新《刑事诉讼法》特别程序对诉讼效率价值的坚持与完善

诉讼效率是《刑事诉讼法》应始终追求的重要价值,诉讼效率应当包括"效益"和"速率"两层含义。其中的效益是指通过诉讼程序办理的案件质量较高、结果合理,强调效益有利于司法工作、法律效果和社会效果的良好统一;而速率是指遵循诉讼程序使得刑事案件处理较快、过程迅速,强调速率有利于对司法资源的合理调配和充分利用。但效益和速率并不能完全地同步实现,任何诉讼程序都可能向其中一者倾斜而忽略另一者,尤其是忽略对效益的追求。同样地,新《刑事诉讼法》特别程序也应当尽力保持这两者间的平衡,通过一定制度设定弥补因速率带来的效益损失。     

再论司法鉴定统一立法——兼评新刑诉法中鉴定制度的变化

新刑诉法对鉴定制度有诸多改进,如：将鉴定结论改为鉴定意见、初步建立起中国式＂专家证人＂制度、打通了法庭寻求专门知识的人帮助的通道等,但如鉴定启动权的配置、鉴定机构设置等问题却仍未解决。刑诉法调整的乏力,再次证明只有制定统一的《司法鉴定法》才能实质性解决我国鉴定制度存在的问题。从必要性上看,统一立法既是完善鉴定制度的需要,又是保障法制统一和理顺鉴定管理机制的需要;从可行性上看,当前具备时代背景、民意基础和客观条件。在统一立法时,要处理好适度超前与立足实际、精密立法与开门纳谏、统一立法与既有立法的关系,以《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》为基础,找准着力点推进立法。     

行政证据与刑事证据衔接机制研究——以新《刑事诉讼法》第52条第2款为分析重点

2012年修正后的《刑事诉讼法》第52条第2款建立了行政证据与刑事证据的衔接机制。在肯定这一机制建立的正当性的同时,有必要对"可以作为证据使用"的内涵、行政证据与刑事证据衔接的范围、有权移交行政证据的主体等基本问题予以分析和阐释。行政证据与刑事证据的衔接可能造成司法实践操作的混乱,导致侦查活动前置,架空非法证据排除规则,侵犯犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的合法权利。为此,应当完善相关法律规则,划清侦查机关与其他行政机关的职能界限,严格行政证据的审查标准,加强对辩护方权利的保护。     

Gender Equality as a General Interest of a Pluralistic Society: An Analysis of Constitutional Precedent in Colombia

The article explores the relationship between the legal principles of general interest and gender equality, both consecrated in Colombia's 1991 Constitution. Through an analysis of the precedents set by the Constitutional Court, the article provides a hermeneutical approximation of the behaviour of jurisprudence concerning the general interest. It demonstrates how this principle could be used to foster a more encompassing definition of gender equality. The precedents set by the Constitutional Court have opened up the spectrum of women's rights so as to grasp their relation to the principle of general interest as well as their basis as fundamental rights.     

European Law Beyond ‘Ever Closer Union’ Repositioning the Concept,its Thrust and the ECJ's Comparative Methodology

The article investigates competing understandings of European law. It supports, against the prevailing EU‐centred understanding, an ecumenical concept that embraces EU law, supplementing international instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights and, importantly, various domestic laws enacting or responding to such transnational law, as well as European comparative law. To keep the concept in sync with European politics, it posits a new idea that binds the parts together: to provide for a European legal space rather than further European integration (the ever closer union). This idea can also serve as European law's functional equivalent to forming one legal order. European law thus conceived grasps the puzzling complex of interdependent legal orders, sets a common frame for corresponding reconstructions (European composite constructions, legal pluralism, network theories, federalism or intergovernmentalism) and allows forces with diverging outlooks to meet in one legal field, on one more neutral disciplinary platform. Within this framework, European comparative law finds a new mission as well as a sound legal basis.     

Catching Them Before Too Much Damage is Done: Early Intervention with Resistance‐Refusal Dynamics

Children often need help before their parents are ready to stop fighting. Children at the center of high‐conflict disputes, particularly those who resist contact with a parent, face extraordinary risks of maladjustment. Years of investigation and litigation may precede any meaningful attempt at intervention, based on the questionable belief that all elements of causality (or blame) must be established before any effective treatment can occur. Children's functioning may continue to deteriorate during this time, undermining their future adjustment and reducing the chance of successful intervention later. We illustrate the application of the coping‐focused, multisystemic Child Centered Conjoint Therapy model to assisting these families. Methods to assist children without compromising external investigations are discussed.     

The State of the Art of Child Hearings in Germany. Results of a Nationwide Representative Study in German Courts

According to German family law, in family court proceedings that deal with custody or access rights, family judges are obligated to personally hear the child if the feelings, ties, or will of the child are significant for the decision. In a research study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Justice, a nationwide representative survey of all judges compiled their personal information and their attitudes and expectations as well as various parameters regarding the concrete practice of hearing children. Also, with a very complex methodological design, over 50 children and their parents were studied one week in advance of the hearing, directly before and after the hearing, and four weeks following the hearing. The results of the study are presented, particularly those pertaining to the burden and relief for the children and the expectations of judges. The practical experiences of family judges in personally hearing children are included as well.     

A Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Two Court‐Connected Programs for High‐Conflict Families

Parents who experience great amounts of legal conflict as they dissolve their relationship and arrive at their parenting arrangements require an outsize proportion of courts’ time and resources. Additionally, there is overwhelming evidence that conflict has a deleterious effect on their children. We partnered with the family court to conduct a study comparing the effectiveness of two programs for families deemed by their judge to be high conflict and thereby mandated to a program. Both involved one 3‐hour session; the existing program, Parent Conflict Resolution (PCR), used exhortational lecture and video; the newly designed experimental program, Family Transitions Guide (FTG), based on motivational interviewing, employed exercises attempting to get parents to decide for themselves what they needed to do for the sake of their children. Parents were assigned at random to one of the two programs (the literature often terms this a randomized clinical trial) and were interviewed just before it began and 9 months later, as was a child. Results showed that child's report of their own well‐being was significantly improved by FTG as compared to PCR and that these effects were mediated by children feeling less caught in the middle. On several variables, parent report showed that parents in PCR as compared to FTG felt decreased problems in co‐parenting and less interparental conflict, although the effects were not consistent across mother and father report. There was also evidence of diminished legal conflict over 9 months in FTG as compared to PCR.     

论律师法的修改及对刑事诉讼理念的影响

修改后的律师法,扩大了执业律师在刑事诉讼活动中的权利,从理论上解决了律师执业中"会见难"、"阅卷难"和"调查取证难"的三大难题.从立法机关的立法理念上来讲,这次律师法修改,是一种刑事诉讼理念上的进步,赋予了律师与司法机关在刑事诉讼中更加平等的权利,给予了律师以充分的法律信任,表明律师的政治地位和法律待遇在不断提高,他们将在刑事诉讼中发挥越来越大的作用.     

程序视角下的劳动教养制度研究

目前的劳动教养制度已不能适应当今社会的发展,而且不符合分权制衡的法理。可能导致权力滥用。从建设和谐社会的目标出发,有必要从程序上完善劳动教养制度：劳动教养的决定权必须由人民法院行使;公安机关仅负责调查、取证、向法院提出对当事人劳动教养的请求;同时应该加强检察机关对公安机关的监督。最终做到劳动教养制度的公开、公正。