A shot in the arm for the military: consent to immunisation against biological warfare agents

The risk to Britain's Armed Forces from Biological Warfare (BW) is low but without protection their use would be devastating. Available protective measures include immunisation. The Government owes a legal duty of care to Servicemen to provide protection against a range of hazards, including those of BW. The State also owes Servicemen a duty of care to allow free and informed consent or free and informed refusal to medical procedures, including immunisation. However, refusal by key personnel to accept BW immunisation could degrade operational capability. Resolution between these two, potentially conflicting, duties of care may be controversial. To override a soldier's expressed interests would rank society's needs higher than those of the individual. Yet there are circumstances, such as exposure of Servicemen to BW used by an aggressor, where this would be ethically acceptable. The State's interests, combined with the best interests of the Servicemen, provide adequate ethical argument for both occupational immunisation (where it is an entry criterion for the Armed Forces) and mandatory immunisation (where disciplinary action may be taken against the non-compliant). Historically, both approaches have been used for public health immunisations and the legal framework already exists for both.     

公共安全中化学战剂确证的色谱分析技术

随着公共安全工作的需要，化学战剂（CWAs）的确认成功分析化学中一个重要的应用领域。色谱和质谱技术已应用于环境样品中大多数典型CWAs及其降解后产物的分析。本文综述了目前分析化学战剂的各类检测技术。     

The detection of abortion agents in biological material]

Methods of extraction and detection of ascorbic acid, ergot alkaloids, cotarnine, microfollin, tinctures of marigold, peony, sage-brush, iodine, benzestrol, pachycarpine, hexestrol, folliculin, quinine, ethoxydiaminoacridine lactate were developed. Detection limits are 0.1-1 mg/100 g of object. Methods of manganese, iodine and soap detection are developed. Detection limits are 0.05-2 mg/100 g of object.     

Stable-isotope fingerprints of biological agents as forensic tools

Naturally occurring stable isotopes of light elements in chemical and biological agents may possess unique "stable-isotope fingerprints" depending on their sources and manufacturing processes. To test this hypothesis, two strains of bacteria (Bacillus globigii and Erwinia agglomerans) were grown under controlled laboratory conditions. We observed that cultured bacteria cells faithfully inherited the isotopic composition (hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen) of media waters and substrates in predictable manners in terms of bacterial metabolism and that even bacterial cells of the same strain, which grew in media water and substrates of different isotopic compositions, have readily distinguishable isotopic signatures. These "stable-isotopic fingerprints" of chemical and biological agents can be used as forensic tools in the event of biochemical terrorist attacks.     

试论职务犯罪中的情感驱动

近年来,尽管我们始终保持对职务犯罪的高压态势,不断加大惩处职务犯罪的力度,但领导干部职务犯罪案件逐年上升的趋势并未从根本上得到扭转。党的十七大提出,要建立健全科学的政治和预防腐败体系,将反腐败工作当做一项长期任务来抓。因此,如何预防和遏制领导干部的职务犯罪更成为反腐败斗争的关键。本文拟从情感方面,揭示职务犯罪主体蜕化的心理历程,从制度、教育、诫勉等各方面进行研究并不断完善相关措施,以期更加有效地遏制职务犯罪于萌芽状态之中。     

保险法上的告知义务制度

本文就保险法上的告知义务制度进行阐述 ,并借鉴国外的有关法规进行比较 ,同时提出了立法建议。     

试论保险人的说明义务

保险人的说明义务在性质上是一种法定义务,也是一种附随义务和先合同义务。保险人对保险合同条款的说明不限于口头或书面的形式,但应当是全面和广泛的。保险人违反说明义务,投保人有解除合同的权利,若属故意则可要求双倍返还保险费,若属过失可要求返还保险费及其利息。     

法律义务的逻辑分析

在法学领域中,学者过多地关注于法律权利的研究,而对法律义务的探讨或是隐含于或是附着于对法律权利的研究。这使对法律义务的研究处于相对落后的状态。为了改变这种局面,就必须对法律义务进行独立的研究。本文在对既往的法律义务概念进行反思的基础上,尝试对法律义务进行定义式解释。法律义务是主体应当采取的行为模式,并是引起偏离行为模式者的法律责任的正当理由。又探讨了法律义务的构成要素。笔者认为法律义务应当由“应当 行为 引起法律责任的可能性”构成。     

评析保护责任

“保护责任”这一新术语,用以说明一个国家的主权不仅是对其人民的一种“权力”,更是一种保护其本国公民基本权利的“责任”。这是对传统的“主权”概念的发展。“保护责任”的出现与国际人权法发展和“人道干涉”引起的争论有密不可分的联系。因为“保护责任”是一个新事物,而“主权平等”和“不干涉内政”原则又是国际法的基石,因此关于“保护责任”的规则还在发展当中。     

职务犯罪心理研究

职务犯罪是在病态心理支配下所进行的行为。通过对职务犯罪的心理病变进行的病理学研究 ,认为职务犯罪心理系二因致病。在内因方面 ,需要偏离导致职务犯罪者对官职、财富与“美色”的病态追求 ,动机偏离导致职务犯罪行为人对“奋斗目标”产生疯狂的“热情” ;在外因方面 ,社会因素是职务犯罪的媒化剂。职务犯罪的主要病态心理类型包括精神压抑症、胜利恐惧症、骄横跋扈症和奢侈症。并就此提出了职务犯罪的心理疗法     

论民法上的注意义务

无论在英美法系还是在大陆法系,注意义务都是过失判定的基准。民法上的注意义务是义务主体谨慎地为自己一切行为(包括作为和不作为)的法律义务,其核心内容包括行为致害后果预见义务和行为致害后果避免义务。注意义务的产生依据包括制定法、技术规范、习惯和常理、合同或委托、在先行为。在注意义务的体系中,特别要重视以内容为标准的体系构成,还要理清作为注意义务与不作为注意义务,更要突出高度注意义务的地位。在注意义务存在冲突的情况下,其解决规则为依据注意义务的优先性。注意义务有着程度的差异,应当构建“注意程度标准人”以替代“合理人”。我国侵权行为立法应当明确规定注意义务。     

A tailored anger management program for reducing citizen complaints against traffic agents

Anger management programs have been used to address a range of clinical problems, but empirical tests of their effectiveness in the workplace have been limited. This study presents the results of a cognitive-behavioral anger management program employed with New York City traffic enforcement agents. Traffic agents issue summonses for vehicular and parking violations and have frequent conflicts with members of the public who are angry about receiving these summonses. Conflicts with the public are a significant source of job stress for agents and may increase their risk for physical injury. When members of the public are dissatisfied with the agents' actions, they can file a complaint with the agents' employer, the New York City Police Department. Complaints can reference the agent's interpersonal behavior or an administrative problem. The multi-component group intervention was provided to 114 agents, with a group of 184 agents served as the untreated comparison group. There was a significant Group (Treatment versus Control) by Time (Pre-test versus Post-test) interaction for the total rates of civilian complaints against agents (p<.03) and, more specifically, for the rates of civilian complaints related to the agents' interpersonal behavior (p<.01). Rates of civilian complaints against agents who participated in the treatment program decreased significantly over the testing period, whereas rates of complaints for agents in the control group did not change. The results suggest that this manualized program can produce changes in behavior relevant for the individual as well as the agency. Authors' Note: The authors wish to thank the many individuals at the New York City Police Department and the New York City Department of Transportation who provided support for this project. The project was funded through a grant from the New York State Department of Labor to the Communications Workers of America. We would also like to acknowledge the statistical advice of Joseph Schwartz, Ph.D., of SUNY Stonybrook.     

Bribes vs. bombs: A study in Coasean warfare

Warfare is often thought of as the antithesis of Coasean bargaining over entitlements because armed conflicts consume real resources whose destruction could be avoided by negotiated solutions. We argue that fighting and negotiating are not mutually exclusive methods of resolving disputes between nations—there can often be a useful role for bargaining between a state and agents of its enemy, even when armed conflict has broken out between opposing states. We evaluate the efficacy and normative desirability of selectively substituting “bribes” for “bombs” as a means of warfare. We show how inter-country disparities in wealth, differences in military strength, the organization of the bribing and recipient forces, uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict, and communications technology can contribute to the efficacy of bribes. We discuss methods for enforcing bargains struck between opposing forces, a key problem in structuring bribes. We also examine the legal status of bribe agreements, under both international and US law. While the former apparently views bribery as legitimate means of warfare, the latter poses a potentially significant obstacle by refusing on public policy grounds to enforce secret contracts made with foreign agents.