Sentencing rationales, judicial discretion, and the practice of criminal fines in Israel

Much attention has been paid over the last three decades to the examination of the criminal fine, its administration, enforcement policies, and effectiveness. Yet, one research topic has often been overlooked: the link between sentencing rationales, judiciary discretion, and fining policy. The present research, based upon ninety hours of phenomenological semi-structured interviews undertaken in a random sample of forty active Israeli magistrates, six hundred verdicts, and quantitative data regarding the fining policy in Israel, analyzed the degree of harmony/disparity between these variables. The main findings revealed lack of confidence in the ability of the criminal fine to successfully achieve different penal objectives, scarcity of knowledge of actual fining administration procedures, and a high degree of harmony between fining rationales and ideology.     

剥夺政治权利的并罚适用问题

数个剥夺政治权利实行并罚时 ,应适用限制加重原则 ,在数个宣告刑期的总和刑期以下 ,最高刑期以上决定应执行的刑期 ,但最高不能超过七年。数主刑中 ,有的附加剥夺政治权利有的未附加时 ,并罚问题的各种既有见解均各有其利弊 ;实际上 ,有期徒刑、拘役执行期间 ,罪犯不应享有政治权利 ,在这一认识基础上 ,剥夺政治权利的并罚问题就可以迎刃而解。另外 ,剥夺政治权利与罚金、没收财产的并罚 ,应适用并科原则实行并罚。     

我国反垄断罚款制度的革新——基于整体主义理念的研究

我国已经启动反垄断法的修订工作,其中罚款制度的修订广受关注。在反垄断罚款制度的应用中虽然整体主义理念初露端倪,但是仍具有相当大的局限性,甚至还发生了不少背离罚款整体主义理念的案例,导致罚款威慑力受到较大的冲击。纵观20世纪90年代以来欧美国家反垄断罚款制度的革新,基于单一经济实体理论和经济连续性理论而采取的罚款整体主义制度设计是一种较为常见的做法。罚款整体主义通常包括罚款基准的整体主义和罚款责任的整体主义。新时代我国反垄断罚款制度的革新应引入整体主义理念,在制度设计上以企业集团总销售额为基准计算反垄断最高罚款限额和确定反垄断罚款大企业威慑乘数,同时明确规定母公司对子公司的罚款承担连带责任以及在一定情形下要求企业承继者承担罚款责任。     

论我国商业秘密的立法完善

论述我国商业秘密保护立法的现状,分析我国现行立法存在的问题。在现有立法模式的基础上,在界定商业秘密的保护范围、完善相关法律、增设惩罚性赔偿责任、明确免责条件等方面提出了完善我国商业秘密法律保护的构想。     

法律规范结构理论的批判与重构

长期以来，我国法学理论界对法律规范结构的学术观点主要有两种学说：“三要素说”和“两要素说”；虽然近有“新三要素说”对前二者提出了批判，但仍旧没有脱离传统的分析模式的缺陷：即将“存在论”的共时性结构分析转换为了“运行论”的历时性的操作分析。通过将结构界定为各要素的共时性存在，将法律规范结构重构为经由条件假定中介的调整性规则与管理性规则并立的条件性二元构造，较为合理地将法律规范的静态结构特质呈现出来。     

The penalization of protest under neoliberalism: managing resistance through punishment

The repression of anti-austerity protests in Spain from 2011 to 2014 constitutes an example of how neoliberal developments are facilitated by the penal system as it limits political resistances to the imposition of precarious working conditions and social cuts. The limits imposed on contentious politics are both material (consisting of banning acts that are prominent in social movement’s repertoire of contention, fining demonstrators, etc.) and symbolic (consisting of transforming the meaning of legitimate politics by imposing new legal and political definitions). This case study is used to illustrate the interconnection between labor markets, social policies and the repression of social protest, and to elaborate on Wacquant’s approach to the relationship between punishment and other social institutions. It is at such times of political and economic crisis when institutional interconnections seem particularly exposed, arguably enabling more profound analyses.     

Yield and turnover of illicit indoor cannabis (Cannabis spp.) plantations in Belgium

In prosecution, Belgian judiciary currently uses outdated yield figures (28.1g per plant, sold at € 3/g at grower level) for fining illicit indoor cannabis plantations. Using state-of-the-art cultivation techniques, our growth experiments showed that yield is better expressed in g/m(2) cultivated surface area rather than in g per plant, and that yield varies significantly between different cannabis strains. It was found that the lower-bound of the one-sided 95% confidence interval of the yield of an indoor cannabis plantation can be set at 575 g/m(2). Prices and pricing mechanisms were investigated using interviews with respondents selected through snowball sampling. Results reveal that (i) the Belgian cannabis market chain is highly complex; (ii) unit prices are predominantly determined by transaction sizes; but also (iii) a set of product- and socially-related price-fixing mechanisms have an equally important role. At grower level, respondents reported prices for 1 g of dry cannabis buds to range € 3.00-4.25.     

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN: RACE/ETHNICITY AND SITUATIONAL CONTEXT*

Although much has been learned in recent years about the victimization experiences of women, there remains a considerable knowledge gap with respect to the victimization of women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. In order to confront this issue, we use the large number of cases available in the National Crime Victimization Survey (1992–2000) to examine the risk and protective factors associated with violent victimization among non‐Hispanic white, non‐Hispanic black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American women. We then describe in more detail the violent incidents against these women, looking for distinguishing patterns across groups. Our results are useful for fine‐tuning theories of victimization to explain variance in violence for females across racial and ethnic subgroups.     

倍率式罚款的特定基数与乘数倍率之实证研究

倍率式罚款是罚款具体数额得以"随行就市"的技术手段,是"过罚相当"制裁原则得以动态化实现的规范机制。设定倍率式罚款的两大要素是用以计算罚款数额的特定基数与乘数倍率。由于特定基数的类别和乘数倍率的大小共同决定了罚款数额的幅度弹性,因此两大要素的恰当选择无疑对倍率式罚款的可行性、合理性和有效性具有至关重要的制约意义。本文基于司法案例和立法文件的实证分析,着重研究倍率式罚款的设定问题,包括特定基数与乘数倍率间的关联性、各自的选择原则和方法以及相关的设定技术。     

论解决罚金刑执行难题的立法途径

罚金刑执行难是一个全球性问题。实行罚金刑易科自由刑或不剥夺自由的劳动、罚金刑无限期追缴以及罚金刑缓刑等制度,在我国现阶段都不能从根本上解决问题。甚至在未来比较长的时期内,对所有犯罪都不宜单处罚金,只能是并处罚金,但不宜采取必并处罚金的立法形式,而有必要改为可并处罚金,给法官以酌情判处罚金的自由裁量权。此外,有必要建立罚金刑执行保证金制度,把判决前主动交纳罚金保证金作为法定从轻处罚的情节,以鼓励犯罪人积极创造条件缴纳罚金。     

Counteracting Identity Fraud in the Information Age: The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

The advent of the information age has created new challenges to the ability of individuals to protect the privacy and security of their personal information. One such challenge is that of identity theft, which has imposed countless hardships upon its victims. Perpetrators of this fraud use the identities of others to steal money, obtain loans, and generally violate the law. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 makes the theft of personal information with the intent to commit an unlawful act a federal crime in the United States with penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. The Act designates the Federal Trade Commission to serve as an advocate for victims of identity fraud. This article first examines the problem of identity fraud and the inadequacy of existing remedies, and then assesses the need for and likely impact of the Act, as well as issues relating to the effectiveness of its future enforcement.     

论报纸必须实施新闻精品战略

本文论述了中国报业必须实施新闻精品战略的两个基本原因,概括了新闻精品之六大基本特征,要求中国报人牢固树立三种新闻精品意识,阐述了记者、编辑在实施新闻精品战略中的重要作用和具体要求,对中国报纸实施新闻精品战略具有一定的理论指导意义。     

论信用卡滞纳金的性质及其治理

滞纳金作为行政强制执行中执行罚的一种类型，其适用范围非常有限，故被喻为“合法抢劫”的信用卡滞纳金并不是行政法意义上的滞纳金。具有违约金性质的信用卡复利由于没有存在的理论基础，所以本应该是违约金的信用卡滞纳金却利用行政法上滞纳金“督促履行”的功能而异化为剥夺普通民众财富的制度装置，对此，《合同法》与《贷款通则》却没有规定逾期贷款罚息的上限，《反垄断法〉也因其笼统的责任规范无法根治高额的信用卡滞纳金，因而，作为“过渡性杂种”的信用卡滞纳金有赖于信用卡市场的进一步完善，从而纯化为合同法意义上的违约金。     

论中国罚金刑的改革与完善——以探寻罚金刑执行难之解决方案为视角

随着刑罚逐渐趋于轻刑化和人道化,罚金刑在世界各国刑罚体系中的地位越来越重要,实践中罚金刑的适用率也越来越高。但罚金刑执行难的问题却一直困扰着世界各国,我国也不例外。在我国,造成罚金刑执行难的原因主要在于罚金刑裁量原则的不科学,罚金刑执行保障制度、罚金缓刑制度以及罚金易科制度的缺位等。有必要改革与完善我国罚金刑及其相关制度,以从根本上解决罚金执行难的问题。     

Extralegal factors and the sentencing of organizational defendants: An examination of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines were developed to provide uniform and standardized punishments for eliminating sentence disparities based on legally irrelevant factors. While research at the individual level showed that extralegal factors continued to affect sentence outcomes, no such research determined if these factors influenced sentencing of organizational offenders. This article extends the unit of analysis beyond the individual and toward organizational offenders to determine if total fine amounts are affected by extralegal organizational characteristics. Relying on post-1991 organizational defendant's data, the findings indicated both legal and extralegal factors significantly affected fine outcomes for organizational offenders. As expected, several legal factors significantly affected fine outcomes. At least two extralegal variables, economically solvent and closely held organizations, however, exerted significant effects in predicting the total fine amount imposed. Similar to research at the individual level, this study indicated that extralegal or legally irrelevant factors had some level of impact upon sentencing under the guidelines.     

食品安全犯罪之刑罚配置——以民生刑法为视角

在民生时代,食品安全犯罪的刑罚应当以民生刑法为指导来进行配置.在刑罚配置强度的确定上,我国食品安全犯罪的刑罚配置以国家刑法为导向,在定性错误的基础上强调重刑,存在诸多弊端;根据民生刑法,应当运用社会控制模式对犯罪进行综合治理,在正确定位的基础上合理配置刑罚,顺应世界刑罚的发展趋势逐步实现刑罚的轻缓化.在刑罚配置种类的完善上,根据民生刑法,应将罚金刑上升为主刑,将货值金额作为罚金刑的适用基准,采用倍比罚金制,提高罚金数额,设定最低数额,对犯罪单位配置较犯罪自然人以及相关责任人员更高的罚金数额;根据民生刑法,应增设与食品安全犯罪相配的资格刑刑种,这是惩罚和预防犯罪的需要,是禁止令的改革方向.     

宽严相济刑事政策与罚金刑改革

刑罚体系中的罚金刑本质上与宽严相济刑事政策的精神相契合,能够在贯彻宽严相济刑事政策中发挥重要的作用。我国现有罚金刑制度还存在罚金刑地位不高、适用范围狭窄、无限额罚金制的规定较多、罚金刑配置方式单一、罚金刑执行难等诸多问题和缺陷,影响到对宽严相济刑事政策的贯彻执行,需要我们对其进行相应的一系列的改革完善,以使其在体现和贯彻宽严相济刑事政策中的作用得以充分发挥。     

论我国食品犯罪罚金刑的完善

在分析我国食品犯罪罚金刑的立法设置与司法适用现状的基础上,指出食品犯罪罚金刑立法设置与司法适用中存在的诸多缺陷,进而提出完善我国食品犯罪罚金刑的方案,旨在罚金刑能在预防食品犯罪中发挥最大的、最佳的效果。     

A linear model of fine enforcement with application to England and Wales

Fines are the most common sanction against criminal offenders in many countries. Economists have developed models for determining the optimal use of fines. Their models, however, generally abstract from problems of fine enforcement and assume that all fines are collected and that enforcement costs are zero. Criminologists and practitioners, on the other hand, have been very much aware of enforcement costs. Imprisonment for fine default is particularly costly and exacerbates the crowded prison conditions that exist in many countries. This paper extends previous economic models by dropping the limiting assumption of zero enforcement costs. The model is estimated using data from England and Wales and is used to evaluate alternative methods and levels of fine enforcement.