Formal Legal Truth and Substantive Truth in Judicial Fact-Finding -- Their Justified Divergence in some Particular Cases

Truth is a fundamental objective of adjudicative processes; ideally, substantive as distinct from formal legal truth. But problems of evidence, for example, may frustrate finding of substantive truth; other values may lead to exclusions of probative evidence, e.g., for the sake of fairness. Jury nullification and jury equity. Limits of time, and definitiveness of decision, require allocation of burden of proof. Degree of truth-formality is variable within a system and across systems.     

论完善我国律师权益保障制度

文章从律师执业过程中律师权益得不到很好保障的分析入手,提出为完善我国律师权益保障制度,主要应转变观念、改善司法环境、加强救济。     

Mock Jurors’ Reactions to Selective Presentation of Evidence from Multiple-Opportunity Searches

Prior to trial, litigants sometimes conduct broad investigations in which there are multiple opportunities to find supportive evidence by chance alone. During trial, litigants may selectively present only the most helpful evidence uncovered by their investigations. Two experiments examined whether mock jurors appreciate that the evidence they hear at trial may be a selective and unrepresentative sample of underlying facts. The data suggest that people do understand the significance of multiple-opportunity searches for legal inference. However, they may not consider the possibility that evidence was strategically selected from a larger sample space of facts unless that sample space is identified.     

High-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry method for acrylic and polyester forensic fiber dye analysis

A critical point of comparison between a fiber collected from a crime scene and a fiber from a known source is the color. Fiber dye analysis using thin-layer chromatography or ultraviolet (UV)-visible (Vis) microspectrophotometry provides useful, although limited, data for comparison. High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/MS) overcomes these limitations by integrating chromatography, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry into a single instrument. In order to evaluate the applicability of the LC/MS to forensic fiber dye analysis, a multi-stage chromatographic method using acidified water and acidified acetonitrile was developed that separated and identified a mixture of 15 basic and 13 disperse dye standards. The LC/MS also detected and analyzed dyes extracted from individual 0.5 cm acrylic and polyester fibers, demonstrating its applicability to this type of analysis. With regard to the analysis of disperse dyes in polyester fibers, the replacement of pyridine with acetonitrile in the extraction system allowed direct injection of the extracts into the LC/MS. The advantage of the LC/MS over other instrumental methods of textile dye analysis is demonstrated by the analysis and differentiation of three black acrylic fibers: two fibers had similar UV-Vis spectra but were differentiated with chromatography and two had similar UV-Vis spectra and chromatograms but were differentiated using the mass spectrometer.     

Two items of evidence, no putative source: an inference problem in forensic intelligence

Intelligence analysts commonly associate cases on the basis of similarities found in compared characteristics of scientific evidence. The present paper studies some of the inferential difficulties associated with such operations. An analysis is proposed that breaks down the reasoning process into inference to common source, and inference to case linkage. The former requires an approach to the difficulty associated with evaluating the similarities of items of evidence from different cases with no putative source being available. The latter requires consideration to be given to the relevance of evidence. Throughout the paper, probability theory is used to describe the nature of the proposed inferences. Graphical models are also introduced with the aim of providing further insight into the dependence and independence relationships assumed to hold among the various propositions considered. Notions from decision theory are used to discuss ways in which intelligence analysts may assist investigators in deciding whether or not cases should be considered as linked.     

诚实证人证言或然性探析

诚实证人的证言,往往被采信的概率比较大。但即便是诚实证人,受感知能力、回忆识记能力以及取证方法不当等因素的影响,在办案实践中对案件事实也往往只能作出或然性(可能是,可能不是)的判断。司法办案人员必须科学地认识诚实证人证言,树立正确的取证观,客观、全面地收集和核查诚实证人证言,确保公正司法、严格执法、依法保障公民的合法权利。     

高职院校“双师型”教师队伍建设的探讨

随着我国职业教育迅速发展,培养建设一支教育观念新、改革意识强、师德高尚、有较高教学水平和较强实践能力、专兼结合的高素质的"双师型"教师队伍,是高职院校办出水平、办出特色的首要条件.研究"双师型"教师队伍的特征,制定"双师型"教师培养措施,是当务之急.     

H-Y抗原的法医学应用前展

雄性特异性次要组织相容性抗原,简称H-Y抗原(male specific minor histompatibility antigen)是由Y染色体上的基因编码的一组次要组织相容性抗原,其与X染色体上的H-X抗原同源。H-Y抗原为一种雄性动物特有的物质,其在雄性个体中表达具有普遍性,分布无组织和器官特异性,其最初是作为一种移植抗原被发现的。近年来很多文献报道了H-Y抗原的相关研究,作者主要综述H-Y抗原在性别控制和鉴定方面的研究,并在法医学应用方面的前景作出了一些展望。     

德国刑事诉讼法中的证据使用禁止

本文从批判性的视角概述了德国刑事诉讼法中关于证据采纳或者说是关于证据禁止的问题。证据禁止区分为非自主性证据使用禁止和自主性证据使用禁止。非自主性证据使用禁止可能是由于公诉中初步侦查时的取证错误导致的。就是否适用非自主性证据使用禁止这一问题，德国司法官会从几个方面加以考虑，例如，犯罪的严重性或者是取证错误的严重性。自主性证据使用禁止是由于侵犯了个人隐私。例如，私人日记不能作为证据使用。     

孤证规则的内在逻辑与制度构成——基于“印证证明模式”展开的论证

孤证规则的内在机理，是通过多个证据的相互印证确保刑事诉讼中事实认定的准确性，是对自由心证的有益补充。在明确“孤证不能定案”原则的基础上，孤证规则的构成包括两部分内容。一是孤证的认定标准。孤证，是指证明案件核心事实的证据只有一个，孤证既可以是言词证据也可以是实物证据。孤证的判断是实质判断，其标准是证据的信息来源是否同一。二是孤证不能定案的例外。包括“因待证事实证明标准降低而设置的例外”和“基于经验法则而设置的例外”，前者适用于对程序性事实、非要件事实、量刑事实的证明，后者则包括完整记录犯罪行为的录音录像、遗留在隐蔽位置的生物组织、证明被告人案发时唯一在场的证据等。