Forms of fettering: application forms and the exercise of discretion in the welfare state

ABSTRACT

Application forms are often the compulsory interface between citizens and their social rights. Applicants for support must navigate the questions, checklists and blank spaces in often long, detailed documents to assert their social entitlements. Given their ubiquity and the central role they play in the administration of the welfare state, it is perhaps surprising that they have been neglected in favour of a focus on other documentation, principally policy and guidance. This paper argues that the non-fettering ground of review – a principle whose jurisprudence is tied to the design and use of policy – also engages application forms. Through an analysis of 271 application forms used to administer the localised Discretionary Housing Payment scheme in England, three examples of their fettering potential are provided: the imposition of exhaustive criteria; requiring the applicant to self-classify or disclose irrelevant considerations; and constraining responses through tied evidential requirements. By arguing that the non-fettering ground should not limit itself to one kind of document (policy) when administrators are so reliant on another (application forms), the paper’s broader agenda is to argue that principles of good administration should apply to all documentation used to administer social entitlement.     

量刑情节的立法完善与技术完善

该文客观分析了中国刑法典对量刑情节规定的主要瑕疵，提出了对量刑情节的立法完善建议，指出电脑量刑技术的弊端、提出改进方向，并对颁布量刑指南的必要性和前提条件作了分析，为中国刑法典的修订提供参考。     

假释制度若干问题研究

作为在目的刑影响下产生，以实现受刑人再社会化为目标的刑罚执行制度，假释被许多国家所青睐。随着宽严相济刑事政策在刑罚执行过程中的贯彻和刑罚个别化观念的深入与执行，假释更是成为一个备受社会各界特别是司法界关注的问题。这样就需要对假释的理论根基、假释前实际执行刑期、假释后的监管等具体问题进行深入探讨，以期更进一步提升假释在刑罚执行过程中的作用。     

行政法上的平等原则探析

平等原则,经常作为受不利处分的当事人所引据为请求作成撤销或变更特定处分的理由,简单地说,也就是"别人可,为何我不可?"这就是"不法的平等"问题。相对人能否依据信赖原则在应然与实然之间主张不法的平等,国外和我国台湾地区一般禁止该主张,我国正处于市场化和法制化逐步完善之时,也宜加以禁止。     

我国社区矫正适用条件研究

由于我国社区矫正工作起步较晚,加上社区矫正制度执行上有很多实际问题没有解决,所以社区矫正工作在很多方面还是遇到了一些难题和困境。通过对我国社区矫正的适用条件现状进行研究,提出对我国社区矫正适用条件的完善建议。     

量刑法定化:罪刑法定原则内涵的应有拓展

罪刑法定原则必须与时俱进,刑法规范内容的多样化必然带来罪刑法定原则内容的多样化,但罪刑法定原则长期被学界定位为犯罪与刑罚的法定化,无法充分体现其限制刑罚权滥用的制度价值。随着刑事司法中的最大问题由罪刑擅断到量刑不公的转变,罪刑法定原则的内涵亦应该有所拓展,即从"犯罪与刑罚之法定化"的二元格局迈向"犯罪、刑罚与量刑之法定化"的三元格局。其中,评价范围与评价方法的法定化,就是量刑法定化的题中之义。     

Organizational climate,work stress,and depressive symptoms among probation and parole officers

While work environment and stress are important factors for mental health, no studies have assessed whether these factors contribute independently to the psychological well-being of probation and parole officers (PPOs). Using statewide survey data from 825 PPOs, we examine the association between depressive symptoms, work stress, and work environment (using the organizational climate measures of role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload and emotional exhaustion/burnout). Findings indicate that organizational climate and work stress are important predictors of emotional exhaustion/burnout, and that these factors have both indirect and independent associations with depressive symptomotology. Together, models including organizational climate and work stress account for two-thirds of the variability in burnout. Moreover, models incorporating exhaustion/burnout, work stress, and organizational climate account for nearly half of the variability in depressive symptoms. Organization climate measures and work stress contribute to depressive symptoms through their effect on emotional exhaustion/burnout. In addition, emotional exhaustion/burnout, role conflict, and work stress are all directly linked to levels of depressive symptoms. This study demonstrates that organizational climate and work stress contribute substantially to the well-being of PPOs and reveals the potential mental health consequences of working in community corrections.     

警察选择性执法之规范

选择性执法在警察行政中相当普遍，而选择性执法形成原因的复杂性，社区警政模式的兴起，对个案正义的追求，行政效率的提升等因素决定了规范机制的复杂和困难。基于此，选择性执法规范机制必须建立在对其更为深入而全面的了解基础之上，而且还应该通过多种措施的组合，尤其是警察执法规则的适用，才能有效规范选择性执法。     

我国假释制度两极化改革构想

在两极化刑事政策导向下，西方国家的假释制度朝着严厉与宽缓两个方向发展。在严厉方面表现为选择性无害化的提出、三振出局法的出台以及实际刑运动的兴起等；在宽缓方面主要表现为中间制裁和强制假释。我国应当借鉴西方国家两极化的假释制度，坚持对严重暴力性犯罪假释的限制，同时放宽轻微犯罪的假释条件，并创建多元假释制度。