The forensic examination of structural fires in Victoria,Australia: Decision-making processes and impact on judicial outcomes

There is a body of published research that has evaluated the contribution of forensic science to the criminal justice system, but many disciplines of forensic science remain unexplored in this regard. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution that forensic fire examination services provide to criminal investigations and court processes in arson cases. Forensic fire examination services differ in a number of ways to the disciplines covered in previous research on the impact of forensic evidence on justice outcomes. Forensic fire examinations involve a combination of scene examination and laboratory analyses, and the results can provide critical evidence of whether an incident that has occurred is a criminal offence (i.e. whether a fire has occurred as the result of an act of arson). Forensic fire examination is also a discipline that has faced challenges and undergone development in recent decades regarding its scientific basis and the issue of contextual bias. In this study, data were collated for 273 structural fires that were examined by the forensic fire services in Victoria, Australia. In this jurisdiction, scene and laboratory forensic services are delivered within short time frames with a focus on providing impartial scientific and investigative services to assist criminal investigations conducted by police. The current dataset was highly skewed in terms of criminal justice outcomes and was not suitable for conducting the planned statistical analyses. Nonetheless, the pattern of findings obtained suggested that the inclusion of forensic evidence which supported the prosecution of arson may be associated with an increased likelihood of suspects being charged and defendants found guilty. Examination of the decision-making process of the forensic fire examiners has provided insight into the variety of evidence that is considered by forensic experts in reaching the important conclusion about the origin and cause of structural fires.     

创新司法鉴定制度保障司法效率与公正——在司法部司法鉴定高级研讨班上的讲话摘要

同志们,新世纪的第一个春天里,我们在杭州举办司法鉴定高级研讨班,共同研讨司法鉴定制度与创新,我认为是非常有意义的。 这次高级研讨班是继去年8月以后,司法部在推动面向社会服务的司法鉴定管理工作上的又一次大的举措。研讨班的任务可以用20个字来概括,即统一认识、明确职责、扎实工作、努力创新、逐步完善。没有统一的认识,工作产生不了动力,形成不了声势;没有明确的职责,工作定     

Understanding judicial discretion

The main aim of this paper is to clarify the dispute over judicial discretion by distinguishing the different senses in which claims about judicial discretion can be understood and by examining the arguments for these various interpretations. Three different levels of dispute need to be recognized. The first concerns whether judges actually do exercise discretion, the second involves whether judges are entitled to exercise discretion, and the third is about the proper institutional role of judges. In this context, the views of Dworkin, Raz, Perry, Greenawalt, and Sartorius are examined. Finally, it is suggested that a resolution of the judicial discretion controversy requires a satisfactory theory of the justification of judicial decisions.     

Role of judicial education in India

The varied activities undertaken by Judicial Education institutes make it difficult to give a universal definition to the term ‘Judicial Education’. The article argues that Judicial Education is an indispensable tool and proceeds to describe a number of inter‐connected activities falling within the remit of Judicial Education in India.     

统一司法考试对中国司法体制的影响

一、概述 众所周知,我国现行的司法体制构建于计划经济时代,在机构设置、职权划分、人财物管理、工作机制、诉讼程序及管理制度等方面有许多不完善、不科学之处,存在不少的弊端。这些弊端的存在,对外而言,使司法机关无法摆脱地方主义和部门保护主义的影响,最终导致本应作为中央权力的司法权分散化和地方化,司法的统一性受到破坏,司法权威受到损害;对内而言,不符合司法权运行的特殊规律,司法行政化倾向明显,严重影响了司法的公正与效率,同样也使司法权威受     

Careerism and judicial behavior

Although often criticized by part of legal scholarship, the idea of judicial behavior being influenced by judges’ egoistic goals simply needs the appropriate institutional setting in order to be validated. In the present paper, the hypothesis of careerism affecting judges’ conduct is investigated with regard to the case of the Italian Constitutional Court, where judges only serve for a limited and non-renewable term of 9 years. This institutional framework allows to reasonably assume on a theoretical level the existence of career concerns among them. In order to maximize the chances of future appointments, judges try to earn as much reputation as possible among relevant audiences. Empirical evidence supports the theory that career concerns push judges to react to incentives that alter the reputational returns of their conduct. This result holds independently of judges’ personal characteristics that might influence their professional concerns.     

司法相关权力视角下的司法改革方案

通过对指数报告进行统计数据和测试题目两个层面的分析,可以发现司法改革方案需要注意的几个问题:司法改革方案的整体性、配套性、正当性、有效性的改革方向和更多的具体课题,应充分考虑地方性的特殊因素,确保司法改革方案的讨论、确定程序的参与性。     

Independent judicial research in the Daubert age

The Supreme Court's Daubert trilogy places judges in the unenviable position of assessing the reliability of often unfamiliar and complex scientific expert testimony. Over the past decade, scholars have therefore explored various ways of helping judges with their new gatekeeping responsibilities. Unfortunately, the two dominant approaches, which focus on doctrinal tests and external assistance mechanisms, have been largely ineffective. This Article advocates for a neglected but important method for improving scientific decisionmaking--independent judicial research. It argues that judges facing unfamiliar and complex scientific admissibility decisions can and should engage in independent library research to better educate themselves about the underlying principles and methods. Independent research, however, is controversial. A survey of state appellate judges shows sharp divisions on the issue, and at the same time, the rules governing independent research are astonishingly unclear. The Article responds to the likely objections some judges have to independent research and also offers a way of interpreting the existing laws to permit the practice. Finally, the Article assesses independent research's chances for success as a method of scientific evidence reform. Based on the survey results, it concludes that a substantial number of judges will indeed take up the mantle of independent research. An equally substantial portion will likely resist, however, raising deeper issues about the importance of uniformity in judicial practice.     

论司法程序公正要素

司法程序公正要素的结构体系应以人的主体性为理论基础。只有能够体现当事人的尊严和人格,保护当事人的程序主体地位的要求和内容,才可以纳入结构体系的架构。