Quality of democracy in unrecognized states: lessons from Northern Cyprus

Scholars have recently debated whether non-recognition is a blessing or a curse for democracy. Some suggest that lack of recognition forces political elites to democratize and acquire internal legitimacy to compensate for the lack of external legitimacy. Others suggest that democratization is used as a strategy by which to acquire international recognition. Still others claim that non-recognition obliges unrecognized states to rely on a patron state which, in turn, hinders the quality of democracy. To contribute to this discussion, we have conducted an in-depth case study. Focusing on democratic quality in Northern Cyprus from 2010 to 2016, it is observed that reliance on a patron state leads to dynamics of tutelage, in turn hindering the quality of democracy.     

论完善个人信息保护法制的几个问题

个人信息保护是信息化过程中而产生的问题,在国外有关国家和地区早已掀起了个人信息保护立法的浪潮。鉴于此,本文立足于世界有关国家和地区个人信息立法的情况,对其中涉及逻辑基础、适用范围、原则及个人信息主体的权利、适用例外等问题进行了探讨。     

Metrological framework for selecting morphological characters to identify species and estimate developmental maturity of forensically significant insect specimens

Accurate age estimates of immature necrophagous insects associated with a human or animal body can provide evidence of how long the body has been dead. These estimates are based on species-specific details of the insects’ aging processes, and therefore require accurate species identification and developmental stage estimation. Many professionals who produce or use identified organisms as forensic evidence have little training in taxonomy or metrology, and appreciate the availability of formalized principles and standards for biological identification. Taxonomic identifications are usually most readily and economically made using categorical and qualitative morphological characters, but it may be necessary to use less convenient and potentially more ambiguous characters that are continuous and quantitative if two candidate species are closely related, or if identifying developmental stages within a species. Characters should be selected by criteria such as taxonomic specificity and metrological repeatability and relative error. We propose such a hierarchical framework, critique various measurements of immature insects, and suggest some standard approaches to determine the reliability of organismal identifications and measurements in estimating postmortem intervals. Relevant criteria for good characters include high repeatability (including low scope for ambiguity or parallax effects), pronounced discreteness, and small relative error in measurements. These same principles apply to individuation of unique objects in general.

Key points

• Metrological rigour can increase in forensic entomology by selecting measurements based on their metrological qualities.
• Selection of high-quality features for morphological identification of organisms should consider these criteria: (1) pronounced discreteness of features (minimising group overlap or maximizing interval); (2) high repeatability of assessment (such as symmetrical width rather than asymmetrical length); (3) small relative error in measurement (selecting the physically largest continuous rigid feature for measurement).
• These metrological principles also apply to individuation of unique objects in general.

     

变更罪名实证研究

以最高法院示范性案例中的全部变更罪名案例为样本进行实证研究,可以发现其中存在几对实然关系。变更罪名未必都有失公正也不必然体现实体公正,择轻变更未必都有利于被告,合法的变更未必是合理的变更,变更罪名给法律适用带来的不确定性根植于现行法律和法理之中。对其进行法律解释学和犯罪定义学分析,将有助于对变更罪名现象的解读和限制。     

保持共产党员先进性必须突出党员的能力素质建设

在共产党员先进性的构成要素中,政治和思想素质是共产党员先进性的首要问题,是共产党员先进性前提和基础;能力素质和业绩是共产党员先进性诸要素的内在统一,是党员的先进性在实际工作中的体现。保持共产党员先进性,必须重视增强党员践行“三个代表”重要思想、贯彻落实科学发展观的能力和水平,加强共产党员的能力素质建设。     

基层民警的基本素质缺陷及对策思考

基层民警的基本素质是基层基础工作的重要方面。当前基层民警的基本素质中还存在不少突出问题,影响和制约着公安机关战斗力的提高。基层民警基本素质缺陷表现为:政治思想方面欠缺;业务素质方面欠缺;体能素质方面欠缺;文化、科技素质方面欠缺;心理素质方面欠缺。     

高职素质教育中第二课堂的应用模式探讨

本文指出了第二课堂在高职素质教育中的地位和作用及实施的误区,综合了高职教育适合开展的多种形式的第二课堂活动,最后重点从确保综合素质培养效果,保证第二课堂活动严格执行的组织安排提出了建议.对第二课堂活动形式进行总结和归纳,并对确保第二课堂教学效果的组织形式提出了初步设想.     

Postmortem chest computed tomography for the diagnosis of drowning:a feasibility study

It may be difficult to distinguish the cause of death in drowning cases without specific findings. The aim of this study was to explore the forensic value of thoracic postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) using routine images and three-dimensional (3D) image reconstructions. The imaging data of PMCT examinations of six drowning cadavers, aged 21–54 years, were analyzed. Twelve victims of sudden death from coronary artery disease (CAD) were chosen as a control group. After 3D bilateral lung images were reconstructed using image processing software, an interactive medical image control system was used to measure and analyze parameters including lung volume, lung volume ratio, mean CT value of the whole lung, and lung CT value distribution curves. Lung volume and lung volume ratio were used to assess the shape changes of the lung. Lung CT value distribution curves showed the corresponding number of pixels of the different CT values in the lung image. Lung volume was not significantly larger in drowning cases (mean 2 958 cm³) than in controls (mean 2 342 cm³). Lung volume ratio values in the drowning group (mean 0.3156) were greater than those in the control group (mean 0.2763); (P = 0.02). There was no significant difference between the drowning and control group in the mean CT value of the whole lung. There were differences between lung CT value distribution curves in drowning victims and controls, with drowning victims showing a single peak and CAD cases showing a bimodal distribution. Thoracic PMCT is helpful for the forensic medical diagnosis of drowning. Lung volume ratio and lung CT value distribution are potential indicators to distinguish between drowning and CAD.     

Linking democratic anchorage and regulatory authority: The case of internet regulators

Scholars and practitioners have repeatedly questioned the democraticness and the authority of transnational multi‐stakeholder organizations, especially those that regulate the internet. To contribute to this discussion, we studied the “democratic anchorages” and the regulatory authority of 23 internet regulators. In particular, we conducted a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis assessing whether and which anchorages correspond to necessary and/or sufficient conditions for exerting regulatory authority. Our results show that strong anchorage in democratic procedures is specifically relevant for this outcome. Further, we find that weak anchorage in democratically elected politicians leads to high regulatory authority, confirming the significance of non‐state actors in this policy field. More generally, our findings support but also qualify expectations about the compatibility and mutual reinforcement of democratic quality and regulatory authority at the transnational level.     

The Error in “Error Rate”: Why Error Rates Are So Needed,Yet So Elusive

Establishing error rates is crucial for knowing how well one is performing, determining whether improvement is needed, measuring whether interventions are effective, as well as for providing transparency. However, the flurry of activities in establishing error rates for the forensic sciences has largely overlooked some fundamental issues that make error rates a problematic construct and limit the ability to obtain a meaningful error rate. These include knowing the ground truth, establishing appropriate databases, determining what counts as an error, characterizing what is an acceptable error rate, ecological validity, and transparency within the adversarial legal system. Without addressing these practical and theoretical challenges, the very notion of a meaningful error rate is limited.