Prisons,Proportionality and Recent Penal History

A leading aim of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 was to install the principle of proportionality as the primary rationale for sentencing and to bring about a reduction in the use of imprisonment.  In the decade that followed the prison population in England and Wales rose steeply.  This article examines the reasons for the rising use of prison, in order to assess whether proportionality (or ‘just deserts’) was tried and failed.  It argues that in practice the proportionality principle was overwhelmed by other influences, and that deterrence and incapacitation were the main drivers of the increasing use of imprisonment.  The article goes on to argue that proportionality theories have within them the resources to produce penal moderation, notably the ‘drowning out’ argument, the human rights argument, and decrementalism.  The article concludes by rejecting the claim that proportionality theories are likely in practice to result in escalating punishment.     

同一认定理论在侦查中的继承与拓展

在传统的侦查理论和侦查实践中,同一认定理论仅仅作为刑事侦查技术即技术鉴定的理论加以应用,这不仅在内容上限制了同一认定理论的应用,也在客观上限制了对同一认定理论研究的深化。本文通过详细的实证和分析后认为,同一认定理论在认定的主体、认定的客体以及认定的种类等方面都有较多、较广的拓展。同一认定理论不仅贯穿于侦查活动的全过程,而且贯穿于侦查活动中各项侦查措施和侦查手段中,与侦查活动是全方位、多层次的结合。     

非刑罚化——当代刑法改革的主题

本文论证了非刑罚化运动发端的刑事观念基础 ,分析了非刑罚化运动的方式和途径 ,主张我国应当实行“轻轻重重 ,以重为主”的刑事政策 ,在以严刑惩治重大犯罪的同时 ,适时地对轻微犯罪进行非刑罚化。     

论宽严相济刑事司法政策视野下前科消灭制度的构建

宽严相济的刑事司法政策系国家出于促进社会和谐、加强社会治安综合治理的考量。“一日行窃、终身是贼”的前科终身制度不利于促进行为人的积极再改造。前科消灭制度作为当今世界大多数国家普遍采用的一项制度,对于贯彻宽严相济刑事司法政策具有积极意义,有必要加以借鉴和应用。建立前科消灭制度,不仅有利于激励有前科的行为人积极改造,同时也有利于减少社会对立面,促进社会和谐。     

对存疑不起诉者不应予以刑事赔偿

对逮捕的被存疑不起诉人不应予以刑事赔偿,因为逮捕和存疑不起诉是两个独立的诉讼决定,并且存疑不起诉具有自身的特殊性.如果对存疑不起诉予以国家赔偿,将会对刑事诉讼带来不良后果.     

Prison Decayed: Cinematic Penal Discourse and Populism 1995–2005

The increased populist and punitive turn in criminal justice policy in the United Kingdom over recent years has led to punishment becoming politicised, harsher and more ostentatious. The role of media and popular culture discourses of prison is rarely examined in this account. Adopting a Foucauldian discourse analysis of prison films released over the past 10 years, this article explores the prison film as one important element of the discursive regime. It seeks to investigate what representational practices are at work, how they limit the meaning of prison and prisoners, and how this may contribute to debates about the nature and aim of prison in contemporary society. It argues that several discursive practices exist in cinematic representations of the incarceration that strengthen support for the use of prison. The explicit and recurring depiction of violence in most prison films over the past 10 years, while appearing to offer evidence for prison reform, does the opposite. This paper suggests that discourses around the futility and inhumanity of incarceration are scant, replaced by scenes of prison violence; rape and death appear, which appear to exist purely for the pleasure of the spectator: a generic feature of the prison film. Secondly, prisoners are largely constructed as an inhuman other: a danger to society and deserving of harsh punishment. Consequently, the discursive regime of prison in cinema over the past decade constructs prison as not only necessary, but as the only process for crime control and reduction.     

Probation system in Turkey: an analysis of a public policy formation using multiple streams framework

Turkey initiated a major reform in its criminal justice system in 2005 and a probation system was officially created. This article analyses the probation policy formation, and development processes in Turkey using a multiple streams framework (MSF), as theorised by John Kingdon. Qualitative method is employed through archival records, governmental documents, and semi-structured interviews with key actors. Findings suggest that MSF explains the evolution of the probation system, which emerged in a critical time. However, although the probation system was set up to overcome the increasing prison population and alternative to incarceration, the number of prisoners and probationers have increased significantly. Today, Turkey has been ranked one of the largest prison population in the world. It is concluded that the penal policy has led to unintended consequences, and the penal system including probation practices has been dramatically politicised by the government.     

劳役制度的历史嬗变及人文思考

劳役制度是统治集团凭借国家强制力为后盾,在拘束、限制犯人人身自由的基础上,强制犯人进行劳役,形成的制度.该制度作为一项重要的监狱管理制度,历经了一个由产生、发展到逐步完善的过程,具有丰富的内涵及特征.探讨劳役制度,对劳动教育改造人犯,有着重要的借鉴价值和现实指导意义.     

The rise of the penal state in Latin America

The recent work of Loïc Wacquant identified the emergence of the penal state as a core feature of the global expansion of neoliberalism and the neoliberal government urban marginality. Drawing on Wacquant’s theoretical and conceptual reflections, this article analyses the emergence of a Latin American form of penal statecraft. By taking an in-depth look at the increasing criminalization of urban marginality in contemporary Latin America as well as the related developments in the local prison system, the single most important institutional expression of the Latin American penal state, important commonalities and differences between the penal statecraft experiments throughout Latin America and the countries of the ‘developed world’ are highlighted.