伤残评定标准及赔偿方式的比较研究

目的比较目前司法实践中常用的伤残评定标准及赔偿方式,以揭示目前我国人身伤害民事赔偿中存在的现实问题。方法时目前司法实践中常用的工伤标准、交通标准、普通伤害标准三大标准的内容进行比较;对与上述三大标准相对应的赔偿方式进行比较。结果（1）就标准的内容来看：三大标准中伤残条款的设立、级剐有显著的区别,同种损伤依据不同的标准评定,其伤残评定结果差异明显,“同伤不同残”现象较为普遍。（2）就标准的宽严尺度来看：工伤标准宽泛,门槛低,级别评定较高;而交通、普通伤害两个标准严格．门槛高,较轻的损伤不易评定为残疾。（3）就标准的架构来看：工伤标准、普通伤害标准在架构上严谨;而交通标准不够严谨,分级过于简单且涵盖内容不全。（4）就标准的强制力来看,交通标准为国家强制标准,级别最高．工伤标准其次,为国家推荐标准。普通人身伤害标准级别最低,目前尚无全国统一的标准;有的省适用自制标准（如江苏、北京）,有的省适用工伤标准,有的省适用交通标准,其效力常常遭到质疑。（5）就三种损伤类型的赔偿体系来看：赔偿方式各不相同,赔偿额差距显著,“同伤不同价”现象突出。因为目前全国没有统一的普通人身伤害标准．地方对伤残标准及赔偿方式的应用极为混乱,有的地方以宽松的残疾标准（如工伤标准）评定伤残,再配以目前普通伤害案件宽松的赔偿方式,其结果是赔偿额大幅增加,造成明显的司法不公。结论上述问题的解决应从伤残评定的医学标准着手,目前急需制定一部适用于普通伤害的残疾评定标准,这样可以确保在每一赔偿体系中,均存在与其相配套的医学评定标准,以避免因鉴定标准的不同引发的司法不公。     

Data Protection Impact Assessment: A tool for accountability and the unclarified concept of ‘high risk’ in the General Data Protection Regulation

Article 35 of the GDPR introduces the legal obligation to perform DPIAs in cases where the processing operations are likely to present high risks to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. This obligation is part of a change of approach in the GDPR towards a modified compliance scheme in terms of a reinforced principle of accountability. The DPIA is a prominent example of this approach given that it has an inclusive, comprehensive and proactive nature. Its importance lies in the fact that it forces data controllers to identify, assess and ultimately manage the high risks to the rights and freedoms. However, what is first and foremost important for a meaningful performance of DPIAs, is to have a common and objective understanding of what constitutes a risk in the field of data protection and of how to assess its likelihood and severity. The legislature has approached these concepts via the method of denotation, meaning by giving examples of (highly) risky processing operations. This article suggests a complementary approach, the connotation of these concepts and explains the added value of such a method. By way of a case-study the article also demonstrates the importance of performing complete and accurate DPIAs, in terms of contributing to improving the protection of personal data.     

Mission impossible? Assessing the veracity of a mental health problem as result of a road traffic accident: a preliminary review of UK experts’ practices

The number of people claiming for personal injury after being involved in a road traffic accident (RTA) in the UK continues to soar. In April 2015, the UK Government intervened to implement measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of fraud within such personal injury claims. However, these reforms did not include claims for mental disorder that arise because of a RTA despite being responsible for substantially larger payouts in comparison with claims for whiplash. The present study examines the assessment practice for detecting fraudulent claims of this nature using a mixed methods survey analysing UK medico-legal professionals’ assessment methodologies (N = 37). The findings suggest comprehensively that assessment practices in this field are idiosyncratic. The findings evidence limitations in all aspects of the assessment process from medico-legal assessors being asked to undertake examinations without the presence of medical records to 44% of examiners being unaware of the three types of malingering. The article concludes with recommendations for improving both assessments and the assessment process for assessing RTA claimants in the UK.     

The Word Memory Test in medicolegal assessment: a measure of effort and malingering?

The Word Memory Test (WMT) is claimed to measure effort and to detect cognitive response bias. Archival data from n = 2526 cases referred in 2009–2016 for medicolegal assessment were analyzed. Each participant underwent a medical and a psychological examination including a cognitive test battery and several validity measures including the WMT. The WMT validity test scores do not approximately follow a normal distribution. Thus, parametric statistics for WMT validity scores may not be appropriate. WMT performance explains 0–20% of the variance in cognitive test performance. This is more than what substantial brain damage accounts for. The standard uniform cutoff indicating a ‘fail’ in all three WMT effort subtests (equal or less than 82.5% correct responses) seems not supported by the data. Taking into account the context of the testing, cutoffs may be chosen according to the desired sensitivity or specificity. ROC-statistics with modified Slick criteria as gold standard for malingering look alike for the three WMT effort subtests, with a AUC between 0.86 and 0.88. The WMT seems a good indicator of both effort and (Slick) malingering, however, little is gained by administering the entire test.     

The Balanced Approach [Revisited]

The authors of the original Balanced Approach, Dennis Maloney, Dennis Romig, and Troy Armstrong, outlined a philosophy of balanced attention to the principles of community protection/public safety, youth accountability, and competency development through individualized assessment and treatment and holding the system accountable to the community and the youth served. A majority of states’ juvenile code purpose clauses reflect this approach, later known as Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ). Presented here are excerpts from the 1988 Juvenile & Family Court Journal issue 39 (3) that first presented the Balanced Approach and a brief overview of key features of juvenile justice at the time to lay a foundation for the other articles in this special issue.     

Differences in intimate partner homicides perpetrated by men and women: evidence from a Norwegian National 22-year cohort

Most of our knowledge about intimate partner homicide (IPH) is based on studies of men, as they outnumber women as perpetrators. From a total cohort of IPHs in Norway from 1990 to 2012 (N?=?177), we investigated differences between male (n?=?157) and female (n?=?20) perpetrators in terms of (a) IPH characteristics and sentencing issues, (b) sociodemographic, contextual and clinical factors, and (c) previous intimate partner violence. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that, in comparison to male perpetrators, female perpetrators were more often in intimate partnerships without mutual children, had a greater number of accumulated welfare deficiencies, and tended to be ascribed different motives (fear and revenge) for their crimes.     

Evaluating the utility of ‘strength’ items when assessing the risk of young offenders

There is emerging recognition that positive or pro-social characteristics may lessen criminal propensity. There are now several adult and youth forensic instruments that include protective or strength components. Yet evidence supporting the protective capacities of these instruments with youth offending populations is still developing. This study aimed to identity the prevalence of strength items on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory tool, and their relationships with risk and re-offending for a cohort of 212 multi-cultural Australian juveniles in custody. The prevalence of strengths in the sample was low, and differed by cultural group. Young people who possessed a strength yielded lower instrument total and domain scores and were more likely to be afforded a lower level of risk compared to youth without a strength. Moreover, youth who possessed a strength were significantly more likely to desist from re-offending. This association remained after controlling for level of risk. Findings point to the importance of strengths when assessing a young person’s risk for re-offending.     

Research Progress on Function Evaluation Standard and Method of Lower Extremity ImpairmentCSCD

The lower extremity impairment can be caused by illness, accident, work-related injury, traffic accident and fighting, etc. The injuries of lower extremity joint, nerve, muscle and tendon may lead to lower extremity dysfunction. So far, there is no unified standard for international and domestic function evaluation of lower extremity impairment, the evaluation standards in the same field are also different, and function evaluation of lower extremity impairment has no complete research system. However, the degree of lower extremity impairment has great influence on personal damage compensation. Therefore, the function evaluation of lower extremity impairment often becomes a dispute issue in forensic medicine identification. This article summarizes the function evaluation standards, methods and status quo of lower extremity impairment, so as to provide a new insight into the research on standardization of lower extremity impairment. © 2018 by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.     

Public Figures and Stalking in the European Context

The paper presents a brief overview of the international scientific research regarding stalking, threats and attacks on public figures. A special focus lies on European research and its tradition. Particular attention is directed towards the concept of pathological fixations on public figures which covers different forms of harassment and aggressive behaviour. A closer look at the history of scientific research and relevant case examples in this area reveals that pathological fixation on public figures is a phenomenon which was described by psychiatrists as early as 150 years ago. As stalking can affect various kinds of public figures, the research presented here covers stalking of celebrities, politicians, corporate figures and royals who become the victim of harassment or violent attacks. Finally, the state of the art regarding the management of public figure stalking and harassment and the prevention of assassinations by fixated persons in Europe is reviewed.