论我国司法鉴定人出庭作证制度的完善

司法鉴定人出庭作证对法官采信正确鉴定意见、消除当事人对鉴定意见的怀疑、提高鉴定质量都有重要作用。但目前由于种种原因,司法鉴定人出庭作证率极低,需要我们认真分析其原因,完善司法鉴定人出庭作证制度。     

英国法院对中国《海商法》和《对外贸易法》的适用和评价

通过介绍两个与中国法律或中国法院判决有关的案例,对中国法在外国的适用以及外国法院尤其是英国法院如何看待中国法院的判决进行了介绍和评析。     

PARENTING COORDINATION AND COURT RELITIGATION: A CASE STUDY

This case study explores the degree to which the number of court motions changed 1 year after parenting coordination was implemented with high-conflict co-parenting couples and examines the parents' demographic profile. Findings indicate a reduction of approximately 75% in child-related court filings, as well as a 40% decrease in other motions, resulting in a decrease of 50% in all motions filed, thus saving these once high-conflict couples, and the court, significant time and resources. The diverse demographic profile illuminates training and research implications regarding the use of parenting coordination as an intervention for high-conflict co-parenting couples.     

大陆法系国家行政法院之考察与启示

西方大陆法系国家在多年的探索中,普遍建立了独立的行政法院专司行政审判职能,并取得了较理想的效果。我国有着和大陆法系国家相似的成文法传统,研究西方大陆法系国家行政法院的运作模式,对我国行政审判体制改革具有一定的借鉴意义,我国行政审判体制改革的路径选择就在于建立行政法院。     

Seeing the improvement of the criminal trial structure from China’s criminal courtroom arrangements (tribunal design)

The setting of criminal court has become an important representation of the criminal trial structure due to its visual and vivid reflection of the legal position and relations among the three parties of litigation, i.e. the prosecuting party, the advocating party and the judge. As a result of the influence of ancient “inquest” centered trial mode, lack of the defendant’s right to silence and incomplete revolution of the criminal trial mode, the existing criminal court setting features an umbrella shaped structure. To reform the criminal trial structure in China, we should eliminate the air of “inquest” from the existing court interrogation mode, strengthen the hearing of evidence and set up a equiangular triangle shaped trial structure of neutral trial, equality between the prosecuting and advocating parties and litigant oriented. __________ Translated from the Jurist Review, 2005, (2) (in Chinese)     

Juvenile Courts after 100 Years: Past and Present Orientations

Juvenile institutions were developed in the nineteenth century. In the United States, they prompted an extension of the parens patriae doctrine, which provided a basis for the creation of the juvenile court a century ago. The protective orientation of the court was intended both for juvenile delinquents and children in danger. Important changes have occurred since the 1960s. Procedural guarantees for delinquents and de-institutionalisation of children in danger have created a clear distinction between the two groups. Diversion has introduced an alternative to the court process. Policies aimed at young offenders have moved gradually in the direction of the adult criminal court model. The article presents an overview of this evolution, essentially for North America.     

论法医学鉴定人出庭作证

本文探讨法庭作证的价值、方法。着重研究了法医学鉴定人的素质与鉴定结论的价值。最后息结指出只有高素质的法医学鉴定人才能承担新世纪的鉴定重任。使法庭作证永远走向成功。     

欧洲国家宪法法官制度初论

在20世纪,欧洲生成并发展出颇具特色的宪法法院制度,宪法法官作为宪法法院的决策主体承担了保障宪政生活中的合宪性这一重要使命。它们普遍建立了精英型宪法法官体系,通过任命机制控制宪法法官构成,使之具有合理性;同时,它们极力保障宪法法官的独立性,为其提供充分的权利保障及物质支持,并通过严格规范职业行为来保障宪法法官有效履行职责。     

Improving court-appearance rates through court-date reminder phone calls

Without a defendant’s appearance in court, the adjudication of criminal charges cannot proceed. The low defendant court appearance rates of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana were identified as a high priority to address. A pilot project was implemented, in which, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office (LPSO) Information Officers would call defendants approximately 5–9 days before their pretrial court appearance. This process began in September 2014. LPSO staff attempted to call all non-incarcerated or diverted defendants with known contact information. LPSO staff documented when calls were made and the type of response (spoke to defendant, left a voicemail, no answer, inoperable phone or spoke to friend or family member). Calls were made to defendants with court appearances in arraignment hearings, misdemeanor pretrial and trial, felony pretrial and traffic court. Court appearance rates for all court hearings increased from 48 to 62%.     

我国司法制度改革的理想与现实

司法独立是一项具有"公理"性质的内容.在我国,法院制度的"泛行政化"已引起了广泛的关注,并提出了各种有意义的改革建议.然而我们不可以回避自身的传统和现实,我们从来都不具备西方经典司法独立模式的"土壤".因此在借鉴人类政治文明的成果的同时,寻找一条切合我国国情的、务实的渐进改革思路,是我国司法制度改革的既理想又可行的改革路径.现阶段的司法制度改革应首先将法院的审判职能与行政职能分开,淡化行政在审判中的色彩,并在现有审判人员制度改革的基础上逐渐过渡到相对理想的法官独立制度.     

THE EMERGENCE OF TRIAGE IN FAMILY COURT SERVICES: THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR MANDATORY MEDIATION?*

Mandatory mediation has, since its inception in the 1980s, been at the heart of family court service agencies. However, changing times, more complex family problems, and a lack of court resources have created significant service delivery challenges. This article examines the emergence of variations of triage processes in family court service agencies as a response and contends that it is time to consider replacing the tiered service delivery model.     

公诉案件庭前审查程序重构之法理探析及初步设想

我国修改前后的两部刑事诉讼法,虽然均在公诉案件第一审程序中对庭前审查程序作出规定,但由于立法时对庭前审查程序的功能认识不够清晰,相关规定过于简单和粗疏。因此,有必要对庭前审查程序的改革问题加以深刻思考。鉴于目前对于庭前审查程序的研究多局限在具体实施问题的层面,在评析各家之说的基础上,对庭前审查程序重新进行定位,对其价值取向、理论原则等问题展开初步论证。最后提出重构我国公诉案件庭前审查程序的若干设想。     

司法鉴定人出庭质证能力优化的路径选择

近年来,随着法治意识的逐渐深入,社会公众对于鉴定意见的认知亦趋于理性,申请鉴定人出庭的频次大幅提升。与此同时,由于鉴定意见具有较高的证据价值,往往能左右司法裁判,因此,其在出庭过程中也将越来越多地受到来自诉讼各方的质疑与挑战,对鉴定人的出庭能力提出了新要求。为更好地维护原本客观的鉴定意见能够最终被法官所采信,应尽快开展鉴定人出庭能力专项培训,以模拟法庭、＂以老带新＂的形式培养鉴定人的法庭技巧。     

司法鉴定人出庭质证若干问题研究

诉讼实践中,司法鉴定人出庭率低已成为我国审判方式改革过程中的一大顽疾。这一问题的现实存在,不仅令鉴定意见质证流于形式,更使得直接言词原则无法在庭审中发挥其应用功效。诚然,我国已通过刑诉法、民诉法的修改,对司法鉴定人出庭作出了明确规定,但现行法律中对于司法鉴定人出庭权利与义务的规定严重失衡,出庭质证保护等规定亦极为笼统,缺乏可操作性。为此,有必要进一步从制度上保障司法鉴定人出庭质证的差旅费用和经济补偿,并加强对其出庭质证安全的保护措施。通过制度性构建与优化,探索司法鉴定人出庭质证的应然路径。     

Can Us-Type Court Management Approaches Work In Civil Law Systems? Experiences From The Balkans And Beyond

The benefit of applying modern management approaches to court operations to ensuring access to justice, timely and transparent dispositions, and increased public trust in courts is recognized in many countries. In the USA, the art of applying modern management techniques to court operations has evolved over the past 30 years into a now solidly established profession. Since the underlying principles and techniques of modern court management, such as case flow management, goal-oriented performance measures, workload assessments, customer surveys, etc., are derived from general management concepts they are not tied to a particular legal system or framework and can be successfully applied in non-US systems if they are properly adjusted. Interested in the positive results of court management in the USA, researchers and practitioners in several European countries have been looking at the applicability of the approaches used in the USA to improve their own ability to manage court processes more efficiently.Since court management has become a main staple of reforming court operations in the USA, it is not surprising that US-funded development assistance in the Balkan states and other countries often involves transferring court management US-style into the newly evolving democracies as part of rule of law or commercial sector development assistance. These projects frequently introduce, among others, case flow management techniques that sometimes seem to be in conflict with underlying legal principles or procedural laws, and often defy the local legal culture. The US-funded assistance programs are often introduced parallel to efforts funded by European and other donors, which may take and suggest different approaches to the host country. As a result, confusion and insecurity about which approaches are appropriate for a particular country can arise and impede much needed reforms or lead to legislative and regulatory changes that do not mesh well or even conflict with other parts of the legal framework.This article reviews the role of US-based court management approaches in recent court reform efforts under way in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia and, in light of lessons learned there and in other countries, assesses the reform processes applied and their status. It also outlines how these court management approaches fit into non-US court systems, how they can be adjusted according to individual country needs and what the main obstacles are that such reform efforts generally face.     

Enhancing judicial skills in domestic violence cases: the development,implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a model US programme

ABSTRACT

The overwhelming number and complexity of domestic violence cases in criminal and family courts has resulted in the development of education programmes to assist judges. There is limited research on judicial education in this area. This paper reviews one such initiative entitled ‘Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases’ (EJS) that has been developed and implemented over the last 20 years by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, a partnership of the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and Futures Without Violence. We present findings of a preliminary evaluation of the programme based on the self-reports of 480 judges who had taken the four-day workshop between 2006 and 2010. Overall, judges reported the programme to be engaging and effective. At a six-month follow‐up, most of the judges identified specific benefits and behavior changes in the areas of access to justice, judicial leadership, victim safety, and abuser accountability as a result of participating in the programme. Critical issues in judicial education are highlighted based on the authors’ experiences in the development and implementation of this programme.     

论法院调解制度改革

本文认为 ,调解的改革应当是废除调、审合一的体制 ,建立调解和审判适当分离的体制 ,即调解由准备法官在审前准备程序中进行 ,主持调解的法官不能参加对调解无效案件的审判。     

A PRACTITIONER'S PERSPECTIVE ON UNIFIED FAMILY COURTS: CASE STUDIES

As a summary of simple examples demonstrating practical advantages of a family court, this article relates a few experiences from the perspective of a family law attorney who practices regularly in the Fulton County Family Division in Atlanta.