Analysis of decision criteria in military plea negotiations

This research examines plea bargain decision making by analysis of 535 case records in five U.S. Army, Europe, court-martial jurisdictions for one twelve-month period in 1977–1978. The paper reports on a study of the impact of eleven variables on three pleading outcomes. Using discriminant function analysis, the pleading variables are defined as consisting of three groups (negotiated guilty, non-negotiated guilty, and not guilty), or two groups (guilty, not guilty) (negotiated guilty, all other cases). The results indicate that the independent variables are not too successful in separating the groups, especially the smallest group of non-negotiated guilty pleas; the same small proportion of variance is explained regardless of how one splits the sample and defines the number of groups in the discriminant model. In each analysis, the number of charges stands out as having the most discriminating power. The study's findings are compared with Feeley's, and Eisenstein and Jacob's conceptual perspectives of court processing. Application of their approaches suggests that organizational and legal factors produce the distinctive pattern of plea negotiation in the military.     

论票据抗辩中的欠缺行为能力抗辩

依现有票据抗辩理论,欠缺行为能力的抗辩被视为对物抗辩的一种类型,属于不受限制的抗辩。本文认为,不论是从民法理论的角度,还是从票据法理论的角度来看,欠缺行为能力的抗辩都应是一种可限制的抗辩。在此基础上,本文着重讨论了限制的具体情形及效力问题。     

Insanity plea

Examining 484 consecutive criminal cases in which the NGRI plea was made, it was found: (1) a high degree of interexaminer agreement existed on the issue of the defendant's mental state in a nonadversary examination procedure; and, (2) court verdicts were highly congruent with the opinions expressed by examiners on the issue of insanity.     

Power and fairness in negotiations

This paper reports the results of a laboratory experiment on power (specifically, authority) on negotiation process and outcomes. The experiment found that when given a goal to appear fair, high authority negotiators take less of the resources than when not given a goal to appear fair. Furthermore, this paper predicted and found that the relationship between authority imbalance and concern for fairness on negotiation outcomes is a multiplicative relationship. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed within the context of negotiations in intraorganizational relationships.This paper is based on a dissertation by the author, entitled Authority, Dependency, and Fairness in Negotiations. This work was completed while the author was a student at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.     

Credible plea bargaining

This paper demonstrates that the role of plea bargaining as a screening device depends neither on the commitment to trial nor on the commitment to some prosecutorial expenditures. In a situation where a prosecutor cannot commit to trial nor spends resources to obtain more evidence, I find a semi-separating equilibrium in which the prosecutor makes an offer that can be accepted only by the guilty defendant with some positive probability, and then, if the offer is rejected, he proceeds to trial, based on his updated belief. I also consider the prosecutor’s decision to choose the amount of (per capita) prosecutorial expenditures both in the commitment case and in the noncommitment case, and argue that an increase in the per capita expenditure may reduce the gross expenditures on prosecution by lowering the chance of trial.     

Risk taking in civil law negotiations

The decision to negotiate a civil law dispute involves little risk, whereas the decision to go to trial is a risky alternative.Prospect theory predicts that when individuals must choose between such alternatives, they will either (a) be biased toward the risk-free alternative in again frame (i.e., when they perceive both prospects as gains), or (b) be biased toward the risky alternative in aloss frame. The decision of the plaintiff to either continue negotiations or go to trial is typically done in a gain frame; the defendant has to choose between losses. Thus, it was hypothesized that plaintiffs are risk aversive and defendants risk seeking in negotiations. Alternatively, it was hypothesized that parties who expect to prevail at trial are risk aversive, and parties who expect to lose are risk seeking. In four experiments, with both laymen and law students as subjects, the first hypothesis received some support, and the second hypothesis was strongly supported.     

China-ASEAN investment agreement negotiations

China and the ASEAN are negotiating to establish a free trade area and an investment agreement is an integral part of it. The ongoing investment agreement negotiations have achieved some basic consensus as to specific contents of the agreement. However, due to the procedural obstacles and substantive controversies, the negotiations have become stagnant. In order to reach a final and successful conclusion of the investment agreement, the procedural obstacles should be overcome and the substantive controversies be settled since the agreement has economic and political implications for both China and the ASEAN.     

Justice and power in civil law negotiations

The relationship between power and justice in civil law negotiations is discussed. It is argued that the concept of power is essential to understand justice behavior in civil law negotiations. Distributive justice appears to be hardly relevant in civil law disputes and should be replaced by retributive justice to understand the behavior of the parties. The analysis leads to the observation that justice is more likely to be relevant for the powerless party in civil law disputes than for the power-holder. I conclude that both the relative power and justice behavior cannot be studied without taking into account the perception by individuals of both the relevant norms and the salient characteristics of the interaction.     

Africa in the global climate change negotiations

The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) has become a much more significant bargaining coalition in the global climate change negotiations. It has been participating more proactively and on a much more significant scale, and, as a result, it has had a greater impact on bargaining outcomes, notably in Nairobi, Copenhagen and Durban. Yet, at present, the group remains poorly understood by both scholars and policymakers. Compared to other groups in the climate negotiations, such as the Group of 77 and Alliance of Small Island States, it has received relatively little attention. This paper fills this gap by tracking the evolution of the AGN over the course of the climate change negotiations. In the early years after the Earth Summit, it shows that the AGN faced tremendous difficulties pursing regional objectives effectively, largely due to a number of “internal” barriers to participation, which compounded the structural barriers that the continent faced by making it difficult to use “low-power” negotiating strategies such as coalition building, agenda-setting and persuasion. However, in recent years, the group has become much more proactive as a result of greater access to material, ideational and institutional resources. These have relieved, somewhat, the internal barriers that the group faced, making it possible for the AGN to negotiate much more confidently and effectively than before.     

Special and Differential Treatments provisions in the TRIPs negotiations

Legal context: This article reviews the current status of World Trade Organization(WTO) negotiations on Special and Differential Treatments (S&DT)of developing countries in TRIPs, referred to here as the agreementon compulsory licensing. Key points: The main thrust of the article is that, although the negotiationshave reached equilibrium, there are still some open questionswhich may prove problematic in the future. Practical significance: The most important remaining question to be borne in mind bypractitioners is how the results reached might be incorporatedin TRIPs and made permanent, this impacting future pratice.     

警察文化建设与公安工作

警察文化是当代人民警察在公安实践中创造的精神和物质成果的总和,是增强人民警察思想政治工作吸引力和感染力的重要载体。大力加强警察文化建设,有助于推进思想政治工作深入化,增强队伍的凝聚力,同时对于树立人民警察的良好形象、进一步密切警民关系也有着十分重要的作用。为此,我们应该提高认识,建构警察文化中的主流文化,在加强警察思想文化建设的同时,努力提高民警的科学文化素质。     

Abolition of plea bargaining in the coast guard

In the administration of criminal justice, the abolition or restriction of plea bargaining has raised many issues. Of primary concern is the impact on court systems and case dispositions. This research note looks at the Coast Guard military justice system and its 1975 decision to abolish pretrial agreements, effectively eliminating plea bargaining in that system. Studying criminal cases from 1973 to 1978, we determine if that intervention in a time series exhibits any potency. Specifically, what difference did the abolition of plea bargaining make? We find that the abolition of plea bargaining did not make much of a difference to the Coast Guard military justice system, similar to the conclusions drawn from studies of civilian courts.     

公安院校学生警务技能训练损伤情况分析

警务技能是人民警察所必须掌握和具备的基本技能。在警务技能课中,不可避免的会经常发生运动损伤,这不仅严重的 影响学员警务技能水平的提高,同时也影响着他们其它学科的学习。因此必须找出学生在警务技能课中发生损伤的原因和规律,并针 对性的提出必要的预防措施,强化学生的自我保护意识,使运动损伤减少到最低限度。     

A historical sketch of plea bargaining

Plea bargaining is one of the most emotional and controversial topics in the field of criminal justice. Not only is it defined and documented poorly, its origins also are much disputed. Pro-plea bargainers like to trace plea bargaining to Cain and Abel's classic struggle. Anti-plea bargainers cite the post-American Civil War era as the beginning point for plea negotiation. The truth lies somewhere in between. This paper investigates primary and secondary sources from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries in an effort to pin down the specific initiation of plea bargaining and its antecedents. This work demonstrates that prejudice has distorted the study of plea bargaining's origin and encourages further research in this area.     

警察职权的配置与警察权益的保护

我国现行法律赋予了警察机关以广泛、重大的职权,但立法上对警察机关行政职权制衡机制配置上的不完善,对警察行政强制权特别是即时强制权配置上的失衡,导致警察执法过程中种种滥用警察权和警察权益受损情形同时存在.因而,从立法上加强对警察权的限制、制约与规范,合理配置警察职权,不仅是保障警察执法活动和警察个体权益的需要,而且是更有效地保护执法相对人的权益、公民的权益、社会公共利益的需要.     

当前公安院校警察体能训练之探讨

当前公安院校体能训练中存在的一些问题和误区:对体能训练认识不够;警察体能等同于军事、体育院校体能;训练方法与手段的盲目移植;训练的系统性不强,几乎没有训练计划等一些问题.应该针对这些问题提采取相应的措施,改善公安院校的体能训练.     

Trade and environment negotiations in the WTO: Asian perspectives

For developing countries, aid cannot replace trade. Mutually supportive trade and environmental policies should contribute to the realization of sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to identify the negotiating position of selected Asian developing countries on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE). This paper reviews their submissions and suggestions for the CTE with regard to its mandate on trade and environment. In addition, using key trade statistics, it explores the relationship between their negotiating positions and changes in the structure of international trade in Asia. While the CTE has brought about no specific results concerning its mandate, the negotiating positions of developing countries are changing sharply. In particular, Asian developing countries now participate proactively in CTE negotiations. This paper shows the diversity of views held by Asian countries on trade and environment. In some cases, their views are opposed to each other. It can also be observed that the negotiating position of each Asian country at the CTE is closely related to its own trade structure. In accordance with national patterns of trade structure, NIEs, China and India have their own distinct negotiating positions whereas Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have not taken the same stance in the CTE negotiations. Each member of ASEAN presents separate views depending on the nature of the issue.