英租威海卫的刑事审判

本文作者对20世纪初英租威海卫时期(1898-1930)中国被告在刑事审讯中享有的权利进行调查。中国被告人涉嫌严重犯罪时,由一名法官审判,适当时再由一两名中国助理员加以协助。1912年两名被告在缺少陪审团或法律代表的情况下,被宣告谋杀罪名成立。该案之后,辩护律师和陪审团审判不但成为规则,更成为确定的制度。有关此案的负面报道,在推行有限度使用公众基金聘用辩护律师方面起了作用,并且可能鼓励陪审团被更多使用。同时文中探讨了殖民地部、英国地方官员和其他人在被告审问中使用陪审团和辩护律师上的不同观点。     

英租时期威海卫的民事纠纷与民事诉讼

在英租时期,威海卫地区诉讼案件的增多,主要是由于法庭适用中国化的审判规则对中国人有亲和力、诉讼的收费较低、调解的效力不确定,民众乐于诉讼等原因;同时也反映了商品经济的发展和社会文明的进步。     

《1901年枢密院威海卫法令》与英国在威海卫的殖民统治

《1901年枢密院威海卫法令》是英国统治威海卫的根本大法,确定了威海卫的政治结构及运行方式。它的三个基本内容：直辖统治、专制统治、直接统治与间接统治,为英国在威海卫实行殖民统治确定了前提、基础和手段方式,是英国在威海卫实行殖民统治的三个重要标志,体现了英国殖民统治威海卫的本质及特性。     

英租威海卫时期的监狱制度

英租威海卫时期,英国政府结合了中国的社会形势设置了监狱,监狱内设置了不同的监管系统来巩固自己的统治。因此监狱的内部管理人员也被固定了各自的职责并采用了自己独特的管理方法。     

英租威海卫时期的监狱制度

英租威海卫时期,英国殖民政府设置了许多不同类型的监狱,制定了一系列监狱管理规则,形成了独具特点的监狱制度。英租威海卫监狱制度受特定政治、经济因素的影响和制约,其监狱制度的设置、变化首先适应和满足的是英殖民统治的需要。     

试论中国租界与租借地区域法制的差异——以上海租界与威海卫租借地区域法制的差异为例

近代中国不仅出现过租界区域法制,还产生过租借地区域法制,而且它们差异明显。透过这种差异,可以进一步认识中国近代的区域法制并为今天的区域法制建设提供一些借鉴。上海租界与威海卫租借地区域法制是中国租界与租借地区域法制的代表,先后出现于鸦片战争与甲午战争之后。把它们相比较后可以发现,它们有诸多差异,其中包括时空、法律体系、法律内容、司法等方面的差异。构成这些差异的原因有多种,主要是:区域性质、定位、环境等原因。与上海租界与威海卫租借地区域法制差异相关,还有一些值得关注的问题,主要是:上海租界与威海卫租借地区域法制差异所造成的不同社会面貌、与中国主权受损的关联、对今天区域法制建设的启示等。     

“你们倒使我们的人中国化了”——威海卫办事大臣庄士敦临别演说词的法文化解读

庄士敦临别演说词对英国人在威海卫 3 2年的殖民统治做了回顾。读解这篇演说词 ,有助于我们了解英租威海卫法律制度赖以存在的法文化环境 ,特别是作为法律制度制定与实施之主要参与者庄士敦的法律思想。本文认为 ,无论庄士敦本人的“中国化”还是英租威海卫治理方式的“中国化” ,其核心都是“儒家化” ,这是英国殖民统治获得某种“认同”的一个重要因素。     

胥精华:两个"醉人"的故事

2005年2月23日,北京。地面上的积雪还未融化尽,可天气预报又播报元宵节将是“雪打灯笼”的盛世景象。下午的天空雾霭明显加浓,催生着瑞雪的及早到来。万商酒店216房间的门打开着,记者正等待一位贵宾的到来。很快便走进一位青年男子,他一落座,便向记者讲述了他亲身经历的来自酒乡两个“醉人”的精品故事。第一个故事:一张神秘的拼图2002年一个草长莺飞的季节里,四川省酒乡泸州市。市检察院反贪局的一位领导的办公桌上放着几封群众举报信,对于这样的举报信,处于工作需要和职业习惯,对他来说早已是司空见惯。他用剪刀剪开信封,映入眼帘的却是相…     

两个洋人的上访故事

毕业于哈佛大学的美国姑娘朱莉·哈尔姆斯,与安徽五河青年刘士亮相爱.在他们要结婚时,因一起邻里纠纷,重伤未愈的刘士亮被以"非法侵入他人住宅"的罪名拘捕.朱莉认为,地方公检法办案违反国家法律,在接下来的5个月里,她以自己的方式走上中国信访道路,从地方到北京,排队、申诉、等待……因此,有网友称朱莉为"洋秋菊".     

Vicky,Cristina and Social Exclusion in Barcelona: A Tale of Two Cities

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - Barcelona has become one of the most touristic cities in the world, with more than 18 million...     

Diversion in the Canadian Juvenile Justice System: A Tale of Two Cities

Abstract The present study attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of diversion in the juvenile justice system by comparing two different communities. One community has a formalized, well-established diversion program whereas the other community utilizes the Family Court to a much greater extent. Preliminary data suggests no difference in recidivism for a matched sample of young offenders. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of future research on diversion and the need for appropriate comparison groups. In the past two decades, diversion programs have been one of the major innovations within the juvenile justice system. These programs have attempted to divert juveniles from the formal process involving court hearings by creating alternative interventions at the policy and community level. The basic premises underlying these programs is that the formal court system may do more harm than good by labeling youngsters as “delinquent” and rendering them more vulnerable by involvement in an adversary process (Reference numbers 4, 12, 14). Diversion programs that provide youngsters with an opportunity to make restitution or perform community services are compensation for their misbehavior are seen as more immediate and meaningful consequences than awaiting a formal adversarial court hearing (5, 13). However, diversion programs have not met with universal acceptance. Critics have pointed out that programs, in fact, “widen the justice net” by processing children who never would have gone to court anyway (3, 7). As well, concerns have been raised as to the protection of clients' legal rights in the diversion program and the dangers of “double jeopardy” in the event that failure in a program could lead to an even more severe disposition by the court (8, 9). The debate over the effectiveness of diversion programs has been fueled by the lack of research. Although there are many studies that suggest the success of this approach (1, 6, 10), the research has suffered in its credibility due to the absence of appropriate control groups. The present study attempted to fill this significant void in previous evaluations of diversion, by comparing two communities in southwestern Ontario with different approaches to juvenile justice. The cities of Windsor and London are approximately 200 km apart, with comparative populations (200,000 vs 250,000). Windsor has well established diversion programs with substantial support of community agencies, the police force and Crown Attorney's office. This program is described in detail elsewhere (2, 11) so will not be outlined here. London has no such program and consequently has an obviously greater number of youngsters handled through the formalized juvenile court. The authors hoped to capitalize on this “naturally occurring difference” in approach between the two cities by examining the rate of recidivism of young offenders as well as determine their attitudes (and that of their parents) toward the interventions they received. The hypotheses in the pilot studies outlined were that the diversion program youth in Windsor would have a more positive attitude about their intervention and would be less likely to recidivate than a matched sample of youth in London, based on the theoretical underpinning of diversion as well as the results of previous outcome studies.     

A Tale of Two Presumptions

This article examines the use of presumptions of intent within the law of murder, and some of the problems of analysis to which they give rise. It is argued that much of the confusion in the modern law is caused by the failure of the courts to grasp the different functions of different kinds of presumption in the law of evidence, and that this has led to presumptions of a particular kind being used in the present context for a purpose for which they are not really suited. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Coercion and Consent: A Tale of Two Court Reforms*

The state courts in Maine have improved compliance with small claims judgments through two distinct reforms: an automatic disclosure process and a court-based mediation program. The first of these survived only briefly but the second is well institutionalized. After showing the similar effects on compliance rates of these two reforms, we conclude that contrasting fortunes of mediation and automatic disclosure can be attributed to their different effects on the costs and work life of courts as organizations and can be further understood in terms of their impact on the court as an institution with fragile authority.     

A Tale of Two Chinese Courts: Economic Development and Contract Enforcement

The way in which formal contract enforcement becomes effective is a critically important but understudied question for law and development studies. Primarily drawing on field investigations, this article compares the enforcement performance of two basic‐level courts in China, one in a more‐developed and the other in a less‐developed region. The level of economic development is found to be crucial in contributing to the courts' performance. Unlike the court users in the less developed area, those in the more developed area become more market‐oriented as the local economy diversifies, paving the way for more rigorous judgment enforcement; a developed local economy also allows the court to strengthen institutional building and staff professionalism. The comparison of the two Chinese courts provides empirical evidence with which to evaluate the relationship between formal contract enforcement and economic development.     

The Impropriety of Plea Agreements: A Tale of Two Counties

In this article, the author, a former prosecutor and a former assistant public defender, draws on his five and a half years of experience as a "professional plea bargainer" to explore the many subtleties of a practice that he suggests leads to work avoidance, misplaced loyalties, coercion, and other negative characteristics on the part of courthouse regulars, and to injustice for those criminal defendants who do not wish to plead guilty. He suggests that criminal courts have become overly dependent on plea bargaining, which is used much more extensively than is either necessary or appropriate.     

Competing Narratives in a Case Biography: A Tale of Two Citadels

This article is the fourth in a series introducing the reader to methods and theories relevant to advancing socio-legal research. They are written for the curious rather than the expert reader and provide illustrations of how the theories, methods, and frameworks have been employed and might be used in your work. This article explores the use of case biography methods for socio-legal studies. Drawing on ‘paths to justice’ studies, network analysis, and legal archaeology, we develop a case study of AC v.Berkshire West Primary Care Trust. We show how the judicial determination of the case suppressed a transgender rights narrative construction of the dispute in favour of one about health care law. Our case biography analysis explores how competing narratives can be traced not only through legal argument and literature, but also through the personnel involved, in ways that are obscured by formal records. Paying attention to biographical features leads to a richer understanding of cases, including the importance of pre- and post-judicial decision-making aspects.