“大调解”机制中法院的角色定位

"大调解"纠纷解决机制在基层实际运行状况如何,法院参与构建大调解机制是否存在必要性,从实然和应然的角度对法院在"大调解"中的地位进行分析,法院的角色定位为"参与者"可能比较合适,在"大调解"机制的运行中承担指导服务和保障作用。     

“大调解”视野下法院调解制度的构建

在国家转型的时代,我国社会的矛盾和纠纷日益突出,为有效减少矛盾,"大调解"机制应运而生.法院调解作为"大调解"机制的重要一环,由于影响中国法院调解的因素是多样的,使法院在进行调解的操作过程中,有些案件不能及时和合理的得到调解。为了提高法院调解的效率,在"大调解"的基础上构建法院调解制度,可以采取法院委托调解的模式,来减轻法院调解的负担,从而进一步提高法院调解的效率。     

论社会变革与法院的角色

法院在法治实现过程中有着独特而不可替代的作用,一个成熟的法治国家是以法院角色的正确认同和充分实现为前提的。法院的司法决策以及法院能动性的发挥和法院的自我约束的平衡是在法院对自身角色进行定位和摸索过程实现的。中国在建设社会主义法治国家的进程中,法院应该也必将发挥适当而重要的作用。     

宪政秩序中法院的角色

对法院所扮演的角色的充分认同是实现宪政秩序和法治的基本条件,而对于司法权的的认识将影响到对法院的预期和定位。只有在对法院的角色进行全面充分认识的基础上,才可能有一个正确的定位。在这个意义上,司法制度的完善和发展是我国法治进程中的重要一步。     

论法院书记员管理制度

毋庸置疑,司法审判是法院的首要职责和第一要务,在国家机构体系中,法院的定位是国家的“审判机关”。法官无疑是法院系统最核心的职业角色,而书记员、执行员、司法警察、法医、行政管理人员以及后勤服务人员,都属于为法官的审判活动提供服务的辅助性角色。可以说,在所有上述司法辅助人员中书记员是与法官审判活动最接近的一种职业角色。法院的书记员是法院系统重要的具有独立地位的司法辅助人员,尽管从严格意义上讲,书记员和法院的司法警察、行政管理人员、后勤服务人员一样都不属于司法官的范畴,但书记员是保证法院审判工作顺利进行的不可或缺的重要角色,书记员的工作是专门为法官的审判活动提供服务,以保证诉讼活动顺利、明晰和高效进行。     

基层法院民事调解工作的现状与对策

在西方世界,诉讼调解被称之为"东方经验"。在我国,法院诉讼调解制度不仅要与中国的现实需要相符合,还要对司法改革的需求给予满足。当前,我国法院诉讼调解制度还存在较多的缺陷,有待完善,但是依然背负着强大的重任前行。"大调解"的格局符合司法界发展的需求,更是构建社会主义和谐社会的必需品,因为在判决的过程中"大调解"的格局起着非常重要的特殊作用。本文将法院民事审判作为研究点,对现阶段我国基层法院民事调解工作的现状以及存在的问题进行了分析与研究,并针对现状以及存在的问题,提出了一系列行之有效的对策,旨在推动司法改革的进程,加快我国建立社会主义和谐社会与社会主义法治社会的脚步。     

法院调解与法院附设调解

我国大陆地区的法院调解与国外及其他地区的法院附设调解是两种形似神异的纠纷解决机制。基于传统法律理念及司法体制的大陆地区的法院调解制度存在诸多缺陷与弊端,已不能很好地履行新形势下"大调解"格局中的职责,为此,应本着科学精神与理性态度,借鉴和吸收美国、日本及我国台湾地区这些实行非诉式法院附设调解制的典型代表的有益做法,建立起具有中国特色的法院调解制度。     

对司法实践中现行诉讼调解制的度审视

随着我国经济持续的高速发展,市场经济体制的逐步健全,社会分工愈加严密,社会关系愈加复杂。为了更加高效地定案止争、化解社会矛盾,"能动司法"应时而生。2010年,最高法院印发《关于进一步贯彻"调解优先、调判结合"工作原则的若干意见》,"大调解"的格局逐步形成。随着法院调解制度的复兴,学界对此也发表了诸多见解。事实上,法院调解制度并不符合宪法中对于法院职能的定位,如果过度拔高诉讼调解制度的价值,甚至将调解结案率作为业绩考核的指标,从而违背当事人意愿而进行调解,无疑不符合相关司法文件和司法解释的精神实质。长远来看,对于我国法治建设也有着相当大的负面作用。为此,本文在讨论现行诉讼调解制度的基础同时,进行了有关法院附设型人民调解的论述,希望达到法院审判工作和调解工作的分离,回归其宪法框架下的定位。     

论民事诉讼中法院与当事人主体地位的平等性

“法院主导地位说”长期统治民事诉讼法学界并根植于人们的观念中。而笔者以为，诉讼机制的现代化需要诉讼程序与制度设计的科学化和正当化，而这与诉讼观念与诉讼主体地位观念的现代化不无密切关联。基于此，本文提出并论证了民事诉讼中的法院与当事人诉讼主体地位平等性问题，旨在唤起人们在当今的社会情势下对民事诉讼中法院与当事人的关系重新予以审视，并意图动摇已在人们意念中根深蒂固的“法院主导地位说”。     

关于刑事二审简易审的思考

《民事诉讼法》赋予法院广泛的调查取证权 ,这种做法破坏了民事诉讼中法院和当事人的合理角色定位 ,它超越了宪法赋予法院的审判职权的合理内涵和外延。我国民事司法改革的一个重要目标是使法院与当事人之间的角色分工合理化 ,使法官真正处于居中裁判者地位 ,以确保司法的公正和高效。因此 ,法院在民事诉讼中的调查取证职权必须予以取消     

浅析军事法院的角色定位——以民事案件的管辖权为视角

军事法院试行审理军内民事案件,引发了一些争议。从军事法院的职能看,军事法院审理军内民事案件是可行的。但是,不宜将审理军内民事案件作为军事法院的主要职能。为了突出专门法院的特点,有必要对军事法院的角色进行重新定位,以实现司法资源的优化配置。建议将军事法院现有的一般审判职能向地方人民法院转移。具体而言,在平时,或者撤销军事法院,将其现有审判职能完全转移至地方人民法院;或者军事法院专属管辖军事行政诉讼案件。     

The Transportability of Contingency Management in Problem-solving Courts

Problem-solving (PS) courts continue to proliferate throughout the country, providing an ideal setting for understanding the factors affecting the use of rewards, a key part of one evidence-based practice (EBP), contingency management (CM). This study uses the concept of transportability to explore how justice practitioners implement CM. Based on roughly 400?h of ethnographic fieldwork, conducted over 34?months in six PS courts, we examine the implementation and adaptation of CM. While decisions to adopt and implement practices are concentrated at the managerial level of organizations, the implementation processes used by frontline workers provide key insight into how EBP may become an everyday workplace practice. This study finds frontline workers adapting CM principles to their environments. While it might appear as though CM implementation strays from the original evidence-based construct, local adaptations provide a foundation for understanding the factors that affect the transportability of CM into routine practice.     

美国服刑人员诉诸司法之权利的宪法保护研究——以美国宪法判例为对象

在美国,服刑人员诉诸司法之权利是一项受宪法保护的基本权利。这一权利的基本权利性质并非来自于宪法文本的明文规定,而是由宪法判例加以确认的。从服刑人员诉诸司法之权利领域的案例法发展历程来看,美国联邦最高法院的司法判断决定了服刑人员诉诸司法之权利受到保护的层次、程度和范围,其中1977年的邦德斯案具有里程碑意义。虽然立法和行政对这一案例法的发展状况也产生了一定影响,但司法的独特功能是实现对服刑人员诉诸司法之权利进行宪法保护的根本保障。     

Domestic violence case processing: a matter of local legal culture

As one enters a courthouse, its culture is communicated to its listening visitors. The manner in which the security guards speak; the length of time victims are kept waiting; the amount of bail a defendant is assessed; communicate messages to those who are paying attention. Domestic violence cases have long suffered from lenient treatment and dismissals in our criminal courts. This paper examines a unique explanation for this problem: the court’s local legal culture. The elements of two courts’ local legal culture that most profoundly impacted their processing of domestic violence cases are examined. Over a six month period, 23 in depth interviews were conducted with court workgroup members in two courts, one with a specialized domestic violence session and one without. Court room observations were used to supplement these interviews. The results were insightful and telling about how a court’s culture can, at times, be more influential on case processing than the law itself.     

Understanding China's Court Mediation Surge: Insights from a Local Court

This article seeks to understand how reported mediation rates in Chinese courts are produced and what they actually signify. It analyzes data obtained through prolonged fieldwork at a court in central China. The article finds that the court has directly responded to central level mediation incentives by enhancing its overall mediation rate. It has done so strategically by seeking the highest increase using the fullest discretion in the mediation incentive structure and seeking to optimize the highest rate at the lowest cost and risk to the court. This has undermined the objectives of the central level incentives toward mediation, while also drawing the courts' scarce resources away toward unnecessary mediation practices, in part far removed from the courtroom. The article concludes by drawing out broader theoretical conclusions about how information asymmetries, discretion, and goal displacement play out in hierarchical control structures of authoritarian courts.     

Environmental Considerations for Trauma‐Responsive Juvenile and Family Courts: A Review of the Literature with Recommendations for Practice

Juvenile and family courts serve some of our most vulnerable populations, many of whom have experienced some traumatic event. People suffering with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are known to be more sensitive to environmental stimuli, and many of the environmental conditions within courts can be challenging for those suffering traumatic stress. Trauma‐responsive practices help foster conditions of healing, which can benefit both the court user and those who work within the court. Research reviewed in this article demonstrates the likelihood of negative behavioral and emotional responses to specific environmental factors for people suffering PTSD and other stress reactions, and offers recommendations to minimize environmental stressors.     

四级两审制的发生和演化

司法体制改革的一个重要举措是设立最高人民法院巡回法庭,这一改革举措可能意味着我国法院层级或审级变化的新动向.从建国以来的历史经验看,法院层级和审级变化并非彼此孤立,且都从属于国家政治形态设计.1954年中共中央取消大区分院,促动了法院审级由三审制改为两审制.两审制带来的法院功能和案负变化,导致中级人民法院层级的设立.为了保障四级两审制平滑运作,民事调解制度扩大,基层法院派出法庭普遍设立.这一法院层级和审级制度的设立,契合了扩大省级地方权力的政治目标.1983年以来“地改市”运动、民事调解制度的萎缩以及撤销部分派出法庭,使得四级两审制的基础发生松动,法院层级和审级方面的新变化由此产生.     

Judges as therapists and therapists as judges: the collision of judicial and therapeutic roles in drug treatment courts

This paper explores the implications of the expansion of judicial and therapeutic roles in a drug treatment court (DTC) in Canada. Issues that are raised are: how the courtroom is framed as a therapeutic space where public appearances by participants are part of the therapeutic process; how judges have taken on therapeutic practices, effectively compromising their traditional role as neutral arbiter; how certain women resisted therapeutic interventions by judges and felt they received harsher punishments than men; and how treatment counselors in DTCs are given powers of enforcement over their clients. The collision of judicial and therapeutic roles in the DTC results in negative consequences for individuals in the specialized courts. Specifically, DTC participants are expected to engage in a therapeutic relationship with their treatment counselors and the court; however, their right to confidentiality is withheld, and their treatment counselors act as agents for the court.     

DOWNWARD DEPARTURES FOR SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDERS: LOCAL COURT “CORRECTIONS” TO PENNSYLVANIA'S SENTENCING GUIDELINES*

We examine downward departures for serious violent offenders, using quantitative and qualitative data from Pennsylvania. We find that offense severity and prior record have negative direct effects on downward departures, but a positive interaction effect on them. Offenders convicted of aggravated assault, those who plead guilty, young black women, and offenders sentenced in large urban courts are more likely to receive downward departures, whereas those convicted by trial, young Hispanic males, and offenders sentenced in small rural courts are less likely to receive them. We argue that downward departures represent local “corrections” to guideline recommendations when there is a mismatch between guidelines and local court actors' definitions of key focal concerns of sentencing for serious violent offenders.     

Did Drug Courts Lead to Increased Arrest and Punishment of Minor Drug Offenses?

Drug courts were implemented nationwide during the 1990s to expand alternatives to incarceration for individuals with substance use disorders that were charged with nonviolent felonies or misdemeanors. Although these courts were publicized as a facilitator of treatment and alternative to incarceration, researchers and advocates have suggested that this approach may have unintentionally intensified law enforcement focus on casual drug users and individuals with minor substance dependency. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether there is evidence that drug courts systemically increased the arrest and punishment of misdemeanor drug use and possession by conducting a series of panel data analyses among more than 8,000 city and county jurisdictions while controlling for economic, demographic, and nationwide law enforcement trends. Analyses in this study provide evidence that local police increased their attention toward minor drug offenses in jurisdictions where drug courts were implemented across the nation.