International disaster identification report. Investigative and dental aspects

This meeting, held in October 1980 in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, was a very serious effort to begin international cooperation in a much needed area: disaster investigation and identification. Under the leadership of Col. Arie van den Bos of the Royal Police of the Netherlands, the work was accomplished with representatives and observers from many major countries represented. Efforts were made to solve the enigma of international cooperation. A plane crash of an airline of a major country in a distant country can be properly investigated only with the cooperation of the carrier and the country in which the tragedy occurred. The International Academy of Legal Medicine and Social Medicine devoted a 3-day program to the study of this problem during their last international meeting in Lyon, France, and it will be discussed further in Vienna in 1982 under the leadership of Prof. Wilhelm Holczabek. The experience of Norwegian investigators is mentioned as an example of the type of problems encountered with foreign nationals involved in a crash in the country, or a disaster involving a ship or a oil platform where foreign nationals are working, or in a tragedy such as the propylene explosion in Tarragona, Spain, which resulted in more than 200 tourists from many countries dying in the fire, many bodies burned beyond recognition.     

International environmental law as a complex adaptive system

Complex adaptive systems are a special kind of self-organizing system with emergent properties and adaptive capacity in response to changing external conditions. In this article, we investigate the proposition that international environmental law, as a network of treaties and institutions, exhibits some key characteristics of a complex adaptive system. This proposition is premised on the scientific understanding that the Earth system displays properties of a complex adaptive system. If so, international environmental law, as a control system, may benefit from the insights gained and from being modelled in ways more appropriately aligned with the functioning of the Earth system itself. In this exploratory review, we found evidence suggesting that international environmental law is a complex system where treaties and institutions self-organize and exhibit emergent properties. Furthermore, we contend that international environmental law as a whole is adapting to exogenous changes through an institutional process akin to natural selection in biological evolution. However, the adequacy of the direction and rate of adaptation for the purpose of safeguarding the integrity of Earth’s life-support system is questioned. This paper concludes with an emphasis on the need for system-level interventions to steer the direction of self-organization while maintaining institutional diversity. This recommendation stands in contrast to the reductionist approach to institutional fragmentation and aims at embracing the existing complexity in international environmental law.     

International legal aspects of countering environmental terrorism in the context of modern trends in radical environmentalism

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - Environmental terrorism is a new global threat. The modern period of society's development is characterized by an increase...     

问责理念的形成及其实现——审计责任追究问题之回应

对于审计责任追究,问责理念的提出是以权力与责任的统一来强化权力滥用的法律风险;同时,在法律机制上引入行政权的集中和分权治理,并进一步完善我国问责制度,以此构建合理差异的法治社会.     

试述知识产权型犯罪的侦查技术

侦查技术不同于技术侦查,侧重于侦查过程中的技术分析和技巧应用。知识产权型犯罪是一类涉及专业技术术语和内容较强的犯罪,因此,不能局限于传统的查案方法。本文围绕知识产权型犯罪特点,从侦查过程的三个基本阶段探讨查案的一些技术规则和要领,以寻找侦查此类案件的捷径。     

法院错案追究制度分析

人民法院错案追究制是作为审判方式改革的配套措施,由全国各级法院自行设立的法官责任追究制,其设立的初衷在于克服司法不公,确保审判质量。但是,该制度在全国范围内推广适用十多年来,司法腐败现象也并未因此而减少,仍然是一个严重的社会问题。在司法体制改革的大背景下,此制度受到大量批评,有人甚至提出根本无必要在中国法院设立错案追究制。下面将对此问题进行分析。     

商业化基因检测的法律规制

商业化基因检测有别于医疗服务行为,是主要面对消费者提供的检测服务.由于其发展较快,行业内未形成规范化的标准,使得检测市场较为混乱.介绍了商业化基因检测的现状和问题,论述了对商业化基因检测加以规制的必要性并提出了相关的对策建议.     

Entrepreneurship and country-level innovation: investigating the role of entrepreneurial opportunities

Since the work of Schumpeter, entrepreneurship has been regarded as a concept that is in close relation to innovation. However, recent country level investigations show that technology innovation and new business creation can be regarded as two separate phenomena. In this paper we provide an explanation for the above contradiction through the distinguishing between two types of entrepreneurship, necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship. Building on opportunity theory and rational choice theory, we investigate the influence of both types of entrepreneurship on country-level innovation, and furthermore, pay particular attention to the interaction between opportunity entrepreneurship and the amount of opportunities available. We find that necessity entrepreneurship is inversely related to country-level innovation, whereas opportunity entrepreneurship is positively linked to technological progress. The positive effect of opportunity entrepreneurship, however, diminishes with an increased amount of entrepreneurial opportunities. This interaction indicates that opportunity availability is an important element of a country’s entrepreneurship environment.     

The perils of investigating and certifying deaths in police custody.

Procedures leading to the proper investigation and certification of deaths occurring in police custody are discussed. The importance of training and experience, of interchange of information between investigator and forensic pathologist, and of common sense in the pursuit of fairness toward this end is emphasized.     

大鼠死后腓肠肌直接电兴奋性变化与早期死亡时间的关系

目的探讨大鼠死亡后不同时间腓肠肌电兴奋性的变化,为早期死亡时间的推断提供新的指标。方法建立大鼠机械性窒息模型,利用电生理检测仪检测死亡后不同时间大鼠腓肠肌对不同强度的电刺激的反应性,记录肌肉组织动作电位出现时间,统计学分析其差异并建立回归方程。结果大鼠机械性窒息死亡后一定时间内,其腓肠肌对电刺激的兴奋性与死亡时间呈明显线性关系。结论肌肉组织的电兴奋性可以作为早期死亡时间推断的有效指标。     

Performance characteristics of commercial Y-STR multiplex systems

In this work, a number of performance checks were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of commercial Y-short tandem repeats (Y-STR) kits for casework applications. The study evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and stability of the Y-STR markers used and the ability to obtain a male profile from postcoital samples taken at various time points after intercourse. All systems performed well with 1-3 ng of male DNA as recommended by the manufacturers. All systems gave full profiles at 100 pg of input DNA, which is within the realm of low copy number DNA analysis. Moreover all, except Y-Plex12, gave full profiles with 30-50 pg of male DNA. No increased performance was obtained with any of the systems by increasing the cycle number beyond that recommended by the various manufacturers. When up to 1 microg of female DNA was used (in the absence of male DNA) no female DNA cross reactivity was observed with the Y-Plex 12 and Y-Filer systems. PowerPlex Y produced female DNA derived products near the DYS438 and within the DYS392 loci at a rare allele position with high input DNA levels (300 ng and 1 microg, respectively). Male/female DNA admixture experiments indicated the particularly high specificity of the Y-Filer and PowerPlex Y systems under conditions of several thousand fold female DNA excess. All systems were able to detect the minor alleles in male/male DNA admixtures at a 1:5 dilution with the PowerPlex Y and Y-Filer being able to detect some minor alleles at 1:20. Species testing indicated some limited, minor cross reactivity of the commercial systems with some domestic male mammals although it is easily recognizable and would not pose any problems in casework analysis. As expected a significant number of cross-reacting products were obtained with nonhuman primate species. All Y-STR multiplex systems tested were able to produce complete Y-STR profiles from bloodstains and semen stains exposed up to 6 weeks when the samples were protected against precipitation and sunlight. However, exposure of the samples to precipitation either in the presence or absence of sunlight resulted in Y-STR profile loss over time, with total profile loss occurring with all systems after 3 weeks or more. Complete Y-STR profiles of the male donors up to 72 h postcoitus were obtained with all of the multiplex systems tested, except for Y-Plex12, which gave partial profiles.     

Rapid amplification of commercial STR typing kits

Forensic DNA typing is currently conducted in approximately 8–10 h. The process includes DNA extraction, quantitation, multiplex PCR amplification, and fragment length detection. Today's commercial multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) typing kits are not optimized for rapid PCR thermal cycling. Current protocols require approximately 3 h for amplifying a multiplex containing 15 STR loci plus amelogenin. With the continuing development of miniaturization technologies such as microfluidic and micro-capillary devices, there is a desire to reduce the overall time required to type DNA samples. Such miniature devices could be used for initial screening at a crime scene, at a border, and at airports. There is also the benefit of reducing the required PCR amplification time for labs typing single-source reference samples. Surveys of fast processing polymerases working in combination with rapid cycling protocols have resulted in the development of a ‘rapid’ PCR amplification protocol. Results are obtained in less than 36 min run on a standard peltier-based thermal cycler employing a heating rate of 4 °C/s. Capillary electrophoresis characterization of the PCR products indicates good peak balance between loci, strong signal intensity and minor adenylation artifacts. Genotyping results are concordant with standard amplification conditions utilizing a standard 3 h (non-rapid) thermal cycling procedure. The rapid assay conditions are robust enough to routinely amplify 0.5 ng of template DNA (with 28 cycles).     

Dilemma of confidentiality in international commercial arbitration

Arbitration is universally used in the settlement of international commercial disputes largely due to its inherent confidentiality. However, the expedient element of the confidentiality is encountering challenges mostly owing to public interest or other reasons. This article not only discusses the grounds of confidentiality in arbitration, but also the effective way of its helping those people who wish to respect the confidentiality in international commercial arbitration.