The stability of punishment: A follow-up of Blumstein's hypothesis

Because of the intrinsic relativity of social tolerance toward crime, the rate of punishment that a given society inflicts on its criminals is expected to remain relatively constant over the long term, in spite of social changes and increasing or decreasing crime rates. This paper reconstructs the penal behavior of Montreal's criminal justice from 1845 to 1913 and finds that the stability hypothesis, all things considered, works quite well and has much heuristic value. Three problems, somewhat bypassed in the existing literature, are dealt with here: the reliability of penal statistical time series, the direct empirical evidence of stabilization processes, and a rather crude way of measuring prison punishment. It is suggested, furthermore, that the stability hypothesis include in its future argument the impact of increasing policing and that it be confined tentatively to modern western societies.     

案卷排他性：公安行政处罚听证的规则运用

公安行政处罚要受《公安机关办理行政案件程序规定》的规制。《公安机关办理行政案件程序规定》第一百二十二条规定应当体现了案卷排他性原则,即将听证笔录作为公安机关作出行政处理决定的唯一依据。这是对行政处罚法有关行政听证程序规定的新发展。     

认罪认罚案件量刑建议“分类精准”模式之提倡

量刑建议权是公诉权的应有之义,对于认罪认罚案件而言,检察机关提出精准量刑建议是量刑协商的根本要求,不仅不会侵犯审判权而且有利于审判权更加合理地行使,为实现审判中心主义创造条件,具有正当性基础。精准量刑建议包括确定量刑建议和"最小化幅度"量刑建议,按照认罪认罚案件的不同类型,遵循比例原则和诉讼经济原则之间的制约与被制约关系,并根据量刑建议精准化程度与程序简化力度之间成正比、与案件重大程度成反比的关系,构建出"分类精准"模式,分为速裁程序及有期徒刑三年以下简易程序案件的确定量刑建议、有期徒刑三年以上五年以下简易程序案件的确定量刑建议为主"最小化幅度"量刑建议为辅等五种类型。检察机关分类测算精准量刑建议时,在量刑基准上应坚持责任优先主义,根据行为的不法与罪责确定责任刑,并采取"点的理论"确定起点刑和基准刑,把认罪认罚作为独立的预防刑情节予以考量。通过建立与"分类精准"相适应的量刑指南、量刑协商、量刑建议说理、量刑调整等机制,提高量刑建议精准化水准。     

Factors that influence death penalty support among university students in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) became an independent nation state in 1992 and abolished the death penalty six years later. Little is known about how Bosnians view the death penalty. This study addresses this gap in the literature. Utilizing self-reported survey data collected from 440 university students enrolled at the University of Sarajevo in 2009, we assess the degree of support for the death penalty and what factors predict this support among university students in BiH. Drawing from the broader punitivity literature, the following correlates are considered: individual characteristics (e.g. age and sex), individual experiences (e.g. fear of crime and prior victimization) and philosophical attitudes pertaining to punishment (e.g. deterrence, retribution, modernity and indifference). Among the students surveyed, roughly half (52.7%) were in support of the death penalty. Results from a series of multivariate statistical analyses reveals that only philosophical attitudes predict death penalty support after controlling for important individual characteristics and experiences. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Chimera of Proportionality: Institutionalising Limits on Punishment in Contemporary Social and Political Systems

The concept of proportionality has been central to the retributive revival in penal theory, and underlies desert theory's normative and practical commitment to limiting punishment. Theories of punishment combining desert‐based and consequentialist considerations also appeal to proportionality as a limiting condition. In this paper we argue that these claims are founded on an exaggerated idea of what proportionality can offer, and in particular fail properly to consider the institutional conditions needed to foster robust limits on the state's power to punish. The idea that appeals to proportionality as an abstract ideal can help to limit punishment is, we argue, a chimera: what has been thought of as proportionality is not a naturally existing relationship, but a product of political and social construction, cultural meaning‐making, and institution‐building. Drawing on evolutionary psychology and comparative political economy, we argue that philosophers and social scientists need to work together to understand how the appeal of the idea of proportionality can best be realised through substantive institutional frameworks under particular conditions.     

死刑复核程序之检察身份探究

在死刑复核权回归的背景下,探索检察机关介入死刑复核程序涉及其双重角色的正当求证问题。基于检察监督权与公诉权之上下权能辨析,并合理构建检察机关内部的权力分野机制,检察机关在死刑复核程序中的双重角色并不存在逻辑上的悖论,相反它符合我国现行的司法权力分配与制度运行逻辑。     

论劳动教养的错位与刑罚的效能缺失

我国劳动教养制度存在着性质错位、劳动对象在立法上的错位;目标错位、刑罚效率缺失;刑罚权威缺失;公民法律意识 模糊等问题。因此,我国应作出相应的法律规定,以适应社会发展需要。     

试论犯罪经济学的原理

犯罪经济学的理论基础是犯罪经济学所阐述的各种具体理论、观点的出发点,是统帅犯罪经济学各种具体理论、观点全局的基本理论。其核心是探讨如何解决和处理由资源的稀缺性同人类欲望的无限性这对矛盾引起的犯罪等非法活动问题。其构成要素主要有效用最大化、具有不同效率和协调作用的市场及市场主体稳定的偏好。犯罪经济学主要应用的理论有理性选择理论、成本和收益理论、惩罚成本和惩罚机率理论、边际效用理论等。犯罪经济学的理论价值在于:它的产生推动了犯罪学的深入发展,表明了经济学家也可以涉足犯罪研究领域,人类在同犯罪作斗争时也应讲求经济效益,等等。     

追寻公正：解析我国轻罪重判刑事赔偿问题

本文试从分析一起轻罪重判刑事赔偿案入手,围绕本案所涉及到的我国在有关刑事赔偿的立法、司法方面实现公平、正义的法治精神问题进行阐述,进而立足于对法治精神追寻,探求解决这一国家赔偿问题的有效途径,以期实现真正的人权保障与司法公正。     

帮助犯罪分子逃避处罚罪若干问题研究

帮助犯罪分子逃避处罚罪是刑法增设的一个新罪名,关于其理解和适用都存在一些争议和难点。本文从剖析理论和实践中的分歧出发,对本罪主体范围的界定、客观方面的认定、本罪与近似犯罪的区分以及本罪认定中的一罪与数罪等问题进行了研究。