视听资料的合法性界定

由于视听资料具有其他证据形式不可比拟的优越性,现代法治社会中,当事人依赖它来维护自己合法权益的诉讼呈不断增加之势。尽管它在民事诉讼中发挥着越来越重要的作用,但在审判实践中被法官采纳的私人制作的视听资料却极为有限。本文旨在对视听资料的合法性进行界定,以期扩大视听资料被采纳的范围,从而让它能更好地为维护当事人的合法权益服务。     

三段论推理在法律论证中的作用探讨

司法三段论这一近代以来占主导地位的法律推理模式,当今的法学家对其提出了诸多批判,法律方法论亦由此从总体上实现了向法律论证理论的转换。但是,三段论推理本身的合理价值依然应当予以承认。在法律论证中,形式方法仍然具有无可替代的作用。法律论证的逻辑有效性对于实际的论证活动依然是个比较重要的评价标准。足见三段论推理在法律论证理论中具有重要意义。可以说,演绎模式的说理规则表达了对于法律论证最低限度的理性要求。在事实与规范相互对应的法律适用观念下,三段论推理继续在法律论证,尤其是在内部证立当中发挥作用。     

Validity and reliability of the VRAG in a forensic psychiatric medium security population in Flanders

Since the development of the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG), one of the most widely used actuarial risk assessment instruments, numerous replication studies have shown its usefulness in predicting (violent) recidivism among various offender populations. It is not clear, however, whether these findings can be generalized to forensic psychiatric patients admitted to a medium security forensic psychiatric unit in the Flemish part of Belgium. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to test the predictive validity and reliability of the VRAG in a sample of 191 Flemish medium security patients. The mean follow-up period was 2.4 years. Contrary to the expectations, the VRAG was unable to significantly predict any kind of outcome. Possible explanations are discussed and further research with the VRAG in Flanders, and its recently revised version, is recommended.     

The emperor has no clothes: A systemic view of the status and future of child custody evaluation (CCE)

For all of the time, effort, and money invested in child custody evaluation (CCE) and for all of evaluators' emphases on collecting empirically sound data, CCE is not itself an empirically robust process. The reliability, validity, efficacy, and efficiency of CCE has never yet been adequately demonstrated. The science has yet even to define and measure the variables that constitute a healthy family, much less how one is to measure and recommend changes for conflicted systems in the midst of tectonic transitions. This article proposes five ways in which family law professionals and the culture at large should work to better serve the needs of our children: (1) the establishment of proactive parenting and co-parenting education intended to diminish the frequency and magnitude of family conflict and improve the quality of child and family functioning; (2) the introduction of organized incentives that motivate healthy parenting and co-parenting practices as opposed to negative consequences that do too-little, too-late; (3) a greater emphasis on social equity, cultural humility, and universal professional training; (4) the creation of ethical guidelines that disconnect continuing conflict from professional income; and (5) outcome research that feeds back into the evolution of these and related processes.     

Repeatability and reproducibility of comparison decisions by firearms examiners

In a comprehensive study to assess various aspects of the performance of qualified forensic firearms examiners, volunteer examiners compared both bullets and cartridge cases fired from three different types of firearms. They rendered opinions on each comparison according to the Association of Firearm & Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) Range of Conclusions, as Identification, Inconclusive (A, B, or C), Elimination, or Unsuitable. In this part of the study, comparison sets used previously to characterize the overall accuracy of examiners were blindly resubmitted to examiners to assess the repeatability (105 examiners; 5700 comparisons of bullets and cartridge cases) and reproducibility (191 examiners of bullets, 193 of cartridge cases; 5790 comparisons) of firearms examinations. Data gathered using the prevailing AFTE Range were also recategorized into two hypothetical scoring systems. Consistently positive differences between observed agreement and expected agreement indicate that the repeatability and reproducibility of examiners exceed chance agreement. When averaged over bullets and cartridge cases, the repeatability of comparison decisions (involving all five levels of the AFTE Range) was 78.3% for known matches and 64.5% for known nonmatches. Similarly averaged reproducibility was 67.3%% for known matches and 36.5% for known nonmatches. For both repeatability and reproducibility, many of the observed disagreements were between a definitive and inconclusive category. Examiner decisions are reliable and trustworthy in the sense that identifications are unlikely when examiners are comparing non-matching items, and eliminations are unlikely when they are comparing matching items.     

两高司法解释“曾因盗窃受过刑事处罚”规定解读

两高于2013年4月4日下发了《关于办理盗窃刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》,其中第2条第1款"曾因盗窃受过刑事处罚"的规定在司法实践中引起一定争议,包括对该规定时间效力的把握、盗窃前科的界定和受过刑事处罚范围的理解。检察机关在适用该款规定时,应当站在刑法体系整体协调的高度,严格遵循从旧兼从轻的刑事法律时间效力原则,运用正确的法律解释方法,坚持刑法谦抑和有利于犯罪嫌疑人的司法理念,有理有据、不枉不纵,确保检察工作法律效果和社会效果的良好统一。     

Economic reasons for the break-up of Yugoslavia

The history of Yugoslavia continues to attract academic attention more than twenty years after the violent break-up of this federative state. Analyzing why it happened can be instructive in dealing with many unsolved problems in the region. The article will argue that deteriorating economics triggered all other factors leading to eventual disintegration of Yugoslavia. Specifically, during the 1980s external and internal economic imbalances, coupled with substantial regional disparities, resulted in a situation which was no longer acceptable to some constituent republics, especially the wealthier ones. Unfortunately, their secession was followed by a violent conflict which still resonates throughout South-Eastern Europe.     

Symptom Validity Testing for the detection of simulated amnesia: Not robust to coaching

Abstract

Symptom Validity Testing (SVT) has been proposed as a method to assess the veracity of claims of amnesia. Performance below chance levels on a forced choice task is indicative of malingering. Previous research has shown that the Symptom Validity Test is a promising challenge test: at levels of high specificity, it may detect approximately half of those who malinger. The present study investigated the effect of coaching on the sensitivity of the Symptom Validity Test. Participants were instructed to feign complete amnesia and tested about their identity using the Symptom Validity Test. Half of the participants were coached not to perform below chance levels. Results were straightforward: 58% of 19 naive malingerers were detected, but none of 19 coached malingerers were detected. The results show that the Symptom Validity Test is not resistant to coaching.     

法律效力理论中的实效性原则

法律拥有效力部分地依赖于其所在的法律体系具有实效,即得到人们大体上的服从。这就是法律效力理论中的实效性原则。对于各种类型的法律效力理论来说,法律效力标准都需要来自法律本质、功能的道德原则的支持。表面上,作为纯粹事实的实效似乎与各种类型的法律效力理论都不协调,但实质上,法律效力依赖于实效是源于"法律的任务应该交给最具实力的人或机构来完成"这一道德原则。根据该原则,实效难题可以得到很好的解决。     

European–Mediterranean Security and the Arab Spring: Changes and Challenges

The policy of the European Union (EU) toward the Mediterranean has undergone two main metamorphoses during the last 25 years. In 1995, it started from a collective security idea with the Barcelona Process, but due to the poor success of this collective approach, it underwent a “realist turn” with the creation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2004. The Arab Spring in 2011, by questioning authoritarianism, influenced the perception of what is recognized as a security problem and who can define it. The authoritarian rulers and their supporting security forces are now challenged by their populations, and societal circumstances are so unstable that nearly every domestic problem can be politically given a spin to become a security risk. Aside from this, violent conflicts and civil wars demand an answer from the EU. In this situation, the EU's answer to the Arab Spring does not directly respond to the changing security situation in the Mediterranean. It emphasizes domestic democracy and civil society but does not take up the potential risk discourses. Concerning violent conflicts, the EU as a community is not at all active in the region but leaves this field to its member states, NATO, the Arab League, and the United Nations. Thus, the perceptions, ideas, and needs of Mediterranean security between the EU and the Southern partner states still differ harshly and seem to disregard the risk dimension of the Mediterranean security problems in this period of Arab transition.