定罪概念及原则的刑事一体化思考

从刑事一体化的视角将定罪作为动态的司法活动来考察 ,定罪是指国家专门机关依法定程序与证据 ,根据刑法 ,确定犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的行为是否符合刑法规定的犯罪构成的活动。定罪的主体是国家专门机关 ;定罪的对象是犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的行为 ;定罪的根据包括事实根据及法律根据 ;定罪的内容与目标是确定犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的行为是否符合刑法规定的犯罪构成 ;定罪既是司法人员的主观认识过程 ,又充满了法律价值的权衡与选择。定罪的原则包括程序法原则与实体法原则两大组成部分 ,定罪的程序法原则为程序法定原则、证据裁判原则、无罪推定原则 ;定罪的实体法原则包括罪之法定原则、主客观相统一原则、必要性原则。     

Attrition and Conviction Rates of Sexual Offences in Europe: Definitions and Criminal Justice Responses

The “loss” of cases within the criminal justice chain, especially from police to conviction level is known as attrition – a phenomenon that can be observed in every criminal justice system and for every offence type. But is this attrition particularly strong for sexual offences as theories based on the so-called “rape myths” suppose? This question is dealt with by this paper; it studies the different conviction ratios of sexual offences in Europe and tries to evaluate the resulting findings. The data presented are based upon the work done by the expert group for the European Sourcebook (ESB) of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics and a special EU-funded project on "Defining and Registering Criminal Offences and Measures, Standards for a European Comparison". In order to gain a basis for comparison, the differences between the national legal concepts and definitions are discussed. Then attrition and conviction rates (understood as the ratio of suspected to convicted persons) are examined, firstly for different crime types in order to show the relative importance of attrition in the field of sexual offences, secondly with a special focus on rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse of minors in some European countries. Beyond these mere statistical data the question whether there are particular reasons for the selection process in cases of sexual offences is raised.     

The Prosecutor's Toolbox: Investigating and Prosecuting Organized Crime in the United States

Investigating and prosecuting organized crime requires effectivelegal tools. A successful investigation depends to a large extentin maintaining the secrecy of the investigation as much as possible.Some investigative tools, such as electronic surveillance, cangenerally be used without disclosing even the existence of aninvestigation. Although other tools, such as grand jury subpoenasand search warrants, may reveal law enforcement's interest ina particular person or place, a carefully coordinated investigativestrategy can minimize the extent to which their use impedesan ongoing probe. From the viewpoint of substantive law, someof the most important tools in prosecuting organized crime arethe racketeering laws, which enable authorities to charge numerousmembers for participating in a collective criminal enterprise,even where they do not join in some of the particular criminalepisodes in which other members engage. Also important are moneylaundering laws, which enable the state to restrict the flowof money that forms the lifeblood of criminal organizations.     

The Burdens of Conviction: Brownlee on Civil Disobedience

Kimberley Brownlee’s Conscience and Conviction offers a powerful defence of civil disobedience as a conscientious and communicative mode of protest. The overall argument of the book is important and compelling, but this critical commentary explores certain aspects of Brownlee’s view that warrant further consideration and clarification. Those aspects relate to her suggestion that civil disobedience is a dialogic mode of communication, her attempt to ground a moral right of civil disobedience in a principle of humanism, and her belief that the right establishes a defeasible moral claim against all forms of interference.     

The Criminal Justice System Creates Incentives for False Convictions

Abstract

The American criminal justice system creates incentives for false conviction. For example, many public crime labs are funded in part per conviction. We show that the number of false convictions per year in the American criminal justice system should be considered “high.” We examine the incentives of police, forensic scientists, prosecutors, and public defenders in the U.S. Police, prosecutors, and forensic scientists often have an incentive to garner convictions with little incentive to convict the right person. These incentives create what economists call a “multitask problem” that seems to be resulting in a needlessly high rate of false convictions. Public defenders lack the resources and incentives needed to provide a vigorous defense for their clients. Corrective measures are discussed, along with a call for more research.     

贪污房产案件的定罪问题

贪污罪不仅侵害国家工作人员职务行为的廉洁性,还严重侵犯公共财物的所有权.尽管不动产有许多不同于动产的特性,但房产仍可以成为贪污罪侵害的对象.只有正确认识贪污房产案件侵害的法益特征,识别贪污房产行为的手段方法,才能准确把握这类案件的定罪问题.贪污房产案件的犯罪停止形态之判断,在实质上与传统的侵害财产罪没有区别,不能以房屋是否实现过户为既遂的标准.     

案外因素对催生刑事冤案的作用力分析——以美国1188件冤案的结构性分布与案外成因为参鉴

司法刑事体制内原因并非导致刑事冤案的决定性因素,从刑事冤案的结构性分布观察,凶杀案等暴力性犯罪更易于产生冤案。中美两国洗冤机制的实效存在相似之处,例如冤案的结构性分布、证据审查标准以及无辜者洗冤的低成功率等方面。从美国冤案的实际原因来看,案外因素对司法过程的渗透过程不可低估。中国式冤案主要是公共政策、国民对犯罪的基本立场、错误的司法理念、实践中的潜规则、设证式证明的混用等诸多因素综合作用的结果。     

Collateral Attacks on Convictions (I): The Probability and Intensity of Filing

In the beginning of the 1970s the increased activity of filing collateral attacks on criminal convictions (postconviction petitions) made by prisoners in an effort to modify either the conviction or the sentence generated concern about the additional burdens imposed on the courts. This article is the first report of a study undertaken to quantify and analyze postconviction filings and their eventual disposition under various procedures, as reflected by the variety of procedures and degrees of accessibility to the courts in the states of Illinois, California, Texas, and Colorado. The present article describes and analyzes postconviction filing activity for these four states in terms of the probability of filing; the frequency of filing (the mean number of filings per filer and the number of filings per thousand prisoners); how long after incarceration filing took place; and patterns of filing over time. It is shown that contrary to widespread belief the notion that "every prisoner files" is not justified. The author concludes that the perceived high number of collateral attacks, not necessarily supported by the figures, stems from a large number of filings (except for Illinois) generated by a small proportion of prisoners. The author points out that modifications of the petitioning process can have a significant effect on the rate of filing and suggests changes in regulations that are likely to reduce the total number of petitions.     

论定罪量刑的社会学模式

现行刑事立法赋予法官享有一定的定罪量刑自由裁量权,该自由裁量权受诸多案件社会结构因素影响,案件社会结构因素影响定罪量刑的过程及其表现出的样式就是定罪量刑社会学模式。定罪量刑的社会学模式以案件社会学理论为参照,并基本被实证研究所证实。由于同性质的具体案件的社会结构不同或同一案件在不同诉讼阶段的社会结构不同,法官受其影响程度也不同,定罪量刑不公正现象由此而生。实现公正定罪量刑的关键在于避免定罪量刑社会学模式发生作用。     

Advancing Wrongful Conviction Scholarship: Toward New Conceptual Frameworks

As wrongful conviction scholarship grows, some scholars have suggested that existing research on miscarriages of justice lacks theoretical grounding and methodological sophistication, arguing that the use of social science theory may help to better understand wrongful convictions. In this article, we suggest that it may be useful to draw upon conceptual frameworks found in traditional criminal justice studies, discuss what such approaches might suggest about miscarriages of justice, and begin to explore the questions or topics they may encourage interested researchers to pursue. Furthermore, through this broad theoretical lens, we can see that criminal justice theory is present, at least implicitly, in some existing innocence literature, and that making such theoretical connections more explicit may help to move the study of wrongful conviction into the mainstream of criminal justice research.     

论盗窃犯罪未遂的定罪处罚

盗窃犯罪未遂的成立,应当依据于财物是否得到还是应依据于是否得到较大数额的财物,有探讨的必要。对盗窃未遂的定罪处罚,因法律对盗窃犯罪的成立规定了数额的要求,这无形中成为对盗窃未遂定罪处罚的障碍,所以应当众数额巨大的未遂开始对之定罪处罚。对实践中普遍存在的盗窃既遂和盗窃未遂并存的情况处理,必须采用从一论处的原别,并依据其不同分别采用既遂吸收未遂或者重刑吸收轻刑的方法。     

非法采矿行为定罪的法律困境及立法建议

非法采矿罪是1997年刑法出现的一个新罪名,由于缺乏相关实践以及立法者的局限性,343条第一款关于非法采矿罪的规定在司法实践中已经暴露出明显的缺陷,致使大量违法采矿和盗掘矿石的行为难以定罪和处理,不利于犯罪规范体系的建设和保护日益珍贵的矿产资源,应当对其进行修改,使之更好地适应社会发展.具体而言,在非法采矿行为的规制上,必须调整立法思路,规范立法技术,合理设计罪状,提高非法采矿行为的犯罪化程度,加大惩罚力度.     

定罪犯罪构成与设罪犯罪构成

犯罪构成分成定罪犯罪构成与设罪犯罪构成,与刑事法律实践的基本规律相适应,有利于刑事立法和刑事司法活动的展开,也有利于我国刑法理论犯罪构成研究中诸多缠结的消解。两种犯罪构成既有联系又各有特点,其要件也有差别。刑事立法和刑事司法在运用犯罪构成时应当区别对待,否则难以避免实践和理论上的混乱。     

自杀:西方孤独老人的无奈选择

每个自杀老人的原因不尽相同,巴黎昂布里奥斯医院的老年科穆里亚斯医生认为,这些老人身体日渐衰弱,处于孤独与沮丧中,现代医疗对精神抑郁症难以根治。法国:老人因孤独而自杀世界预防自杀协会(AIPS)拉响了警报,根据该协会统计数据表明,在法国,老年人自杀逐渐成了自杀群体中人数最多的族群。法国平均自杀率为17.1/10万,法国《十字报》报道,2009年法国自杀人数为10499人,65岁以上的老年自杀者年均3000人左右,占自杀总人数的1/3。在78岁至84岁年龄段的老人自杀者中,其比例为32/10万;84岁至94岁年龄段的老人自杀比例上升到42/10     

The Forces of Conviction: The Power and Practice of Mandatory Prosecution upon Misdemeanor Domestic Battery Suspects

This article provides an ethnographic account of the power and practice of mandatory prosecution upon misdemeanor domestic battery suspects. Integrating law and society studies, domestic violence research, and poststructuralist theories of power, it finds that mandatory prosecution engages suspected batterers in multiple power operations that shape their agency in different ways. While many of these operations are familiar from past law and society research, mandatory prosecution alters their practice. In general, the different tactics that legal authorities deploy in their interactions with domestic battery suspects coalesce in an effort to have them plead guilty. The impact of these tactics on batterers, however, is far from clear. Mandatory prosecution increases the number of persons convicted of domestic violence. But abusers' violence is repeatedly redefined and displaced, as they are processed through the court setting, thus casting doubt on the criminal court's power to affect their accountability. By detailing the court's various points of encounter with domestic battery suspects, this study offers a much-needed empirical framework for future evaluations of court interventions against domestic batterers.