‘Done to death by father or relatives’: Irish families and infanticide cases, 1922–1950

In February 1929 the Bishop of Ossory commented on the fact that in Ireland illegitimate infants were often ‘done to death by father or relatives’ (Irish Catholic, 16 February 1929). There were many instances where family members of unmarried women who gave birth were the sole defendants or co-defendants in infanticide cases in post-independent Ireland. Although illegitimate infants were ‘done to death’ by their fathers in a number of cases that were tried at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin between 1922 and 1950, this article will focus on cases where infants were murdered or suspected of having been murdered by relatives of the birth mother both in the Twenty-Six Counties and in Northern Ireland (Irish Catholic, 16 February 1929). For the purposes of this article I have referred to the murder of illegitimate infants as ‘infanticide’ even though there was no separate charge of infanticide in the Irish Free State until 1949. The English infanticide acts of 1922 and 1938 also applied to Northern Ireland. This article discusses the motives of the relatives of single mothers who played a part in the deaths of illegitimate infants. Unmarried motherhood was severely frowned upon in Ireland and the relatives of single pregnant women assisted their female kin in destroying the evidence of extra-marital conception in order to protect the family's honour and moral reputation in the wider community. The records of infanticide trials provide a great deal of insight into the ways in which mainly working-class families dealt with the strain of pregnancy outside wedlock in Ireland between 1922 and 1950.     

The Child's Attorney and the Alienated Child: Approaches to Resolving the Ethical Dilemma of Diminished Capacity

Increasingly lawyers for children follow a model of “client centered” (as opposed to “best interests”) representation in child custody disputes in which the child client defines the objectives of the representation. The client‐centered model, while appropriate in most cases to give voice to the child's preferences in a process that deeply impacts him or her, can create an ethical dilemma for the child's lawyer in cases where a child is truly alienated from the other parent by the actions of the alienating parent. Alienated children strongly and unreasonably express a preference for objectives of representation that might further damage the alienated parent's relationship with the child. The alienated child's objectives may be the result of a campaign of denigration and “brainwashing” by the alienating parent. This Note suggests that when a child is truly alienated from a parent, as diagnosed by a mental health expert, the child may have “diminished capacity” and therefore, the client‐directed model of representation is not adequate. This Note proposes that the Child's Attorney must determine whether the child is of diminished capacity under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and, if so, must treat the client accordingly under Rule 1.14. Specifically, the attorney may, if all other remedial measures are inadequate, override the child's wishes and advocate a position that the child would take, but for the brainwashing of the child used to alienate him or her from a parent.     

The 2000 American Presidential Election

Abstract

The 2000 Presidential election was one of the longest, most expensive and closest in American history. It was the Presidential election that exposed the flaws (or genius) of the electoral college system, demonstrated the imperfections of media dependency on exit polls and quick election calling, and showed how a third party candidate with just two percent of the popular vote could make the difference in the crucial state of Florida. Democrats lost states they should have won; Republicans lost every big city and most of their suburbs; and the Florida election came down to a five-to-four muddled decision by the Supreme Court. Americans collectively learned a great civics lesson: that even in a bitter, controversial contest, our candidates accept defeat graciously; the simple act of voting is not so simple; and that for all its shortcomings, the electoral college did work.     

The Legal Obligations of Albania in the Stabilization and Association Agreement Between Albania and EU

The purpose of this article is to discuss the legal effects of the preliminary agreement between Albania and EU （European Union） on the EU and on the Albanian national legal system. The topic is ＂The Legal Obligations of Albania in the SAA （Stabilization and Association Agreement） With EU＂, and the purpose is to address the issue of harmonization and application of the obligation in the most effective way regarding the EU legislation. The method used is systematic, comparative and teleological analysis of the European and national legal systems and inherent principles and reflection on the ways of integration and coordination between them. At first the sources and features of the EU legal system will be presented. Then the application of these principles in preliminary and pre-accession agreement and through them their influence over the EU and over the national legal system of the pre-accession states will be presented. The contribution will be to argue that the preliminary agreement between EU and Albania creates legal effects both on the EU and on the national legal system of the pre-accessions countries. Their lull and effective application will be the duty of national court and legislators.     

人民检察院适用非法证据排除规则的程序化构建

2012《刑事诉讼法》及《人民检察院刑事诉讼规则（试行）》继《关于办理刑事案件排除非法证据若干问题的规定》之后对人民检察院在审前程序中适用非法证据排除规则作了相关的规定,这对于强化对侦查行为合法性的监督、保障犯罪嫌疑人的人权具有重要作用,但是当前的规定还是存在一些不足之处,这将制约其作用的发挥。因此,有必要对其进行“程序化”,构建专门的听证程序,明确相关的程序性规定,增强其可操作性。     

关于简易程序公诉人出庭若干问题的思考

2012年修改的《中华人民共和国刑事诉讼法》第210条第2款规定,"适用简易程序审理公诉案件,人民检察院应当派员出席法庭",公诉人出庭适用简易程序审理的公诉案件成为法定义务。公诉人出庭有利于落实对抗制诉讼模式,有利于维护被告人的权利,有利于检察机关履行法律监督的职责,但同时这也会给公诉人带来理念、素质与工作量等方面的挑战。许多检察机关在积极尝试探索出庭模式,主要形成了专职公诉人出庭模式与公诉人集中出庭模式。两种模式优劣并存,需要进一步论证,并建立相关配套制度机制。     

我国地方行政程序立法的新发展

近年来,我国多个地方政府制定了行政程序规则,这在学界引起了较大反响和争鸣。这些地方行政程序立法的主要内容包括立法目的、原则体系、行政程序的类型、公众参与和信息公开、立法架构、制度创新等方面,其主要特点是回应性、创新性、民主性、程序实体兼顾性。我国地方行政程序立法仍有诸多后续课题需要研究。     

刑事诉讼法中及时性原则刍议

及时性原则作为联合国刑事司法准则之一,已成为各国指导诉讼效率和期间的基本准则,我国先后两次修订《刑事诉讼法》对及时性原则均有所体现,但未予以实质性加强,一些问题仍亟待解决。     

The International Criminal Court and the Darfur crimes: The dilemma of peace and supra-national criminal justice

ABSTRACT

The supra-national criminal prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of the alleged crimes committed in Darfur raises critical legal and conceptual issues. This article addresses the dilemma of peace, justice and reconciliation from a legal perspective, as well as the justice options that are available. The article also assesses the Sudan's criminal and military laws (both at the substantive and procedural levels) in terms of the country's ability to prosecute international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In this respect, the article argues that these laws fall short of international criminal law standards and principles – particularly the amendments introduced after the United Nations Security Council referred the Darfur situation to the ICC. The article critically examines the Sudan government's policy of non-engagement, which ultimately led to supra-national criminal prosecution (represented by the ICC intervention under the complementarity principle of the Rome Statute). Finally, the article interrogates the report issued by the African Union High-Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD), and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of its recommendations.