以审判为中心的庭审模式对法医出庭质证的挑战

以审判为中心的庭审模式是当今诉讼改革的主要方向,案件庭审实质化是诉讼改革的主要目标,在此背景下,法医鉴定人出庭质证将会实质化、常态化。为此,最高人民法院等部门出台了保障鉴定人出庭的相关规定、规则。法医鉴定意见质证实质化要求法医鉴定人在出庭时履行相关义务:尊重法庭、如实回答提问、释明鉴定意见。当前法医参加庭审质证中存在法医鉴定人出庭率低、鉴定意见的法律性质不明确、鉴定人出庭的具体要求不明确、与包括专家辅助人在内的其他专家证据形式的冲突等问题。为此,笔者向法医鉴定人提出三点建议:不断学习,提升专业技能;加强修炼,提高法律知识;注重实践,强化表达能力。     

公安机关鉴定人员面临错鉴责任风险

错案时有发生,错案与错误的科学证据有着密切关系。在全面推进依法治国、建设社会主义法治国家的大背景下,公安部对《公安机关人民警察执法过错责任追究规定》做了修订,其中的内容涉及鉴定人员出具虚假、错误鉴定意见的法律责任。除了相关部门加大投入、提高鉴定人员的待遇之外,作者提出了5条建议:加强对鉴定人员的职业伦理教育;鉴定人员应当努力提升自身的业务水平;规范实验室管理,严格鉴定程序;做好送检的检材、样本等物证的交接与保管;增强鉴定文书书写制作意识,保存好鉴定档案。     

当前司法鉴定存在的问题及危害性

司法鉴定存在的问题,既有法律规定不完备之处,也存在司法鉴定体制不合理的问题,这些问题不利于司法机关正确的运用鉴定结论这一证据。严重影响了依法办案。建议立法机关尽快对司法鉴定有关问题予以立法。使司法鉴定有章可循,有法可依。     

专家的局限性及其控制——政府决策咨询视角

政府公共事务决策要广泛听取专家的意见和建议,这对决策的科学化、民主化起着重要作用.由于专家也存在着局限性,对此各级政府决策机构必须引起足够的重视.本文试图通过对专家局限性问题分析,探索关于如何克服专家局限性的有效对策,以便为政府公共事务管理决策提供参考.     

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.     

Do Jurors “Know” What Isn’t So About Child Witnesses?

Are expert witnesses needed in child sexual abuse cases to educate jurors about children’s memory, suggestibility, and reactions to abuse, or do jurors already know what such experts could tell them? To cast light on this question, we surveyed jurors and jury-eligible college students and compared their beliefs with what is known via scientific research regarding children’s memory and ability to testify, reactions to interrogation, and reactions to sexual abuse. We also asked participants to infer results of four widely cited studies of children’s suggestibility. Participants’ beliefs were consistent with findings from research on some issues (e.g., that children can be led to claim that false events occurred) but diverged from the scientific consensus on other issues (e.g., whether children can remember painful events in infancy). Similarly, participants sometimes overestimated and sometimes underestimated the level of suggestibility observed in empirical studies. Individual differences in accuracy were related to participants’ gender, education and ethnicity, and there was considerable disagreement among participants on many questions. Implications of findings for the admissibility of expert testimony in child abuse cases are discussed.     

Party System Change in Italy: Politicising the EU and the Rise of Eccentric Parties

Using expert survey data covering the 2001–13 period, this article investigates the changing shape and structure of the Italian policy space over time, as well as parties’ shifting policy positions. Our results show the emergence of a distinct pro-/anti-EU (European Union) dimension structuring party competition and a change in the meaning of EU related attitudes. The increasing importance of the pro-/anti-EU dimension is due to the entry of brand new parties in 2013. Our findings also speak to the Euroscepticism literature, as they question the hypothesis according to which Euroscepticism is confined to peripheral parties located at the extremes on the left–right scale.     

专家辅助人出庭协助质证实务探讨

为相关部门实施＂两法＂以及制定＂专家辅助人出庭协助鉴定意见质证实施细则＂提供参考资料,需要对＂有专门知识的人＂出庭就鉴定人的鉴定意见质证等六个亟待解决的实务问题进行探讨。＂有专门知识的人＂法律上不具有唯一性且未反映其身份和职责特点,宜更名为＂专家辅助人＂;对＂专家辅助人＂的条件和资格确认提出主张;探讨＂专家辅助人＂出庭质证规则的四个主要问题;对＂专家辅助人＂在法庭上向鉴定人提问的内容与方式和参加鉴定意见辩论应掌握的要点提出若干规范性建议;对＂专家辅助人＂法庭质证意见的性质与作用发表评论性意见,并认为专家辅助人应依法进行统一管理,建立以司法行政机关管理为主、人民法院管理为辅的两结合管理模式。     

德国司法鉴定在司法中的运作及其借鉴

本文作者曾有幸参加国家外国专家局与司法部司法鉴定管理局联合组织的德国司法鉴定培训班。此文以考察见闻为基础，结合文献资料，对德国法院系统在司法审判中运用司法鉴定的实际状况进行较全面的考察。并结合中国目前司法鉴定改革的现状，提出一些个人建议。     

刑事重复鉴定的困境与对策

刑事诉讼中的重复鉴定有助于最大限度地澄清案件客观事实，还原案件真相。但刑事案件往往牵扯错综复杂的利益关系，法律对重复鉴定条件的模糊化设定与鉴定次数的不加限制可能导致控辩双方以及被害人一方在利益驱动的作用下规避既存鉴定意见，刻意追求对已方有利的鉴定结果，导致诉讼久拖不决，浪费司法资源。确立重复鉴定制度的改革目标，明确重复鉴定条件，限制重复鉴定次数，并辅以配套措施，将有助于发挥重复鉴定的预期功能，并控制负面效应。