Juvenile court intake decision making: The importance of family affiliation

Based on an analysis of official records and systematic observations of intake hearings, this study empirically evaluates the criteria employed in determining whether a juvenile is petitioned to court for a formal hearing and if petitioned, whether he or she is held in preadjudicatory detention. Attention is paid to legal, social, demeanor-related, and demographic variables as they impinge on intake decision making. The major finding of this study is that the farther one goes into the intake decision-making process, the more does family disaffiliation become the prominent independent variable. The article places this area of research within relevant criminological paradigms (positivist, interactionist, neo- Marxist), summarizes the existing empirical findings, and integrates theory and evidence with the goal of producing a statement on this screening stage in the juvenile justice endeavor.     

Death penalty in China: The law and the practice

China is a nation that carries out the death penalty with a broad scope in its transition to a market economy. The present study described and analyzed the legal concept and practice of the death penalty in China in a comparative context. It presented an overview of the Chinese legal tradition of the death penalty, the legal development of the death penalty since the Chinese Communists took power, and the current practice of the death penalty in China. It represented an attempt to offer a research-based understanding of the capital punishment in a nation that was experiencing significant change and transformation since the early 1980s.     

The incidence of alleged sexual abuse in 603 family court cases

The conflict and animosity that sometimes accompanies child custody disputes can give rise to the propagation of allegations of child sexual abuse. To characterize the magnitude of the problem, the present study attempted to determine whether and to what extent child sexual abuse allegations predominate in family court litigation. The entire one-year caseload of a county family court docket was systematically reviewed and coded. Methodical evaluation of 603 family court files yielded base rates of pertinent allegations and other information profiling the cases. The findings did not support the contention that sexual abuse allegations are commonplace in child custody disputes. Sexual abuse allegations were made in 2% of cases in which custody or access was contested and in only 0.8% of the cases overal. Implications of the findings for future research were discussed.The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Honorable William R. Campbell and Barbara Scott, Clerk of Court for the South Carolina Fifth Judicial Circuit, as well as the contributions of Angie Newton, Frank Robinson, and Kimberly Ellis in the data collection process.     

实践中的证据法——中国证据法实施情况调查研究

证据制度是本次中国司法文明指数体系的一个重要一级指标,我们选取了四项二级指标进行了评估,通过问卷调查和数据分析,并结合中国证据法治指数问卷调查的数据,可以得出以下结论:当事人证据权利缺乏有效保障,侦查人员的证据意识有所增强,非法证据排除规则有待落实,以及司法证明过程缺乏合理规范。     

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III: a perspective from family court

The third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III) is evaluated from the standpoint of forensic science experience in a family court setting. The importance of diagnosis in developing pertinent recommendations within an adversarial system is discussed, with particular emphasis on difficulties in coordinating the Manual with the mental disorders frequently found in such a population. The limitations of the current criteria of the developmental disabilities are noted, and problems of reconciling incest and child abuse with the nomenclature are investigated. Some inconsistencies in the conceptualization of the conduct disorders and antisocial personality disorder are explored in terms of the needs of the juvenile justice system. An additional coding procedure is proposed for DSM-III, in order to identify more easily prodromal or emerging disorders of clinical significance.     

South Africa: constitutional court rejects constitutional challenge to law criminalizing prostitution

On 9 October 2002, a majority of South Africa's Constitutional Court dismissed appeals from convictions for prostitution and keeping a brothel, rejecting arguments that the law was unconstitutional. However, the minority decision, endorsed by five of eleven judges, found that the provision that made the sex worker but not the client guilty of a criminal offence was discriminatory and should be struck down.     

Parliamentary free speech,court orders and European law

The relationship between parliament and the courts has always had potential difficulties. However, for many years both institutions have respected the need to refrain from trespassing on the province of the other. As Lord Mustill observed, ‘the boundaries (between court and parliament) remain; they are of crucial significance to our private and public lives’.¹ However, developments in law and politics can result in new strains in this relationship. This article considers the particular problems posed by the relationship between court orders, such as injunctions, and free speech in parliament. The issues that will be discussed are not just concerned with English law, but raise questions as to the relationship between European law (both the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and European Community Law) and parliamentary proceedings, something that would have been unthinkable not very long ago.     

2001年婚姻家庭法学研究的回顾与展望

举国瞩目的<中华人民共和国婚姻法>的修改活动,终于有了一个阶段性的成果.2001年4月28日,第九届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第二十一次会议通过了<关于修改〈中华人民共和国婚姻法〉的决定>.修改后的<中华人民共和国婚姻法>,其中许多制度引入了法学专家,特别是婚姻家庭法学专家的学术研究成果,为法学研究推动立法和服务立法树立了一个典范.