The Mr. Big technique on trial by jury

Mr. Big is a Canadian undercover police technique used to elicit confessions. Undercover officers befriend the suspect, and gradually draw them into a fictitious criminal organization. Upon meeting the boss of the organization, ‘Mr. Big’, the suspect is pressured to confess. When evidence from the sting operation, including the confession, is presented later in court, it may induce juror moral prejudice towards a defendant. We evaluated how situational and dispositional sting factors (crime task severity, financial incentive, and defendant intelligence) influence mock juror moral prejudice and decision-making in Mr. Big cases. Results from Experiment 1 (N?=?270) showed fewer guilty verdicts in the high incentive conditions. In Experiment 2 (N?=?1,666), high incentive and low defendant intelligence were related to fewer guilty verdicts, more favorable ratings of defendant character, and more skeptical evaluations of confession evidence. Additionally, there were differences between community and student participants on multiple outcomes.     

周枬先生访谈录

让更多的读者了解我国著名罗马法学家、安徽大学法学院周先生的经历和学术贡献 ,一直是我的一个心愿。因此 ,当《环球法律评论》编辑部请我采访周老时 ,作为周老的学生 ,我爽快地同意了。周老 ,字叔夏 ,190 8年生于江苏阳。先生192 8年中国公学大学部商科毕业。 193 1年在比利时鲁汶大学获政治外交硕士学位。 193 4年在该校获法学博士学位。回国后在多个大学、学院任教 ,并曾担任系主任和法学院院长。新中国诞生之际 ,周老深明大义 ,毅然选择为新中国服务。解放初期 ,周先生曾担任最高人民法院西南分院民庭房屋组组长。又因为“反右运…     

王怀安先生访谈录

王怀安先生是新中国司法界的元老之一 ,也是党内极少数受过正规法律教育而又长期从事政法领导工作的重要代表。王老一生的经历 ,勾织出现代中国法治建设曲折历史的真实缩影 ;而他那百折不挠的精神则映衬出过去八十年里 ,一代代中国人前仆后继、追求民主、追求法治、追求自由理想而愈挫愈奋 ,不倦不息的倔强风骨。本刊设立《世纪回眸》栏目的宗旨有二 ,一是抢救当代中国法律史的第一手材料 ;二是为正在进行中的民主法治建设提供直接而又真实的镜鉴。我们回顾过去 ,既非发思古之幽情 ,亦非顾影自怜 ,太息嗟叹 ;而是要拭除满脸污垢、扫落一身尘埃 ,清洁矫健地走向未来。今后本刊还将陆续推出类似的访谈实录 ,我们真切地期望广大读者能及时向本刊提供有价值的访谈线索 ,让我们携手并肩 ,共同办好这个栏目     

江平先生访谈录

20 0 2年 6月下旬 ,笔者受《环球法律评论》编辑部的委托 ,专程拜访了在我国法学界享有盛誉的江平先生。江先生曾担任中国政法大学校长、七届全国人大常委会常委、法律委员会副主任 ,兼任中国法学会副会长等 ,现年逾七十 ,仍然担任中国政法大学终身教授、民商法学博士生导师 ,并兼任中国法学会比较法学研究会会长等职。他是我国《民法通则》、《行政诉讼法》等众多立法的重要参与人和专家小组负责人 ,是“外国法律文库”等众多大型译事的组织者和推动者 ,是《中国大百科全书·法学卷》中“民法卷”主编 ,又是目前正在修订的大百科整个法学卷…     

江平先生的法学教育之路

2001年底,中国政法大学特别授予江平先生终身教授荣誉,褒奖这位卓越的法学家对本校、本学科及整个中国法学事业所做出的杰出贡献.对于那些真正关心中国法学发展的人来说,这无疑是个令人欣慰的消息.<比较法研究>主编米健教授托我代做一个关于江先生的短篇幅的人物评传.对此,我诚惶诚恐,江先生是何等博大,岂是我这等愚钝小辈所敢妄写的.但是我还是欣然接受了这个"任务",所谓恭敬不如从命.江先生是博学多才又影响深远的法学家,是目前中国法学的精神脊梁.他的学术深邃、思想敏锐、活动频繁、情趣高雅,各方面散发着无穷的魅力.本文限于篇幅,不可能面面俱到,主要从他的较感人的一个方面--法学教育之路人手,做一点粗略的追踪.     

邢亦民先生访谈录

本刊去年夏季号刊出《王怀安先生访谈录》后 ,引起一定反响。本期我们又推出另一位硕果仅存的新中国司法界元老邢亦民先生访谈录。与王老一样 ,邢老也是在参加学生运动中接触到革命思想并进而投身到中国共产党领导的革命事业。所不同的是 ,王老接受过科班法律教育 ,又一直从事政法工作。而邢老则接受的是普通师范教育 ,参加革命后长期从事军队政治工作 ,1 949年以后方才由军官转业做了法官。由于教育背景、工作履历不同 ,思想、感受自然也不尽相同。不过 ,在新中国的政法干部队伍中 ,像邢老这样由军官转向法官的或许更具典型意义和普遍意义。惟需说明的是 ,本栏目追求忠实反映受访者本人的观点 ,而非表达本刊的立场。     

行政规划的法律性质研究——与王青斌先生商榷

行政规划法律性质的不同观点有单一性质说和非单一性质说等,各有其优点和不足。行政规划并不现实地产生、变更或消灭权利义务关系,人们的传统观念认为只有通过后续行为才能现实化,规划本身不以法律效果为目的。但这种观念值得反思,影响和限制也是行政机关追求的效果,某些细部的、具体的强制性规划的影响和限制具有"直接性"和"必然性",应视为直接的法律效果。行政规划分别构成不同的行政行为和事实行为,并有自身的特点。目前对于"规划确定程序"有诸多的认识误区,规划和确定规划裁决是两个独立的行为,规划的性质由规划的自身内容和因素决定,那种认为只能由"确定规划裁决"的性质决定规划的性质的观点是不妥当的。具体的强制性规划的争议解决应针对规划本身,而不是针对后续行为,以尽早化解矛盾。     

The case of Dr. Shipman

On January 31, 2000, Dr. Harold Shipman was convicted at Preston, England, of murdering 15 of his patients by administering lethal doses of diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin). Investigations indicate that, during his working life, he killed about 220 to 240 of his patients. The bodies of many victims were cremated. Twelve victims were exhumed, and 9 of these deaths were included in the indictment. Most victims were elderly and had histories of natural disease. Autopsies confirmed known natural disease but showed no evidence of acute lethal events. Analysis of skeletal muscle disclosed significant quantities of morphine, to which the deaths were attributed. Circumstantial evidence was strong, as illustrated by the convictions in 6 deaths without autopsy or toxicology, because the bodies had been cremated. Organic compounds are remarkably stable in buried bodies. Even so, detection and quantitation of morphine in exhumed bodies may become problematic after burial for 4 years or more. Morphine glucuronide is slowly converted back to free morphine in the buried corpse.     

论公用征收、公用征用的合法性基础及法律控制

宪法的第四个修正案中有两个条款涉及公用征收、公用征用。本文以公用征收、公用征用的概念为逻辑起点,分析公用征收、公用征用背后的权力、权利关系原理,探讨公用征收、公用征用制度的合法性基础及其在整个宪法制度中的制度坐标。在法理分析的基础上,研究对公用征收、公用征用的法律控制,探讨制定统一的《公用征收、公用征用法》,以期健全和完善我国的公用征收、公用征用制度。     

The case of Ohio v. Robinson. An 1870 bite mark case

In 1870, Ansil L. Robinson was charged with the murder of his mistress, Mary Lunsford, in Mansfield, Ohio, U.S.A. Evidence against Robinson included an attempt to match his teeth to bite marks on the victim's arm. Robinson was acquitted after a 3-week trial despite the evidence linking his teeth to the wounds. This trial represents an early and perhaps the first attempt to admit bite-mark evidence in a court of law in the United States. The acquittal resulted in the obscurity that prevented this case from coming to the awareness of the forensic dental and legal communities sooner.     

Re-visiting Mr. Nice. On organized crime as conversational interaction

Studies of organized crime often seem to have focus almost exclusively on its functionality and rationality. Many researchers tend to construct organized crime as an object, and then to find relations between ‘it’ and its environment. The focus then is on organized crime as a goal-driven object. This view holds that success in crime depends on the roles and tasks people assume. It equates success in crime with functional secrecy and obedience, and therefore with stability. Researchers are seldom interested in everyday, informal elements and events such as coincidental encounters that may occur in everyday life, or personal relationships which have no direct connection with criminal activities. Inspired by the work of Watts and Strogatz [84] and Stuart Kauffman [38, 39], this paper attempts to suggest a complementary perspective on organized crime. The focus here is on the messiness and unpredictability of everyday relations and interactions. This paper illustrates the usefulness of this alternative perspective through a re-reading of Howard Marks’ ego-document which was analysed earlier by Carlo Morselli in his work on network dynamics and criminal career opportunities.     

Interviewing serious offenders: Ms. Egghead meets Mr. Gumshoe

Organised crime, due to its intricate nature, is a very challenging as well as less accessible research field. Although difficult to conduct a methodical research on this topic, organised crime, nevertheless, offers a unique opportunity to utilise an interdisciplinary research methodology. This paper describes (multiple) triangulation as an appropriate method for researching the role of culture in the advancement of ethnic Albanian organised crime groups in Europe. Triangulation, for the purpose of the described project, has been used to obtain confirmation of findings through convergence of different perspectives. Interviewing offenders is one of the research methods more thoroughly explained in this paper. The paper too explores some advantages of snowball technique used for interviewing less accessible research subjects. It also discusses various dilemmas, security-related or not, researchers are faced with when intending to interview serious offenders.

The case of the empty body.

Autopsy on an externally intact decomposed body showed empty thoracic and abdominal cavities with no trace of normal organ content. The process producing this previously unencountered situation is discussed.     

克隆人人格与权利问题研究——兼与甘绍平先生商榷

本文基于人权维度反思人们关于克隆人技术问题伦理论争中的一些基本论理.本文认为:尽管人们可以通过克隆技术复制出具有大致相同遗传基因的人的自然生命体,却无法复制出人自身.每一个人都有其独特的人格与尊严.人类关注克隆人权利问题,是在主体及其自由存在的权利、人类社会对于生命平等关爱及代际正义感的表达意义上而言,而不是在克隆人对于自身自然基质、生命出身及其选择要求的权利意义上而言.