Applicability of the ParaDNA® Screening System to Seminal Samples

Seminal fluid represents a common biological material recovered from sexual assault crime scenes. Such samples can be prescreened using different techniques to determine cell type and relative amount before submitting for full STR profiling. The ParaDNA^® Screening System is a novel forensic test which identifies the presence of DNA through amplification and detection of two common STR loci (D16S539 and TH01) and the Amelogenin marker. The detection of the Y allele in samples could provide a useful tool in the triage and submission of sexual assault samples by enforcement authorities. Male template material was detected on a range of common sexual assault evidence items including cotton pillow cases, condoms, swab heads and glass surfaces and shows a detection limit of 1 in 1000 dilution of neat semen. These data indicate this technology has the potential to be a useful tool for the detection of male donor DNA in sexual assault casework.     

A Natural Experiment in Political Decentralization: Local Institutions and Citizens' Political Engagement in Uruguay

The potential democratizing effect of political decentralization reforms has been a matter of substantial theoretical and empirical debate. This article analyzes the effect of local democratic institution building on the political attitudes and behavior of citizens living in small towns in Uruguay. More specifically, using a natural experiment design, this research seeks to establish the causal impact of recently established elections of local authorities on individuals' political engagement. It develops a comparative case study analyzing the consequences of this institutional innovation in two towns. It shows that individuals from the town where citizens have the opportunity to elect their local authorities have more positive attitudes toward politics than those from the town without such elections.     

全球化信息化背景下我国网络恐怖活动及其犯罪立法研究——兼评我国《刑法修正案(九)(草案)》和《反恐怖主义法(草案)》相关反恐条款

在全球化信息化背景下网络恐怖活动是影响力和破坏力更大的综合形式的恐怖活动类型,包括四类行为,在我国比较严重的是利用互联网传播恐怖活动相关非法信息,它是暴力恐怖活动形成的重要原因之一.我国打击网络恐怖活动的犯罪立法缺少宣扬恐怖主义思想、煽动暴力恐怖活动罪,设立该罪为我国反恐斗争所必需,也与国际反恐立法趋势一致.设该罪应从反恐怖主义综合立法和刑法两方面进行构建,在《反恐怖主义法》和《刑法修正案(九)》中做适当规定.     

Safe Haven Questioned: Proof of Identity Over Persecution of SOGIE Asylum Seekers and Refugee Claimants in Canada

Abstract

Canada, being a country that recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (SOGIE) as grounds for asylum or refugee status, can appear initially to be a safe haven for those persecuted based on such characteristics. Yet, claimants are required to prove the SOGIE upon which the persecution of the person is reported to have been based. Given that essentialist and binary notions of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression are the criteria utilized, such policy imposes traditional Westernized notions of identity with homonational and recolonizing effects on individuals who are attempting to resettle in Canada.     

情绪及其对刑事责任影响的多学科分析

影响责任能力的不仅有知和意,也应包括情。情绪因素主要是通过作用于知和意来影响责任能力。对刑法上的情绪的分析应从心理学的角度入手,但刑法上的情绪具有特殊的构成条件,只有符合这些条件的情绪才会降低责任能力,从而对刑事责任产生影响。情绪影响刑事责任的根据应在刑事一体化的视野下,综合运用刑法学、心理学、犯罪人学、被害人学、刑事政策学的理论进行研究,才能做出合理解释。     

Disability Rights Commission: From Civil Rights to Social Rights

This paper argues that, although originally conceived as part of the ‘civil rights’ agenda, the development of disability rights in Britain by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is better seen as a movement towards the realization of social, economic, and cultural rights, and so as reaffirmation of the indissolubility of human rights in the round. As such, that process of development represents a concrete exercise in the implementation of social rights by a statutory equality body and a significant step towards the conception of disability rights as universal participation, not just individual or minority group entitlement. The paper considers the distinctive features of that regulatory activity. It asks what sort of equality the DRC set out to achieve for disabled people and where, as a result, its work positioned it on the regulatory spectrum. From the particular experience of the DRC, the paper looks forward to considerations of general relevance to other such bodies, including the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.     

Is it a foundation?

Jersey is the most recent jurisdiction to have prepared a comprehensivedraft of foundation legislation and, subject to completion ofthe legislative process, the law may well be approved this year.This article deals with the legal challenges faced when a commonlaw jurisdiction attempts to incorporate a traditional civillaw entity into a suitable common law format.     

中国少年司法制度的一体化

中国少年司法制度在开展引进借鉴和实验探索的同时,必须厘清这一制度的构建理念。当来自体制内部的力量成为延缓这一制度建设的阻力之时,观念上的论辩便显得尤为重要。少年司法是区别于传统“成人司法”的一种制度,其理论基础和基础学科是由非法学学科与法学相整合的知识体系。在这一理论基础之中,产生了“少年司法制度一体化”的客观要求,由不同标准构建的四种一体化模式,体现了少年司法的本质特征。少年司法特殊定位折射出一个国家成人司法的现实状态,也预示着成人司法的未来走向。