律政司司长黄仁立龙致辞

去年十月我在巴黎出席在历史悠久、雄伟庄严的司法部大楼举行的庆祝《海牙取消认证公约》50周年的会议,并在会上发言。虽然这项公约仍未适用於内地,香港一向采用公约的原则,并使用公约规定的附加证明书超过40年。     

Youth crime and family disruption in Canadian municipalities: An adaptation of Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory

Using an adaptation of Shaw and McKay’s (1942) theory, the present study examined the effects of social disorganization and family disruption on youth crime. Based on data from 483 Canadian municipalities, the results revealed that low income, mobility and ethnic heterogeneity had the expected positive effects on youth crime, particularly in municipalities with smaller population and lower prevalence of low income. The effect of single parenthood was positive as expected whereas that of divorce was unexpectedly negative. The findings suggest the importance to specify the conditions for the effect of social disorganization and differentiate the effects of divorce and single parenthood. The unexpected negative effect also raises the possibility of divorce as law mobilization, thus underscoring the roles of planning and legal intervention in social disorganization. In terms of policies, the findings suggest early intervention for social disorganization, support for single-parent families, and the incorporation of divorcees in productive activities.     

Klebsiella meningitis mimicking clinical deterioration from hemorrhage of a complex posterior fossa arteriovenous malformation

We report a case of a 33-year-old male with a history of complex posterior fossa arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with partial resection done in China; at follow-up in our unit, he presented with a 1-day history of acute deterioration of consciousness level after minor head injury. The clinical and radiologic features were compatible with spontaneous hemorrhage from the AVM, and the patient died 1 day after admission. However, postmortem examination revealed the direct cause of death was due to Klebsiella meningitis. The clinical catch is highlighted, and the importance of early and prompt detection of this condition is emphasized.     

Treatment of Gang Members Can Reduce Recidivism and Institutional Misconduct

Gang violence creates serious safety and security concerns in the community and prisons. Treated gang and nongang members recidivated significantly less in a 24-month follow-up than their untreated matched controls. Treatment consisted of high intensity cognitive-behavioral programs that follow the risk, need, and responsivity principles (Andrews & Bonta, 2003). The treated gang members who recidivated violently after treatment received significantly shorter sentences (i.e. they committed less serious offences) than their untreated matched controls. Untreated gang members had significantly higher rates of major (but not minor) institutional offences than the other three groups. Correctional treatment that follows the risk, need and responsivity principles appears able to reduce recidivism and major institutional misconduct. Effective correctional treatment should be considered as one of the approaches in the management and rehabilitation of incarcerated gang members.     

Reintegrating seriously violent and personality-disordered offenders from a supermaximum security institution into the general offender population

Offenders who have committed serious violent acts while incarcerated are often segregated and housed in supermaximum security facilities. Given the highly restricted regime under which they are detained, it is often difficult to decide if they are safe enough to be discharged. However, there is a need to reintegrate them into the general offender population in a lower security institution for humane, correctional, and financial reasons. We propose a transitional strategy to facilitate their reintegration by way of a maximum-security step-down treatment-oriented facility within which both their security requirements and treatment needs could be adequately met. The present study reports the results of such an approach. More than 80% of the offenders (n = 31) were reintegrated into a lower-security facility without relapsing and being returned to the supermaximum institutions within a follow-up period of 20 months. They also have lower institutional offense rate postreintegration compared to prereintegration.     

东盟-中国关系:一种经济视角

中国崛起不是孤立的,大部分东亚国家同样取得了骄人的经济业绩。中国经济的持续高速增长和力倡建立FTA行为已经成了新世纪东亚地区经济发展的引擎。虑及FDI的其他决定性因素,流向该地区的FDI之间大多不存在竞争关系,中国并没有对东亚其他经济体的FDI流入造成巨大影响。即使对那些具有潜在竞争性(即出口导向型)FDI而言,中国也能够刺激它们流向其他东盟国家,并同中国在该地区的生产网络形成互补。从地缘因素看,中国崛起以及日本经济复兴使人们重新燃起变21世纪为“太平洋世纪”的希望。中国在谋求经济持续增长的同时,需要同邻国保持更为密切的经济共生关系,整个东亚地区也会从中国经济崛起中受益。     

Pharmacogenomics as an aspect of molecular autopsy for forensic pathology/toxicology: does genotyping CYP 2D6 serve as an adjunct for certifying methadone toxicity?

Pharmacogenomics, applied as an aspect of molecular autopsy, may be used as an adjunct for certifying methadone fatalities. Methadone is metabolized by cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 1A2, 3A4, and 2D6. We hypothesized that methadone toxicity may be partially due to CYP 2D6 *3, *4, and *5 variant alleles, resulting in poor drug metabolism. A retrospective analysis was performed on covariables and risk factors of 21 methadone cases from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office (1998-2000). PCR genotyping showed: one heterozygous for 2D6*3, two homozygous for 2D6*4, five heterozygous for 2D6*4, and one heterozygous for both 2D6*3 and *4. This limited number of cases showed that the prevalence of poor metabolizer was higher but not significantly different from that of a control group (n = 23) (P > 0.05, Fisher Exact Test). Thus, CYP 2D6 mutations may not yet be directly associated with methadone toxicity. However, pharmacogenomics, complementing other case findings, served as an adjunct in interpreting methadone toxicity of poor and intermediate metabolizers.     

法律责任外延探析

我国法理学界对法律责任的外延问题研究较为薄弱,鉴于此,本文便以法律责任的外延为切入点,着重分析了法律责任的三种划分方法,它们的标准分别是,规范法律责任的不同法律部门、特定法律事实对合法权益造成的损害,法律责任的不同承担主体。其中,以“法律部门的不同”为标准对法律责任所作的划分为最重要。就这一划分,作者指出了传统法律责任划分理论在逻辑上的缺陷和价值取向上的偏离,给予了“程序法责任”应有的位置,使程序法责任和实体法责任共同组成法律责任的有机整体。