Forensic medicine in Great Britain. I. The beginning

This paper briefly outlines the evolution of modern forensic medicine in Great Britain from the coroner system originally implemented. It focuses on the role of Andrew Duncan, Sr. in creating a chair in medical jurisprudence and establishing a precedent for the teaching of forensic medicine to students and practitioners alike.     

The devolution era in Northern Ireland

By creating ‘outsiders’ … labelling invariably gives rise to repeat interventions of increasing intensity that … ultimately establish, consolidate, and/or confirm offender ‘identities’. Such ‘identities’ attract further intervention and/or negative reaction and so the process continues.

(Goldson, 2010)

As the above quote attests, labelling theorists recognise the harmful impact of formal system contact on the individual and contend that problems occur when members of society become intolerant towards the individual's offending, forming a ‘negative social reaction’, invoking damaging consequences for the ‘offender’ (ibid).     

The Common Travel Area between Britain and Ireland

Despite its endorsement by the Treaty of Amsterdam, the origins and content of the 'common travel area' between Britain and Ireland remain largely unknown. This article relies upon published and archive material in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the common travel area. It shows that the common travel area has been founded upon administrative agreements (in 1922 and 1952), that it has influenced the special status of Irish nationals in British law and vice versa, and that it has been reflected in the law on entry to each state from the other and in the enforcement by each state of the other's immigration policy. It goes on to argue that the existence of a land border between the two states has been the primary reason for the common travel area. The implications for the common travel area of the recent increase in immigration to Ireland are then examined. Here, it is shown there have been significant changes to Irish immigration law relating to the common travel area since 1997, and it is suggested that these new circumstances may result in further reform of laws and practices in both Britain and Ireland.     

英国社区矫正制度

英国是近代世界监狱改良运动和刑罚执行社会化的发源地。19世纪末20世纪初期,社区矫正制度在英国刑事立法和司法中已经确立,各种非监禁刑进入了司法实践领域。这一制度根据社会生活的改变和犯罪情况的变化,逐渐发展、成熟,成为目前一项有法律明确规定、适用刑种多样、有专门机构和人员进行管理监督、有关社会组织参与、矫正措施规范、行刑效果理想的较为完备的法律制度。英国在社区矫正制度中确立的保护公众的安全和利益、矫正和适当惩罚相结合、注重犯罪对受害者的伤害和影响、使罪犯重新回归社会及预防和减少重新违法犯罪等矫正原则,在英…     

浅谈方言在侦查中的运用

我国幅员辽阔,人口众多,由于历史上相对封闭落后的流通、交往,使得各个不同的地域形成了带有当地特点的风俗习惯和风土人情。方言,就是其中最显著、最直接的一个标志性特点。《现代汉语词典》对方言的解释是:一种语言中跟标准语有区别的,只在一个地区使用的话,如粤方言、吴方言     

New paradigms in researching police use of firearms

In the current climate of increasing violence against the police, the use of force by police officers has been the focus of much dabate, ranging from the use of non lethal incapacitant sprays to the use of lethal force^I. We review literature concerning the use of lethal force by police officers, evaluate its utility for operational contexts, consider its implications for training and propose that new technological devices can revolutionise the identification of crucial variables.     

The use of DNA statistics in criminal trials

In a number of recent cases in the UK, convictions have been quashed by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the jury had been misdirected as to the factual significance of random occurrence statistics. The mathematical basis on which those statistics are calculated was reviewed and recent appeal cases involving DNA evidence in the UK and the US were examined. It was found that a widespread misconception exists regarding the random occurrence ratio and its relationship with probability of guilt. It is in fact impossible to relate the two with any degree of accuracy without consideration of social and demographic factors particular to a case as well as any non-DNA evidence obtained.     

The Economics of the Grounds for Divorce in Great Britain

Despite similarities in their socio-economic environments and the provision of identical legal grounds for divorce, England & Wales is dominated by fault divorce decrees whereas no-fault divorce dominates in Scotland. Indeed, during the past fifteen years, the shares of fault and no-fault divorce have increasingly diverged across these two regions. The paper proposes an explanation for this remarkable contrast based on cost incentives generated by procedural and legal interventions within the respective legal systems. In particular, the introduction of the Simplified Procedure in Scotland and the reduction in the time bar to divorce in England & Wales are key causal factors.     

The use of simulation in criminal justice policy evaluation

The criminal justice system is administered at the local level by many independent agencies and departments, often without regard to each other's objectives and often at the expense of overall effectiveness. This study has attempted to relate the primary system goal of crime control to a set of policy alternatives distributed over each criminal justice sector. Specifically, a simulation model based on the techniques of “industrial dynamics” was developed to evaluate combinations of the following policies: speedy trial, no plea bargaining, and restricted bail. Data obtained from the District of Columbia's criminal justice agencies were used to validate the model. The results of the analysis indicate that the system is basically insensitive to small perturbations, but is susceptible to disruption from large changes in input and procedure. Under the given set of assumptions, continuation of current practices will lead to a gradual deterioration in performance that can only be stemmed by large expenditures on manpower and facilities.     

The use of neuroscientific evidence in Canadian criminal proceedings

This article addresses the question of how neuroscientific evidence is currently used in the Canadian criminal justice system, with a view to identifying the main contexts in which this evidence is raised, as well as to discern the impact of this evidence on judgements of responsibility, dangerousness, and treatability. The most general Canadian legal database was searched for cases in the five-year period between 2008 and 2012 in which neuroscientific evidence related to the responsibility and recidivism risk of criminal offenders was considered. Canadian courts consider neuroscientific evidence of many types, particularly evidence of prenatal alcohol exposure, traumatic brain injury, and neuropsychological testing. The majority of the cases are sentencing decisions, which is useful given that it offers an opportunity to observe how judges wrestle with the tension that evidence of diminished capacity due to brain damage tends to reduce moral blameworthiness, while it also tends to increase perceptions of risk and dangerousness. This so-called double-edged sword of the biological explanation of criminal behavior was reflected in this study, and raises questions about whether and when the pursuit of such evidence is advisable from the defense perspective.     

DNA鉴定技术及其在刑事侦查中的应用

DNA鉴定技术自产生以来,在国内外有了一定的发展。就其在刑事侦查中的价值而言,它能够起到锁定犯罪嫌疑人、进行尸源认定、为串并案件提供依据、排除犯罪嫌疑等作用。DNA鉴定技术并非绝对可靠,尚有一些问题值得我们注意。     

英美刑法严格责任考察

本文对英美刑法中的严格责任制度作了简要的介绍和分析。英美刑法中严格责任犯罪的规定比较多,但是英美学者所给出的严格责任的定义并不一致。严格责任与绝对责任并非同一概念,严格责任也并非我国某些学者所认为的简单的结果责任或客观归罪。英美国家刑法理论和实务界对刑法中严格责任是否有存在的必要也有两种绝然不同的声音,但是,近年来严格责任犯罪在刑法并没有萎缩或消灭,相反,却有扩张之势,只是各国都对严格责任的适用提出了一些限制条件。