美国司法语境下法律解释的宪政困境及其消解

分权的政治逻辑要求法官在司法过程中保持克制与谦抑以维护多数主义的民主价值,然而解释学的本体论转向使法官解释的能动性成为既成事实,通过司法实现正义又成为美国宪政制度的法治追求。分权逻辑与解释学逻辑在话语上的对立构成民主与法治的张力,形成法律解释的宪政困境,这从根本上缘于西方宪政民主制度内在的结构矛盾。在美国司法语境下,对于法律解释的宪政困境存在着司法积极主义和司法消极主义两种司法哲学的对立,温和的司法积极主义对于法律解释宪政困境的缓解是可行的理论进路。     

能动司法哲学观的解读

司法能动主义首先是从美国兴起的一场司法运动。在历史上司法能动主义并没有一个统一的含义。在美国历史上就司法克制还是司法能动的争论非常激烈,而司法姿态也是在这两种审判哲学之间呈现出"来回摆动"的情形。随着我国法治建设的发展,这种争论也渗透到我国的司法界和理论界。目前我国提出能动司法的审判哲学,这与西方的司法能动主义存在交集,同时也有区别。对此,我们应该予以辩证地看待。     

中国能动司法内涵解析

通过观察决策者的有关讲话、行动以及各级法院的实践,我们发现,当下中国能动司法的内涵主要有三层：能动司法是一项司法政策,它以解决当下司法突出问题为直接目的;能动司法是一种司法理念,它树立了＂能动＂和＂服务＂的司法新理念;能动司法是一项司法战略,它以谋求中国司法的自主道路为最终目标。这些内涵表明,中国与西方的能动司法没有直接联系。能动司法提出后,决策者的使命已经完成。接下来的关键是,法律人如何把充满政策性、理念性和战略性的能动司法转换成法律性、实在性和现实性的能动司法。法律方法可能是实现这种转换的必由之路。     

Gender differences in the evaluation of aggravating and mitigating circumstances: the mediating role of attributional complexity*

At the penalty phase of a capital trial, jurors endorse and weigh aggravators and mitigators. The purpose of the current studies was to examine how gender differences in attributional complexity relate to endorsements of aggravators and mitigators. In Study 1, undergraduate participants read definitions of aggravators and mitigators and rated the extent to which circumstances were aggravating or mitigating. In Study 2, a death qualified community sample read a trial summary, rated the extent to which aggravators and mitigators were present in the case, reported whether mitigators outweighed aggravators, and rendered a sentence. Results indicated that gender differences in mitigator endorsement were mediated by attributional complexity, and that gender differences in sentencing decisions were serially mediated by attributional complexity, mitigator endorsement, and aggravator and mitigator weighing.     

Perceptions of suspect statements: a comparison of exposed lies and confessions

Confrontational interrogation techniques seek to produce a confession, while investigative interviews focus on information gathering and/or catching suspects in lies. Confessions obtained during interrogations are potent for securing a defendant’s conviction. However, the goal of investigative interviews is not to produce a confession, yet it is unknown if their outcome (e.g. exposed lies) is as effective in court as that of an interrogation (i.e. a confession). In two studies, mock jurors read case summaries wherein a defendant was accused of murder and terrorist activities. In both cases, the statement a defendant made during a police interview was manipulated: The defendant either lied or not and either confessed or not. Participants then rendered a verdict and were asked about the probative value of several pieces of supporting evidence. Results were similar across both studies with more convictions when the defendant lied, confessed, or did both relative to when the defendant produced a statement without lies and without a confession. Furthermore, we found that perceptions of supporting evidence mediated the effect of exposed lies on culpability, but this was not the case for confessions. These findings illustrate the positive qualities of presenting exposed lies in court, diminishing the need for a confession.     

当下中国能动司法的知识反思

当下中国的能动司法要充分发挥其积极作用并同时避免不利的实践与后果,就必须要恪守能动司法的限度;也即要处理好“能动”地司法与“依法”司法之间的关系,并在此基础之上型构起能动司法的边界。因而,这不仅意味着,当下中国司法场域里的能动司法,必须要认真对待法治的基本原则,甚至是“法条主义”;而且也意味着当下中国的司法改革,必须要摆脱长期以来西方二元对立的司法知识观对中国司法裁判与司法发展的宰制,以一种新的、当然也是适合于中国社会的司法知识观来引领中国的司法发展。     

Mock jurors’ perceptions of a child witness: the impact of the presence and/or intervention of a registered intermediary during cross-examination

ABSTRACT

In recent years Registered Intermediaries (RIs) have been involved in facilitating communication in children's investigative interviews and trial proceedings. Their presence and interventions are generally deemed to have a positive impact on child engagement, but their impact on jury appraisal of evidence, during cross-examination is unclear. This study addressed this issue in a more ecologically valid context than that previously used. Adult mock juror participants (N?=?217) watched a video-recording of a mock cross-examination of a child witness in which a RI was present or absent, and in which RI type interventions were either included or omitted. The participants rated the quality of the cross-examination and the child's responses in relation to child credibility, child understanding, legal professional's behaviour, and trial progression. Findings indicated that RI presence or absence, and inclusion or omission of interventions had no effect on mock juror ratings. However, an interaction between these variables demonstrated that mock jurors rated trial progression towards a guilty verdict according to which court professional did, or did, not intervene. The findings also demonstrated that mock jurors based their assessment of trial progression towards a guilty verdict on the evidence presented, and that child understanding per se was irrelevant.     

Identifying and measuring juror pre-trial bias for forensic evidence: development and validation of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale

Abstract

Previous research has provided support for the impact of juror pre-trial bias on judicial decision making, particularly in cases where the evidence presented at trial is of weak or ambiguous probative value. In an effort to identify whether a pre-trial bias for forensic evidence exists, the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale (FEEBS) was developed and tested. The results of a principal components analysis suggested that two distinct constructs were being measured, corresponding to a pro-prosecution and pro-defence bias toward forensic evidence. In a second validation study, scores on these two subscales were compared with other existing juror bias measures (Juror Bias Scale and Belief in a Just World) and in a mock juror decision making task only the pro-prosecution subscale of the FEEBS predicted the perceived strength of forensic evidence. A partial mediation model is presented which explains the relationship between this bias and verdict preferences. The implications of this potential juror bias are discussed in the context of real juries, the CSI Effect (which refers to anecdotal claims that jurors are biased by the popularity of fictional representations of forensic science on television) and peremptory challenges, as well as future research directions.     

Alain Badiou's Politics and the Problem of Social History

Abstract

This paper explores the plausibility of Alain Badiou's ahistorical theory of politics. By insisting that the events of egalitarian politics are radically subtracted from social and historical conditions Badiou imagines a form of political action that effectively comes out of nothing. However, in order to establish the very prospect of an event's occurrence Badiou is forced to ground the possibility of political intervention in his theory of "evental recurrence", which effectively enables the subjects of political action to draw on the consequences of a preceding event in order to act in the here and now. The paper argues that by introducing the social dimensions of evental recurrence it is possible to construct an alternative account of political action that resolves a number of inconsistencies in Badiou's otherwise miraculous vision of politics. Consequently, rather than a militant activist that comes out of nowhere, evental recurrence implies that the militants of political action are saturated in their immediate social and political circumstances and in the memory of past struggles.