Public Experiences of Police Violence and Corruption in Contemporary Russia: A Case of Predatory Policing?

“Predatory policing” occurs where police officers mainly use their authority to advance their own material interests rather than to fight crime or protect the interests of elites. These practices have the potential to seriously compromise the public's trust in the police and other legal institutions, such as courts. Using data from six surveys and nine focus groups conducted in Russia, we address four empirical questions: (1) How widespread are public encounters with police violence and police corruption in Russia? (2) To what extent does exposure to these two forms of police misconduct vary by social and economic characteristics? (3) How do Russians perceive the police, the courts, and the use of violent methods by the police? (4) How, if at all, do experiences of police misconduct affect these perceptions? Our results suggest that Russia conforms to a model of predatory policing. Despite substantial differences in its law enforcement institutions and cultural norms regarding the law, Russia resembles the United States in that direct experiences of police abuse reduce confidence in the police and in the legal system more generally. The prevalence of predatory policing in Russia has undermined Russia's democratic transition, which should call attention to the indispensable role of the police and other public institutions in the success of democratic reforms.     

蒙古国“多支点”外交战略与大国关系

前苏联解体和冷战结束后 ,地处中俄之间的蒙古国放弃了长期奉行的“一边倒”外交政策 ,制定了均衡发展与中俄两大邻国关系。同时 ,发展与美日等西方大国关系以及立足亚太地区的“多支点”外交战略。目前 ,蒙古国与南北两个邻国建立了蒙中睦邻互信伙伴关系和蒙俄睦邻传统伙伴关系 ,与美国发展战略伙伴关系 ,与日本确立了综合性伙伴关系。蒙古积极发展与大国的均衡关系 ,其意义在于 ,保障国家的独立、安全和未来发展 ,扩大自身活动空间 ,提高其国际地位 ,而且利用与大国的均势平衡使其相互牵制 ,以便从中获取更多利益。     

Survey of methods for the rating of psychiatric impairment in Australia

One of the enduring clinical issues in the assessment of plaintiffs in personal injury and workers' compensation claims, as well as applicants for social security and disablement benefits, is that of the evaluation of impairment and work incapacity. Many writers on this topic confuse the concepts of impairment and disability, and similar confusion is reflected in a number of the rating methods that purport to evaluate impairment but in reality assess disability. In Australia there are 20 distinct statutory schemes for workers' compensation, motor accident compensation, and social security and other benefits, which utilise a variety of methods for the rating of psychiatric impairment. Recent legislative changes designed to restrict access to personal injury compensation at common law, which in two Australian State jurisdictions require the use of impairment rating scales, also specify the rating methods to be used in the assessment of psychiatric impairment. This article discusses the concepts of impairment and disability as defined by the World Health Organisation, and reviews the various methods for the rating of psychiatric impairment that are specified by statute in the federal and State jurisdictions in Australia.     

Between Tradition and Modernity: The Re-trial System of the Beiyang Period in the Early Republic of China (1912-1928)

During the Beiyang period of the early Republic of China, the re-trial system覆判 referred to the practice where cases considered by the county magistrate had to be sent to the provincial high court for re-trial to ensure that the case facts were true, the law was correctly applied, and the penalties were appropriate. The scope of the re-trial cases continuously expanded from 1912 to 1922 and, finally, the Amendment to the Statutes on the Re-trial System in 1922 stipulated that all cases under the jurisdiction of the district courts where county magistrates tried, whether through appeal or re-trial, had to be re-tried by the high court or its branches. The adjustment of the scope of the re-trial cases was closely related to the extent to which the county magistrates’ judicial discretion was restricted. During the Beiyang period, due to the failure to establish formal courts of the first instance in counties throughout the country, the county magistrates concurrently handled judicial affairs, which inevitably caused the magistrates’ judicial discretion. The re-trial system was originally designed to compensate for the drawbacks of county magistrates managing judicial affairs and to facilitate the transition within the judicial system. However, the interpretation of the role of the re-trial system should not be limited to reconciliation and adaptation of the old and new judicial systems in the Beiyang period but also to compensate for the deficiencies of county magistrates’ judgments by continuously improving the re-trial procedure and to ensure the fairness of justice through restrictions on the judicial discretion of county magistrates, the enjoyment of equality of procedures, and the establishment of supervision procedures.     

教育社会学视域中的义务教育阶段择校现象简析

从教育社会学的角度分析择校现象的成因,可以得出:教育的选择功能刺激了人们对高学历教育和择优教育的追求;阶层优势与社会选择理论在择校现象中有明显体现;在现代社会,教育对社会分层的影响和作用更多地具有了内在的特征,学业成就的分化和分层,成为人们获得不同社会地位的重要因素;学校组织之间的分层现状,使受教育者为了获得更佳的成才机会,而去选择更优质的学校教育.     

现代信息教育技术在英语写作教学中的应用研究

尽管大学生听、说、读的能力和水平在计算机辅助教学模式下有显著提高,但他们的英语写作能力和水平仍然低下。利用Microsoft Office Word辅助英语写作技术代替原有纸墨相交的写作形式,倡导学生运用Internet网络技术来支持英文写作,采用E-mail技术上好网上英语写作教学的“后续课程”,把Power Point技术优势用于英语写作教学,不仅改变了英语写作教学训练的手段、环境及教学过程,加深了师生教与学的相对关系,而且能切实提高学生英语写作的兴趣和写作水平。     

Judicial responses to the protected confidential communications legislation in Australia

The article examines the background, aims and scope of recent legislation enacted in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to protect from disclosure in court of "confidential communications" generated in the context of counselling persons who allege that they were victims of sexual offenses. In drafting the "confidential communications" legislation, the legislators undertook a difficult task of balancing the public interest in therapeutic confidentiality that would encourage victims of sexual assaults to report these offenses and seek psychological and psychiatric care on the one hand, and the public interest in fairness of the trial, which may be prejudiced by exclusion of evidence pertinent to the forensic process on the other. In South Australia this task was fulfilled with greater success than in New South Wales and Victoria.