试论司法和谐政策对法官约束条件的影响

在构建和谐社会的背景下，司法和谐问题已成为法学界研究的重要课题。学界的研究集中在司法和谐的内涵、司法和谐的实现途径等方面。而对于司法和谐政策对法官约束条件的影响缺乏深入细致的研究。本文试图分析司法和谐政策对法官约束条件的影响和改变，以期对观察、分析、推断和解释法官司法行为的转变有所裨益。     

浅议能动司法的理论与实践

能动司法是在借鉴西方司法制度与考察我国国情的基础上形成的一种司法理念。由于其在提高司法效能、促进司法正义等方面的特殊作用,已经受到我国法学界和实务界的高度重视。本文通过在理论推导、实践需求、价值取向等方面的研究,对践行具有中国特色的适度的能动司法进行探析。     

THE VIOLENT WEST REEXAMINED: A RESEARCH NOTE ON REGIONAL HOMICIDE RATES*

Studies by O'Carroll and Mercy and by Kowalski and Petee challenge the long-held view that the South leads the nation in homicide rates. Specifically, O'Carroll and Mercy find that when killings by state are disaggregated by race, the West has the highest levels of homicide for whites, blacks, and other races. Kowalski and Petee conclude that homicide rates in the South and the West have converged. We extend their research by examining the effect, on levels of killing, of metropolitan concentration of black and white populations within states and of the percentage of the white population of Hispanic origin within SMSAs. Results of these analyses show that the homicide rate for non-Hispanic whites remains highest in the South; no clear regional pattern exists for blacks.     

‘In this Day and Age’: Social Facts,Common Sense and Cognition in Tort Law Judging in the United Kingdom

Tort law judging in the United Kingdom includes judicial ‘truth claims’ or ‘social facts’ about the world, society, and institutional and human behaviour. Although corrective justice and rights scholars assert tort law is autonomous and internally referential, social facts can be influential in tort decisions. While there is some evidence of judicial use of empirical research, many social facts are based on judicial notice, judicial common sense, and intuition. Social facts, often based on judicial common sense, play a role in tort judging. However, they can also be fertile ground for the introduction of cognitive bias and judicial error. The role of social facts in tort judging is not confined to ‘policy’ reasoning but includes social framework, context, and background. Emerging research on judicial cognition can help explain the nature and impact of common‐sense social facts. There is a need to consider potential responses to judicial use of social facts and judicial cognition.     

Judges as satisficers: a law and economics perspective on judicial liability

If judges are guardians of the law, who is to protect the individual member of society from the occasional corrupt, malicious, or reckless judge? The aim of this paper is to provide an answer to the last part of this question, focusing more heavily on cases of negligently inflicted harm. Departing from Simon’s bounded rationality and influenced by other constructs in behavioral law and economics, we view judges as satisficers who make decisions within real-world constraints, such as imperfect information and uncertainty, cognitive limitations and erroneous information. Judges are limited by the commonly observed barriers to the decision making process. Because their goal is not to optimize but to render opinions that are merely satisfactory, they often act as poor agents of their principals’ interests. In this light, it becomes clearer why judges tend to engage in behavior that is “improper”, especially under the circumstances of the currently overloaded judicial caseloads. We first address the differences in judges’ roles in Anglo-American and Continental legal systems. We then present our simple model for judicial misbehavior based on an understanding of judges as “satisficers”. Next we discuss the particularities of judicial errors and introduce a realistic and viable construct of “inexcusable judicial error”. On this basis we evaluate the impact of various incentive schemes on judicial behavior, focusing on the civil liability of judges. We conclude that civil liability for grave judicial errors is the most adequate remedy.     

司法规律及其相关问题

司法规律是司法活动中不以人的意志为转移的客观法则或定则。它不取决于人的主观好恶。研究司法规律,应深入到司法活动的各个具体领域中去探索,而不是简单地做一些命题式的解读。以司法特性问题作为个例,探讨在此问题上的各种不同主张,并对司法规律的延伸性问题———规范类型问题进行探讨。     

Some determinants of internal judicial independence: A comparative study of the courts in Chile,Peru and Ecuador

This article explores the primary determinants of internal judicial independence in three Latin American countries. Considering the relative absence of research focused on this dimension of judicial life, this article is innovative in demonstrating how it is affected by two variables: the quality of judges' training and respect for their judicial careers as criteria for promotions or transfers. While these variables explain why some countries enjoy greater internal judicial independence than others, this article also shows – contrary to popular wisdom – that judicial activism does not have a strong influence on internal judicial independence. Conducting a comparison of the courts in Chile, Peru, and Ecuador using surveys and semi-structured interviews, this study also shows that judges' autonomy from politicians does not necessarily follow the same path as the lower-court judges' independence from their hierarchical superiors.     

Court Finance and Court Responses to Judicial Reforms: A Tale of Two Chinese Courts

This research studies the responses of two lower-level courts, one in rural and the other in urban China, to recent judicial reforms focusing on strengthening institutional building and professionalism. It finds that the court-funding structure under which the courts heavily rely on the local government for expenses, together with the unbalanced development of local economy, remarkably affects the two courts' behavioral pattern in different ways. The rural court, for the sake of litigation fees, tries to attract potential litigants to file certain lawsuits, even though it cannot effectively handle them. The efforts toward institutional building and professionalism only aggravate the already difficult situation. The urban court's institutional quality seems to have increased in the reform process, thanks to sufficient resources from the developed and diversified local economy. But it has also become more formalized and bureaucratic, as it tries to exclude difficult and problematic disputes from getting into the court. In illustrating the complexity of transitional China's judicial reform process generated by both the unbalanced economic development and the bureaucratization of the judiciary, this article suggests that the enhancement of institutional quality, which many argue is key to economic development, may itself be contingent upon the success of economic development.     

司法证明机理：一个亟待开拓的研究领域

司法证明机理是指由多方证明主体共同参与进行证据推理活动的内在规律和原理。没有对证明机理的深入把握,就难以通过"证据群"获得可靠的事实认定结论。近年来,英美学者致力于对证明机理的探索,开辟了一个全新的交叉学科领域。证明机理的研究对于摆脱司法证明的现实困境具有重要意义。我们应当批判地吸收和借鉴英美"新证据学"的研究成果,综合运用系统论、逻辑学、心理学、语言学、行为科学等多种研究方法进行系统化研究,以期实现司法证明的科学化。     

对犯罪既遂形态逻辑关系的梳理

犯罪既遂的表现形态一直是学术界争执不休的问题,尤其对行为犯、危险犯的属性定位,由于学者立论视角的不同更是众说纷纭.理论的纷争直接导致司法的困惑.因而,行为犯、结果犯、危险犯、实害犯、举动犯之间的逻辑关系,是学术界亟需厘清的问题.     

从“问题中国”到“理解中国”——当下中国司法理论研究立场的转换

当＂司法＂日渐成为一个公共话题,有关司法问题的讨论就不再只是一个单纯的技术或者专业问题,而成为一个日常性的生活话题;有关司法问题的理论研究也不再只是一种纯粹的学术活动,而更是一种公共知识的生产与再生产活动。这意味着当下中国有关司法问题理论研究的立场必须要从＂问题中国＂转向＂理解中国＂,既要从中国社会转型以及中、西方互动交往的宏大场景出发,也要在当下社会现实生活的微观场域里来理解当下中国司法的问题。同样,有关司法的理论既要从中国人的生活哲学与生存性智慧中获致论证资源,也要在中、西方的共识中夯实司法知识的基础。唯有此,当下中国的司法理论研究才能够生产和再生产出具有公共性的司法知识产品,才能够更好地服务于日常生活的同时建构起自身的理论体系。     

人心似铁与官法如炉:“无文”视域下的清代司法审判

清代司法审判的性质和裁判依据一直以来是一个重要的问题,从中可以挖掘传统法律文化的精髓来指导今天的司法实践。把清代的司法审判还原到清代的社会现实来进行实证研究,应该从以下两个维度思考:其一,以普通人对法律的认知及司法诉求来探讨其对清代司法审判的影响;其二,以断案官员自身的理念和对普通人的思维模式及行为方式的了解为前提,并且在背景依赖的制约下来探讨官员对清代司法审判结果的影响。清代司法审判的性质和官员的断案基准是在二者的紧张关系中展现的。     

Judicial review,litigation effects and the ombudsman

Abstract

Judicial review is widely understood to be a remedy of last resort, but there remains little research on the extent to which the process can achieve meaningful redress. This article applies the results of a study into ombudsman judicial review to chart the outputs of the various stages of the process at which an outcome can be secured. The claim is made that ombudsman judicial review does secure a small level of success for claimants both in and out of court but that the rate of such success is lower for citizen claimants than the norm in all judicial review cases. The explanation provided for this pattern is that organisationally ombudsman schemes have learnt lessons from being repeat players in judicial review and are better equipped to integrate rule of law values than many other public bodies. Citizen claimants, by contrast, include a high proportion of inexperienced litigants-in-person for which the judicial review process is ill-designed to facilitate.     

The origin and functioning of the family advocate system

This synoptic article focuses on the origin and functioning of the Office of the Family Advocate as the protector of the interests of minor children in divorce cases. Attention is paid to the general contemporary trend to specialise in judicial decision-making that developed out of an increasing need for expertise in the administration of justice. A number of arguments for and against judicial specialisation are addressed. The origin of the Office of the Family Advocate within the South African judicial system is discussed and a brief exposition of the history of divorce legislation in South Africa is given. This is followed by attention to the functioning of the Office of the Family Advocate with reference to the process followed in investigations of this office and points of criticism against the system are highlighted. The article closes with an indication of the need for research in this regard and possible focus points for future research are identified.     

“This Argument Fails for Two Reasons…”: A Linguistic Analysis of Judicial Evaluation Strategies in US Supreme Court Judgments

The centrality of argumentation in the judicial process is an age-old acquisition of research on legal discourse. Notwithstanding the deep insights provided by legal theoretical and philosophical works, only recently has judicial argumentation been tackled in its linguistic dimension. This paper aims to contribute to the development of linguistic studies of judicial argumentation, by shedding light on evaluation as a prominent aspect in the construction of the judge’s argumentative position. Evaluation as a deep structure of judicial argumentation is studied from a discursive point of view entailing the analysis of a sample of authentic judicial language. Evaluative lexis is investigated within a single genre of judicial discourse, i.e. judgments, instantiated by a corpus of US Supreme Court judgments. Findings show that judges use diversified strategies to take stance as they organise their argumentative discourse: from easily recognisable verbal and adjectival tools to more finely-grained discourse elements such as the encapsulating pattern ‘this/these/that/those + labelling noun’.     

军事司法权能否推定

现代法治要求以权力法定为原则,以权力推定为例外。由于军事法理研究相对薄弱,以及法律与实践的内在冲突,军事司法权受军事统率权控制的制度惯性延续至今,表现在我国军事司法权配置中存在许多权力推定现象。基于现代法治的内在要求,以及依法治国方略和依法治军方针的现实需要,特别是军事司法权属于国家司法权的理论定位,在军事司法权配置实践中,应当严格限制军事司法权的推定,逐步实现从权力推定向权力法定的过渡,军事领导机关不宜再行使军事司法立法权,军事司法机关也不宜再行使军事司法解释权。     

No Judge,No Job! Court errors and the contingent labor contract

Judges are prone to error and misapprehension when they are verifying the facts of a legal case. We analyze the significance and scope of accurate court decisions and judicial error for labor contracting and identify the implications of these concepts on behavioral incentives and market outcomes. We find that imperfect judicial state verification and the diverging beliefs on a court ruling reduce the efficiency of contingent labor contracts and make them less effective in stipulating sufficient incentives for compliance. If increasing court accuracy in general is not feasible, the courts (and the legislator) should primarily mitigate type I errors. The common reversal of the burden of proof to the employer in labor laws reflects these insights. The model also indicates that the ability of judges to verify facts is a prerequisite for efficient law-making and contributes significantly to the economic role of courts.     

论复合法域条件下的中国对外刑事司法合作关系

对于中国的刑事司法合作问题的研究 ,目前主要着眼于中国的对外刑事司法合作以及中国国内的区际刑事司法合作两个方面 ,而对于复合法域条件下的中国国家及其各个法域的对外刑事司法合作及其相互关系问题却几乎无人问津。本文在分析了中国对外刑事司法合作的现状 ,以及“一国两制三法系四法域”局面的形成给中国的对外刑事司法合作带来的影响的基础上 ,就复合法域条件下 ,中国应当如何处理国家及其各个法域同有关国际条约和国际组织的关系、同外国的引渡关系等问题进行了探讨 ,并就中国国家及其各个法域在对外刑事司法合作中的身份定位、活动方式、行为准则以及相互关系等问题阐述了一些见解和主张。     

Localization Path of the Research Paradigms of Legal Commentary in China — Focusing on the Public Legal Service Function of the Case-Commentary Research on the Style of Civil Litigation Documents

Conducting case-commentary research on the style of civil litigation documents is a key method for judges to produce legal documents, develop professional writing and creative skills, and enhance legal thinking. Such a study is an important way to deepen the reform of the judicial power operation mechanism and to improve the trial management mode. Considering the background of the judicial responsibility system reform, the localization of the research paradigms and case-commentary methods of the style of litigation documents can help reach the consensus of the legal professional community. It also helps promote judgment rules and the spirit of the law. Legal commentaries convey the important functions of public legal services to the public. It is necessary to integrate the Style of Civil Litigation Documents, the “one-stop” litigation service with the reform practice of judicial committees in China, and conduct detailed research on the procedural ruling function and guiding function of the style of civil litigation documents. By studying the guiding function of civil litigation document style for judicial behavior, litigation procedure, and entity processing, it is good for judges to broaden their ideas and methods to write civil litigation documents, enabling an examination of the localization path and method of the legal commentary research paradigm and demonstrating how to continue using the paradigm within the context of the comprehensive reform of the judicial system. Moreover, the study emphasizes how to exert the function of public legal services integrated with the style of civil litigation documents.     

通往司法的法理学——中国法理学的现实主义路向

法理学研究与司法实践是建构法治国家的两个紧密关联的重要方面。当前中国法理学研究中存在宏大叙事和文本主义的倾向,在司法实践中则有死守"法律形式主义"的可能,两者因与现实脱节而构成目前中国法理学研究的困境,而引致这种困境的则是占据主导的传统"立法者的法理学"。通过超越传统司法推理模式,转换"立法者"的姿态,而以法律现实主义的立场与方法,确立一种通往司法的法理学,或可摆脱前述困境。