论司法公正与我国法院体制改革

法院应当在社会关系中具有独立性和中立性,这是体现司法公正的前提和条件。对照联合国关于法院为司法公正的应当具有独立性的通常标准,可以查找出我国法院在体制方面存在一些不足,我国法院体制在实现司法公正方面应当进行改革。     

犯罪控制视野下的暂缓起诉裁量权

随着起诉裁量权的扩大化,在刑事起诉程序中运用高质量的犯罪控制策略,可以减少人与人之间的冲突,促使人们积极行动并且积极合作;它还可以很好地实现有限司法资源的适当配置,从而实现诉讼效率。暂缓起诉的价值就在于它在起诉阶段将一部分刑事案件进行分流,使其不必进入审判程序,这不仅有利于节约司法资源,实现诉讼的经济原则,同时国家检察机关通过暂缓起诉对刑事案件的介入处理,也可以达到弱化社会矛盾,调整社会关系,恢复社会秩序的目的,从而实现犯罪控制的社会整体效益。     

Perceptions of affirmative action among its beneficiaries

Using data obtained through a separate study, interviews with women of color associated with and involved in the development of an affirmative action (AA) program were analyzed in light of Tyler's theories of procedural justice. Interviews were examined for respondents' implicit or explicit judgments of AA as fair or unfair in principle and in practice, and whether respondents used Tyler's six elements of justice criteria (representation, consistency, impartiality, accuracy, correctibility, and ethicality) in their assessments. Tyler's criteria are used by the respondents in their assessments. Beneficiaries perceive AA to be fair in both contexts, although fairer in principle than in practice. The issue of commitment was raised in several contexts as a salient concern of many of the respondents, and several concrete examples of deficiencies and successes in the ways AA is implemented are reported.     

The miscarriages of justice in late Qing Dynasty—analysis focused on the original trial judge Liu Xitong in the case of Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai

This article introduces the case of Yang Naiwu and Xiao Baicai, a famous case in late imperial China, and its important value for the study of legal history of the Qing Dynasty. Based on the analysis of this case, this article focuses on the issue of the responsibility of the magistrate Liu xitong, the judge of this case, who analyzed the mentation of his miscarriage under the pressure of the rules about judges responsibilities in their judgment through which reveal the stimulation and passive infection of the judgment of the judges. __________ Translated from the Jurist Review, 2005, (2) (in Chinese)     

罪刑法定原则论纲

罪刑法定原则是刑法的根本原则,它存在的形式前提是宪法中规定的法治原则,而实质前提则是民主主义与自由主义。作为刑法原则,罪刑法定原则在形式上表现为四个派生原则,在实质上就是人权保障原则。由于两大法系对法治主义理解的不同,所以罪刑法定原则在大陆法系表现为面向实体的原则,而在英美法系则表现为面向程序的原则(实体的正当程序原则)。罪刑法定原则的实现,首先是作为立法原则,其次是作为司法原则,其不是实现在刑法运行的某一阶段,而是实现在刑法运行的全过程中。     

社会主义社会正义的空间价值维度——《社会主义空间正义》一书评介

当代中国正在驶入城镇化快车道,数亿人口将在短短几十年间从乡村迁徙定居到城市,也因此将带来大量的矛盾和问题。如何通过城市及更广泛意义上的空间问题寻求社会正义这个人类核心的价值,青年学者王志刚博士的专著给我们提供了一个清晰的答案。该书视角新颖,文笔流畅,观点独到,是近年来学术界研究城市哲学与空间问题的一部力作。     

Review Article: The environmental turn in territorial rights

Recent theories of territorial rights could be characterized by their growing attention to environmental concerns and resource rights (understood as the rights of jurisdiction and/or ownership over natural resources). Here I examine two: Avery Kolers’s theory of ethnogeographical plenitude, and Cara Nine’s theory of legitimate political authority over people and resources. While Kolers is a pioneer in demanding ecological sustainability as a minimum requirement for any viable theory of territorial rights – building a bridge between environmental and political philosophy – Nine highlights a crucial distinction when looking at territorial rights from a global justice perspective, namely that between jurisdictional powers and ownership rights over resources. Daring and innovative at first glance, I claim that both theories present, however, deep ambiguities and retreat from their radical implications which, if taken seriously, would lead to a massive redrawing of current territorial borders.     

Practicing Normality: An Examination of Unrecognizable Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

Transitional justice and peacebuilding mechanisms have a tendency to reflect the extraordinary nature of conflict. These recognizable mechanisms—official bodies and institutions with preconceived goals and processes—are often inaccessible and undesired. In fact, what is often desired in post-conflict societies is the ordinary: a transition to a ‘new normal’. This article explores the various ways in which Sierra Leoneans practice normality in the post-conflict era. This is done through economic restoration, agricultural activities and religious engagement. Ultimately, these mechanisms are often seen as a more legitimate and meaningful way for many ordinary Sierra Leoneans to move past their war-related experiences and find some sense of peace and justice.     

American politics,British policy: whole of life imprisonment and transatlantic influence

Since the abolition of the death penalty, life imprisonment in England and Wales has had a literal meaning with exceptional rarity. Now though, in the rejection of perceived interference by the European Court of Human Rights in domestic sentencing, the politics of whole of life imprisonment have become exposed, specifically, in the widening applicability of the tariff to those who kill police officers or prison guards. Borrowing from the politics of capital punishment in the United States, in both “acting out” after a particular crime, and the prioritising of victim groups, the most severe penalty in England and Wales is increasingly beginning to mirror how the most severe punishment across the Atlantic is used, represented, and politicised.     

Police legitimacy and support for vigilante violence in Pakistan

Bottoms and Tankebe recently analysed the multidimensional nature of police legitimacy and made an argument for its relevance to social order. Using survey data from three communities of varying socioeconomic conditions in Pakistan, this paper examines the links between the multiple dimensions of the Bottoms-Tankebe model of police legitimacy and support for vigilante violence. The findings show overall high levels of support for vigilantism. Regression analysis shows that experiences of police illegality consistently predict support for vigilantism across the three communities. Perceived quality of police decision-making predicts support for vigilantism in some conditions but not others. Contrary to expectations, quality of interpersonal treatment by police and police effectiveness do not explain support for vigilantism. We also found no evidence to show that feelings of obligation to obey the police mediate the influence of police legitimacy on vigilante support. The implications of these findings are discussed in this paper.