Homicide-suicide (dyadic death), homicide, and firearms use in England and Wales

Homicide-suicide forms a distinct form of homicide. An analysis of cases in the Yorkshire and Humberside region of England between 1991 and 2005 revealed 37 episodes with 42 victims. Previous studies have shown a high rate of use of firearms. Over the last 2 decades firearms legislation has become more restrictive. In this study all assailants were male, mean age 46.8 years. The commonest method of homicide was strangulation (36%) with 16% killed by firearms. This is a reduction compared with a previous study in the same region. All killers who shot their victims killed themselves with firearms. There were no multiple killings with firearms in this study and no stranger killings. Hanging was the commonest method of suicide. During the same period the use of firearms as a method of homicide increased in England and Wales with handguns, the most common weapon. Nationally, suicide after homicide has remained at a similar rate over the half century and is an uncommon phenomenon. Firearms use remains low in both homicide and homicide-suicide episodes in England, and further analysis is required to determine changes in patterns of killing.     

Cold floor effects on homicide

The cold floor pattern (a lack of homicides on days with extremely cold temperatures that was found by Cheatwood in Baltimore) is to be expected by chance. Under a model in which the number of homicides and the maximum temperature are independent, the probability that a day will fall below the cold floor is small. The Baltimore data do not support a model in which extremely cold weather suppresses human aggression.     

The effects of weather on homicide

This article examines the correlation between weather features and homicide in. Baltimore, Maryland, over an 8-year span of time. The consistent meteorological-measure of importance is the number of previous days in a row in which the discomfort index (a temperature and humidity measure) has been over the physiologically relevant level of 79. In all cases, however, the variance explained is quite small. The results are used to compare physiological and interactional explanations of weather or heat effects, leading to the conclusion that the repertoire of habits and adaptations available to the individual conditions his or her reactions to physiological stress induced by the weather.     

Corporate crime and the Canadian state: Anti-combines legislation, 1945–1986

This paper analyses post-war (1945–1986) anti-combines enforcement in Canada in the light of major competing theoretical models of the state in capitalist economies. Such an analysis serves as a framework for the clarification of issues pertaining to the debate on the state in advanced capitalism, the outcome of which may permit certain postulates concerning state-corporate relations in Canada. A narrative history of the nature and development of the Canadian economy informed by Canadian political economists will be presented, followed by a brief review of the history of anti-combines legislation and its enforcement up to 1945. Data will then be introduced enabling analysis in greater detail of post-war enforcement.     

Sex crime legislation: Proactive and anti-therapeutic effects

Therapeutic jurisprudence may have its major role within law practice, but analysis of the law from a therapeutic perspective is a task that should not be neglected; how a piece of legislation is designed and formulated certainly influences the therapeutic outcome of a legal process. This article uses sex legislation as an example to demonstrate how the old rape law based on coercion has anti-therapeutic effects on rape victims. If the law requires resistance, it implies that a woman is sexually available until she resists physically, resulting in an attitude that a woman reporting rape without injuries should be mistrusted. This mistrust of the victim and the victim's attendant feelings of self-blame aggravate the victim's trauma. On the other hand, a modern rape law based on lack of consent gives the signal that a woman is not available until she has given her consent, resulting in a different starting position for the investigation. Since the will of the victim must be respected, the victim herself must be respected in the legal process. Furthermore, being able to tell one's story in a respectful atmosphere can be more important for the well-being of the victim than the outcome of the reported case.     

加入世界贸易组织与我国立法的有关问题

编者按:应全国人大常委会之邀,中国人民大学法学院郭寿康教授就我国加入WTO的有关法律问题,在全国人大常委会作了讲授.本文是讲稿的全文. 1986年7月10日,中国政府正式提出"恢复在关税与贸易总协定中的缔约国地位"的申请.世界贸易组织成立后,从1995年11月起中国的"复关"谈判改为"入世"谈判.经过14年漫长而曲折的谈判,我国"入世"已进入了最后阶段,可望于不久的将来实现.我国"入世"后,将享有世界贸易组织成员应当享有的权利,同时也将承担世界贸易组织成员应当承担的义务.这一权利义务也体现在立法上,一方面我国负有按照世界贸易组织有关规定使我国法律法规与世贸规则衔接的义务,同时也享有在世贸规则允许的范围内制订、修改有关法律法规以维护我国利益的权利.     

论人世对我国反垄断立法的影响

我国加入WTO,将加剧国际竞争,导致垄断与不正当竞争比重的变化,进而影响到我国反垄断立法的进程、模式和地位;将扩大相关市场,导致结构主义与行为主义标准的并用,进而影响到反垄断立法的判断标准和打击重点;将淡化政府干预,导致行政垄断与经济垄断地位的互换,进而影响到反垄断立法的规制重心和调整范围;将挑战民族工业,导致本国利益和他国利益的冲突,进而影响到反垄断立法的豁免规定、效力范围和模糊程度.本文对这些影响进行了详细论述,对我国的反垄断立法提出了若干建议.     

Female juvenile murderers: Biological and psychological dynamics leading to homicide

The increasing involvement of girls under 18 in violent crime has been a matter of growing concern in the United States in recent years. This article reviews the arrests of female juveniles for violent crime and then focuses specifically on their involvement in homicide. Arrests of girls for murder, unlike arrests for assault, have not risen over the last 30 years, suggesting that the dynamics that propel female juveniles to engage in lethal violence differ from those contributing to assaultive behavior by this same group. A review of the literature indicates that theories as to why female adolescents kill do not take into account recent scientific findings on brain development and the biological effects of early trauma in explaining serious violent behavior by girls. Three cases, evaluated by the authors, involving female adolescents charged with murder or attempted murder, are presented. The authors focus on the biological and psychological dynamics that help explain their violent behavior. They discuss the effects of insecure attachment and child maltreatment, and trace a critical pathway between these early experiences and future risk of violent behavior. The dynamics of child maltreatment in fostering rage and violence are discussed thereafter in terms of offender accountability. The article concludes with a discussion of treatment and recommendations for future research.     

论惩治恐怖活动犯罪的国际国内立法

恐怖活动严重危害国际秩序与安全,需要各国共同努力,联手行动,而健全与完善相关的国际立法与国内立法是非常重要的一个方面。我们要在充分了解国际社会及其他国家惩治与防范恐怖活动立法的同时,进一步完善我国的相关刑事立法。     

Criteria for homicide and suicide on victims of extended suicide due to sharp force injury

This report is about the findings in association with the extended suicides of nine victims killed by sharp force. All victims were killed by sharp force. The perpetrators were predominantly the parents, the victims their children. Regarding the criteria for differentiating self-inflicted injuries from injuries inflicted by another person, the victims' injuries presented patterns usually found solely in suicides. Thus eight of nine cases presented tentative and hesitation injuries, in three of five cases areas of injury covered by clothing had been exposed beforehand. Despite extremely narrow intercostal spaces in children, injuries to the bones in thoracic stabbing were avoided more often than not (four of seven cases). Only the criterion "defence injury" occurred nearly as often as in homicide victims (three of nine cases). The psychopathology of extended suicide can explain this pattern. The perpetrator's motive is characterised by his pseudoaltruistic belief to save the loved ones from a world that is in his opinion unacceptable. A fusion or integration of the victim into the perpetrator's own self is based on an identity problem. Physical interrelation of forces between perpetrator and victim restricts the victim in his defence and presents an important prerequisite for acquiring the patterns of described injuries.     

国际环境立法价值理念趋同化演进及对我国环境立法的启示

文章分析了国际环境法及西方发达国家环境立法价值理念的演进,展现国际环境立法呈现出"趋同化"的趋势,探计了"趋同化"对我国环境价值理念升华的启示.     

SPS协议对中国环境安全的影响和立法对策研究

在贸易与环境的日益复杂关系中,近来引人注目的是由于不遵守SPS协议而引起的动植物检疫和食品安全方面的日趋激烈的争端。SPS协议对我国农业生产、生态安全乃至可持续发展都有形成潜在威胁的可能性,我国当务之急是要从立法上规制、补充、完善与SPS协议一致的程序性规定,引入国际标准体系和风险评估机制。     

Homicide-suicide - an event hard to prevent and separate from homicide or suicide

Suicide preceded by homicide is a rare but tragic event that often shocks the whole community. Annual rates show considerable variation, though not as great as the incidence of homicides. Within the industrialized nations, Finland's prevalence rates for homicide-suicide have been mid-range. The National Suicide Prevention Project recorded and carefully analysed all suicides committed in Finland during a 12-month period. In this material of almost 1400 suicides, 10 verified homicide-suicide cases were found. The perpetrator was male in all but one case, and all the victims were family, 9/10 being spouses and/or children. The most typical homicide-suicide seemed to be a man shooting a family member during a separation process. No perpetrator was found suffering from a psychotic disorder but three had major depression. The homicide-suicides were compared with the suicides and statistically significant differences emerged in two variables: shooting was more often the method used in the homicide-suicide cases, which, furthermore, were more likely to involve a divorce or recent rupture in another long-term intimate relationship. Sharing few common variables with either homicide or suicide, homicide-suicide appears to be a distinct phenomenon whose prevention would seem to be extremely difficult on the individual level. Since shooting is the most common method of homicide-suicide, firearm licenses should be more restricted.     

Rights-based mental health legislation and the right to be treated

Following the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Mental Illness (1991), the Australian Government released the National Mental Health Policy in 1992. Pointedly, the Report of the National Inquiry into the Rights of People with a Mental Illness in 1993 was critical of the failure of a number of Australian jurisdictions to adequately protect the rights of people with mental illness. A subsequent critique of the capacity of mental health law and policy to respond to current and future challenges of community-based care suggested that while Australian legislation and policies may pass human rights scrutiny in principle, there was insufficient focus on the monitoring processes to ensure implementation and adherence to those measures. The new Commonwealth Attorney-General has foreshadowed the development of a Charter of Rights to create a framework for legislators and regulators when drafting legislation to cover "aspirations" such as the recognition of fundamental human rights. However, it is argued that the dilemma of how best to care for and protect those afflicted with mental illness as well as the public who may be affected by violence or offending by those persons with untreated mental illness, will not be resolved by resort to a didactic Charter of Rights, however idealistic or well intentioned.