion of friendship for ideas. It is part of a longer journey through the annals of amity. The fragment also examines a fragment, a gloss on a text, a marginal comment, a handwritten note, which is taken to constitute the modern origin of Cnutism.     

论一国两制法学及其形成和发展

一国两制理论自上世纪80年代初诞生以来,大体经历了从政治构想和外交承诺到宪法制度、从宪法制度到法律制度现实、从法制到法治三个发展阶段。这是认识论“实践—认识—实践”的过程,是由理论物化为制度的过程,是不同意识形态、法制和法治理论和理念、法律传统和技术、法律文化和方法不断碰撞和冲突的互动过程,是理论在实践中不断接受检验并不断充实、丰富发展和展示其顽强的适应力和生命力的过程,也是一个推进中国法制和法学理念发展和创新并直接促成了一国两制法学兴起的过程。一国两制的法治实践也同时证明了,一国两制法学作为一门新兴的独立的法学学科,并作为中国特色法学理论的一个分支,不但是现实的要求,也是理论发展的必然。一国两制给中国法学提出了前所未有的挑战和机遇。“中国法系”理论则可能是中国人21世纪对世界法律文化的贡献。     

宪法权威的生成机制辨析

宪法权威的大小受制于社会发育的情况,只有在市民社会发育良好,并且能同政治国家形成有力制衡的条件下,宪法权威才有可能逐步形成。宪法实施的积极的、主要的、基本的方式是立法机关的立法,在违宪审查机制的作用下,确保立法机关的立法符合宪法精神和原则,保障宪法实施的内在统一;在相关立法不足的情况下,通过宪法司法化,直接援引宪法规范维护宪法主体的宪法权利,乃是宪法实施的一种辅助方式。在宪政秩序不健全的社会,关注各种宪政事件,对于实施宪法,维护宪法权威具有重要意义。     

The ignitability of petrol vapours and potential for vapour phase explosion by use of TASER® law enforcement electronic control device

An experimental study was made of the potential of the TASER-X26™ law enforcement electronic control device to ignite petrol vapours if used by an officer to incapacitate a person soaked in petrol, or within a flammable atmosphere containing petrol vapour. Bench scale tests have shown that a wooden mannequin with pig skin covering the chest was a suitable representation of a human target. Full scale tests using the mannequin have shown that the arc from a TASER-X26™ is capable of igniting petrol/air vapours on a petrol-soaked person. Further tests in a 1/5 scale and a full scale compartment have shown that if a TASER is used within a compartment, a petrol vapour explosion (deflagration) may be achieved. It is evident from this research that if used in a flammable vapour rich environment, the device could prove fatal not only to the target but the TASER® operator as well.     

Perforating gunshot to the head with a power-actuated tool

The article describes a shortly survived suicide with a powder-actuated tool. A 51-year-old man shot all through his head from the right to the left temple. The pin produced an extensive area of destruction in the brain tissue, but neither in the hospital nor during the autopsy was any projectile found. Finally the pin was detected in a metal fitting of the bed in which the man had killed himself. The suicide instrument was a powder-actuated tool firing a metal pin after igniting a cartridge. Unlike a nail gun using compressed air, pins fired by means of a propellant reach a velocity of up to 150 m/s thus developing a higher destructive potential.     

论共同犯罪与犯罪构成

犯罪构成作为划分罪与非罪的根本标准,适用于一切犯罪行为。共同犯罪作为犯罪的一种特殊形态,在犯罪构成上具有自己的特性,表现为修正的犯罪构成。共同犯罪理论只有以犯罪构成理论为基础,以共同犯罪的修正的犯罪构成,来认识和理解共同犯罪,才能为共犯的定罪量刑提供科学根据。     

我国引航法律制度研究

引航,旧称引水、领港、领江,是指在一定的引航区域内（港口或内河）,专门性的从业人员（即引航员）登上船舶,为船舶指引航向,把船舶安全地引进、带出港口或在港内移泊。引航是一种资源,具有公益性和主权性。引航的目的不是为了盈利,而是提供公共服务。由于港口的航道条件构成了一个国家的天然屏障,事关一国的国防,因而按照国际惯例,引航员必须由本国人担任,并且对出入港口的外国籍船舶实行强制引航。这是一个国家引航权的体现,是国家主权的一部分。本文针对我国引航体制改革,结合国际相关立法,对我国引航法律制度所涉及引航管理体制模式、引航机构资质管理、引航员资质管理以及引航作业中法律责任加以研究。     

Associated Adults: Prospective Person Memory for Family Abducted Children

In family abductions, authorities sometimes release pictures of both missing children and associated adults. The effectiveness of this approach was tested in a prospective person memory experiment. Participants studied mock missing child posters including a picture of a child, a picture of a child alongside a picture of the correct adult, or a picture of a child alongside a picture of the incorrect adult. Participants then saw pictures of child/adult pairs with instructions to make a response to ‘alert authorities’ if the target individuals were seen. Including the picture of the correct adult on the poster, significantly improved recognition relative to the other two conditions. There was no significant effect of including the picture of the incorrect associated adult.     

Fatalities after injuries by wild animals

The article summarises three fatalities after attacks by wild animals. The first case describes a 90-year-old woman who died as a result of pneumonia after a bear fell on her and caused multiple chest fractures. The second case deals with a 76-year-old woman who was hit in the middle face by the hoof of a camel and, thereafter, died of myocardial infarction. The third case describes a 27-year-old biologist who died from severe blunt trauma after an attack of a wild living elephant. The article gives a summary of typical injury patterns of selected wild animals and outlines potential reasons of death as a result of the injuries.     

INTERNATIONAL PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTION: WHY WE NEED TO EXPAND CUSTODY RIGHTS PROTECTED UNDER THE CHILD ABDUCTION CONVENTION

The Child Abduction Convention, an international treaty, protects custody rights internationally among its member states by providing a remedy of return in cases where a child was wrongfully removed in violation of a parent's custody right. There is no such remedy for the violation of a parent's access (or visitation) rights. A ne exeat clause in a child custody agreement restrains a custodial parent from removing a child from a predetermined jurisdiction (such as a particular country) and can be issued when there is a risk that the custodial parent might flee to another country with the child(ren). Currently there is a circuit split within the United States as to whether a ne exeat right coupled with the right of access should equal a protected custody right under the Convention. Most international courts protect the ne exeat right under the Convention; however some do not. A ne exeat right should convey a protected custody right for policy reasons. The beneficial implications of a ne exeat right creating a protected custody right under the Child Abduction Convention clearly outweigh the detriments. While there is no instant solution to the inconsistencies among various courts in interpreting the Child Abduction Conventions’ scope in regard to a ne exeat right, there are ways to resolve the problem. If consistency in judicial interpretation cannot be achieved, a movement needs to be initiated to create a protocol to the Child Abduction Convention to further explain the scope of custody rights and ne exeat rights under the Convention.     

A comparison of the length and width of static inked two-dimensional bare footprints found on a hard compared to a soft surface

In forensic intelligence-gathering it would be useful to evaluate if there are differences between static inked bare footprints captured on hard surfaces compared to soft surfaces. This was undertaken using samples from 30 undergraduate students. Initially a static footprint was taken for each participant on a hard surface and this was followed by a static footprint on a soft surface. On both occasions, the participants stood on an inkless mat and then on reactive paper, creating a two-dimensional print. The Reel method was used to analyse each footprint and the print was measured to see whether a difference existed between length and width (forefoot and rearfoot width) on a hard surface compared to a soft surface. The conclusion from this study was there is a statistically significant increase in length and width of a static bare footprint on a soft surface as opposed to a hard surface. If a forensic footprint examiner compares static bare footprints found on a soft surface and compares them to a static bare footprint of the same foot taken later, then the increase in both length and width of the footprints on a soft surface should be considered in the evaluation.     

Quantitative assessment of evidential weight for a fingerprint comparison I. Generalisation to the comparison of a mark with set of ten prints from a suspect

The authors have published elsewhere a quantitative method for assessing weight of evidence in the case where a finger mark from a crime scene is compared with a control print taken from a single finger of a suspect. The approach is based on the notion of calculating a likelihood ratio (LR) that addresses a pair of propositions relating to the single finger that was the origin of the crime mark. In practice, things are rather different because the crime mark will not just be compared with a single finger from a suspect but with a set of prints from all of his/her fingers; likewise, when the mark is compared with a database, this will consist of ten print records from random individuals. It is clear that "finger propositions" are not realistic in this situation and we show how our approach may be generalised to address a pair of propositions that relate to the person that made the crime mark. It often is the case that information is present at the crime scene that enables some inference to be drawn relating to which of the offender's ten fingers left a particular mark of interest. This kind of inference may profitably be drawn into the formal analysis. We illustrate our approach with an example.     

论构建社会主义和谐社会的十大机制

社会主义和谐社会是一个内涵丰富的社会,建构社会主义和谐社会,需要构筑相应地社会机制予以保障。需要构筑构筑党的执政能力的持续提高机制;需要构筑社会诚信保障机制,特别是政府诚信保障机制;需要构筑民主的决策机制;需要构筑建构和谐社会的动员和执行机制;需要构筑民众社会心理的调适机制;需要构筑个体利益诉求和平衡机制;需要构筑公共利益的稳定增长机制;需要构筑公平公正创业和社会保障机制;需要构筑并完善公民权利的法律保障机制;需要构筑多元化的有效舆论监督机制。     

The impact of a verbal warning on police consent search practices

This article explores the impact of requiring a verbal warning prior to a police request for consent to search a suspect's automobile. The United States Supreme Court expressed concern that requiring a verbal warning prior to a consent request would make consent searches impossible for the police. Twenty-seven months of motor vehicle stop data (N = 800) was analyzed during periods where a verbal warning was and was not required prior to a consent request. The findings did not support the conclusion that a verbal warning would cause a substantial decrease in consent searches. A slight increase in the volume of consent requests was observed after the police were required to administer the warning.     

Suicide with a walking cane gun: weapon, injury picture and psychopathology]

In Germany firearms camouflaged as items of daily use are forbidden. While reports on ball-point pen-guns have repeatedly been published in literature, the use of a walking-stick gun is a rarity. The report deals with the suicide of a 31-year-old schizophrenic man who inflicted a shotgun injury to his head with typical morphological characteristics. The weapon used was a normal-looking walking stick with a barrel, cal. .410. Under forensic and criminological aspects the significance of a walking-stick gun is comparable to that of ball-point pen-guns. Both weapons can be carried and used inconspicuously, but from a walking-stick gun also ammunition of larger calibres with a higher potential of injury can be fired.     

论罪刑法定原则的社会基础

罪刑法定原则的立法化 ,当然离不了学者们的创构与证成 ,但是关键还在于社会的现实需要。在一定意义上讲 ,罪刑法定原则的立法化与社会的现实结构紧密相关。在中国 ,伴随着一元化社会结构的是源远流长的刑事类推制度 ,而随着市民社会的兴起和二元化社会结构的成长 ,罪刑法定原则终于实现了立法化。