Desistance and Legitimacy: The Impact of Offender Notification Meetings on Recidivism among High Risk Offenders

Legitimacy-based approaches to crime prevention assume that individuals will comply with the law when they believe that the law and its agents are legitimate and act in ways that are “fair” and “just.” Currently, legitimacy-based programs are shown to lower aggregate levels of crime; yet, no study has investigated whether such programs influence individual offending. Using quasi-experimental design and survival analyses, this study evaluates the effectiveness of one such program—Chicago’s Project Safe Neighborhoods’ (PSN) Offender Notification Forums—at reducing individual recidivism among a population of returning prisoners. Results suggest that involvement in PSN significantly reduces the risk of subsequent incarceration and is associated with significantly longer intervals that offenders remain on the street and out of prison. As the first study to provide individual-level evidence promoting legitimacy-based interventions on patterns of individual offending, out study suggests these interventions can and do reduce rates of recidivism.     

Communication in family court: financial remedy proceedings from the perspective of litigants in person

The article presents a rationale for communicative, conceptual, cognitive and procedural challenges experienced by litigants in person in financial remedy proceedings. The article also explores oscillation between written and spoken legal genres and narrative development strategies which litigants in person have to use throughout different stages (from the early stages of starting proceedings, filling in court forms and providing documentation, through the negotiation process to interaction in court). While legal professionals express themselves in paradigmatic legal mode influenced by legal acts and legislation, litigants in person tend to express themselves in narrative mode similar to everyday storytelling. The objective is to investigate obstacles litigants in person experience during the process originally designed by legal professionals for legal professionals. The article evaluates different options for empowering lay people involved in legal proceedings and argues for the need to provide more specific support for different stages of family proceedings.     

Students and the police in Ghana: mixed feelings

This study examines university students’ perceptions of the Ghana police service in contrast with general population studies that explain citizens’ attitudes toward the police. Two research questions guided this study: (1) What are university students’ perceptions of the police? and (2) What factors influence university students’ perceptions of the police? Using data collected from one large university in Ghana between the months of December 2012 and February 2013, the study found several intriguing findings. First, students have moderate trust in the Ghana police. Second, students critically evaluated police procedural fairness and effectiveness. Multivariate regression models revealed that vicarious experiences of police corruption, marital status, level of education, and ethnicity predicted students’ trust in the police as well as influenced their perceptions of fairness and effectiveness. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

民事程序选择权的法理基础

程序选择权是以尊重主体人格尊严以及多元化需求为基础的一项公民的基本程序权利。从民事程序选择权的概念和性质出发,民事程序选择权的法理基础可以界定为:人权内涵的体现、程序主体性原则的应有之义、处分权主义的必然结果。同时,民事程序选择权在保障程序公正、提升程序效率等方面对民事诉讼及民事纠纷的解决有着不可忽视的作用。     

以审判为中心的刑事诉讼制度改革

十八届四中全会决定提出“推进以审判为中心的诉讼制度改革”,这触及了中国刑事诉讼结构中一个由来已久的症结.“以审判为中心”观念的缺失,造成了同一审级诉讼流程中审判的“离心化”和实际上的“侦查中心主义”,进而导致垂直审级结构中第一审的“失重”,在实践中引发了较为严重的后果和特殊的政治风险.推进以审判为中心的刑事诉讼制度改革,应当在两个方向上着手:在水平方向上,首先应当在宏观的侦查、审査起诉和审判的关系上实现“以审判为中心”,其中的关键在于抑制案卷移送制度的不良影响,同时为“审判中心主义”发掘更大的制度空间;其次在审判阶段应当做到“以庭审为中心”,其核心要求是保护被告方的对质权;法院判决的权威性来自公正的庭审,法院自身也不能脱离庭审来进行事实认定.在纵向的审级结构上,在打造坚实的第一审的基础上,确立第一审在事实认定方面的权威地位,同时合理界定和调整第二审和死刑复核程序的功能,确保第一审在整个刑事程序体系中居于“重心”地位.     

实质诉讼法的“脱私入公”过程及其复兴意义 ——以温特沙伊德《当代法意识下的罗马私法之诉》的解读为主线

民事诉讼法是实质诉讼规范和诉讼程序规范之集合,但通说却将其同义于诉讼程序法而尘封实质诉讼法。从法律发达史上考察,实质诉讼法曾依附于实体私法体系,且与诉讼程序法长期处于分离状态,在脱离私法体系之后于民事诉讼法中找到了安身之处,并且在公法诉权说的推动下皈依了公法。在实质诉讼法脱私法体系而入诉讼法体系的发展过程中,温特沙伊德的《诉论》发挥了主要原动力作用,因而被奉为促成民事诉讼法走向独立化的“门罗宣言”。本文拟通过解读《诉论》,阐述实质诉讼法脱离私法体系而入公法的民事诉讼法之过程,恢复实质诉讼法的本来面目,以为我们克服民事诉讼法同于纯程序法之观念提供理论上的支撑。     

认罪认罚从宽制度的体系性反思与建构

虽然认罪认罚从宽制度是在我国《刑事诉讼法》中得以正式确立的,但《刑事诉讼法》中涉及此制度的具体规定又都是操作层面的。据此,认罪认罚从宽制度的合理性并不能得以阐释。而依据我国《刑法》,对认罪认罚从宽制度的合理性则可以从形式逻辑、实质逻辑以及价值理念三个维度予以充分证成。由此可知,认罪认罚从宽制度本质上系《刑法》中的一种刑罚裁量制度,认罪认罚本质上是法定的从宽量刑情节。在定罪层面,犯罪嫌疑人、被告人只需自愿承认不法事实系其所为,即构成"认罪",而无需准确评价自身行为的法律性质并准确识别具体罪名;在量刑层面,"认罚"考察的重点是犯罪嫌疑人、被告人的悔罪态度和悔罪表现。应当通过刑法立法的方式将认罪认罚从宽制度与自首制度、坦白制度部分重叠地整合在一起,以避免"概念混同""重复评价"的错误倾向。     

关于"正义"的法哲学研究

法律应体现正义,对此应作出法哲学的历史考察。研究表明,对"正义"的追问必触及到其中关于"程序"与"伦理"的内在矛盾。要强调,"程序正义""伦理正义"的合理性,共同构成"法律合法性"的基础。总之,应当立足实际建设体现"程序正义""伦理正义"相统一的"正义之法"。     

辩论主义的根据

对辩论主义的根据,理论上存在本质说、手段说、防止意外打击说、程序保障说、多元说、法探索主体说、信赖真实协同确定说等观点,它们从不同的角度论证了实行辩论主义的必要性。由于现代民事诉讼法的价值理念包括实体价值和程序价值两个方面,并且民事诉讼在客观上乃民事诉讼法和民事实体法共同作用的“场”,因而辩论主义的确立和贯彻,有其实体根据和程序根据,是以此为基础的多元根据的必然要求。     

浙江争创应对气候变化“重要窗口”的机遇与路径

气候变化是人类社会面临的严峻挑战。在共同应对气候变化的国际共识业已形成,中国日渐成为全球气候治理引领者的大背景下,应对气候变化理应成为浙江建设“重要窗口”的核心组成部分。为此,浙江必须持续推进产业、能源和运输等领域的结构性减排,实现高质量碳达峰;采取超常规措施挖掘自然碳汇和人工碳汇潜力,尽早谋划碳中和实现路径;完善碳排放权和碳汇交易机制;建立健全气候治理的领导机制、市场机制和社会机制,为争创应对气候变化“重要窗口”提供制度保障。