司法鉴定基本理论之再检讨

司法鉴定应当具有主体特殊性、对象专门性、启动被动性和结果科学性四个基本特征 ,为此 ,建立鉴定人资格确认和审查制度十分必要 ;限定鉴定对象的范围也应成为鉴定制度的要素。强调鉴定程序启动的被动性有利于保持鉴定的中立性 ,并划清鉴定权和司法权的界限 ;强调鉴定结果的科学性则有利于确定鉴定的效力制度。     

国家赔偿案件应建立怎样的证据规则

本文从国家赔偿案件处理的相关案例来说明应当建立怎样的证据规则,对于举证责任的分配,由于法律规定由赔偿请求人举证,其范围应包括三方面:1、侵权的事实。2、损害的后果。3、赔偿请求事项的证据。但是请求人举证不排除赔偿义务机关的举证责任。对于对卷宗证据的调取,应采取法院依据职权调取的原则,对证据的审核认定的特殊性也应注意。     

108例强奸案件的法医学分析

本文通过对108例强奸案件的分析,从法医学角度探讨了与强奸犯罪相关的一些因素,并提出:加害人与被害人自身素质与强奸案件的发生有关;法医学证据在强奸案件中具有不可替代的作用;及时报案能获取更多的法医学物证;研究犯罪动机有助于预防和减少强奸案件。     

THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

The legal standards for admissibility of expert testimony have recently been raised following several U.S. Supreme Court decisins. Although forensic mental health experts have relied on psychological testing as a method of data collection for many years, the scientific basis of such testing has traditionally gone unquestioned in court. Given the increased scrutiny currently being applied to expert testimony, it is more important now than ever for attorneys, judges and forensic experts to understand the scientific principles underlying psychological tests. In this article, the scientific principles of validity and reliability are explained, and scientifically acceptable methods for the forensic use of psychological testing are discussed. The application of recent case law to several well-known tests is described.     

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。