Enhancing judicial skills in domestic violence cases: the development,implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a model US programme

ABSTRACT

The overwhelming number and complexity of domestic violence cases in criminal and family courts has resulted in the development of education programmes to assist judges. There is limited research on judicial education in this area. This paper reviews one such initiative entitled ‘Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases’ (EJS) that has been developed and implemented over the last 20 years by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, a partnership of the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and Futures Without Violence. We present findings of a preliminary evaluation of the programme based on the self-reports of 480 judges who had taken the four-day workshop between 2006 and 2010. Overall, judges reported the programme to be engaging and effective. At a six-month follow‐up, most of the judges identified specific benefits and behavior changes in the areas of access to justice, judicial leadership, victim safety, and abuser accountability as a result of participating in the programme. Critical issues in judicial education are highlighted based on the authors’ experiences in the development and implementation of this programme.     

Assessing the Performance of a Court System: A Comprehensive Performance Measures Approach

Many court systems suffer from long lead times, poor service quality, and low throughput. In many cases improvements are continuously introduced through various managerial and professional methods. This article proposes a set of measures to assess the effectiveness of court systems. This set of performance measures includes response-time, throughput, and work-in-process. While court systems generate a multitude of statistical data it is difficult to apply them across individual courts.

The article tailors well established generic performance measures to the specific court arena. The individual measures are aggregated into a single figure that assesses the court's performance along the time axis and relative to comparable court systems.

The proposed measure of performance and the aggregate score were validated with real life figures from the Israeli court system.     

EDITORIAL

Abstract

Jane Addams (1860-1935), founder of Hull House in Chicago, was a social worker, sociologist, criminologist, feminist, and pacifist. She dedicated her life to caring for the underprivileged and oppressed and to fighting for the rights of workers, women, and children. This paper examines her life and seeks to demonstrate her many contributions to sociology, criminology, and society. Among her pioneer works in criminology that have not been recognized are the ecological maps of Chicago that preceded Park's and Burgess' concentric zone theory, social justice issues such as child labor, compulsory education, and juvenile offenders. She also was a peace activist during World War I and many of her ideas and concepts are found in the peacemaking writings of current criminologists.     

道路交通事故二次损伤致死17例分析

目的探讨道路交通事故二次损伤致死的法医学鉴定思路和要点。方法收集17例道路交通事故二次损伤致死的案例,通过事故现场勘验和尸体检验收集交通事故发生的基本信息以及损伤分布、性质等资料。根据收集的信息,重建事故发生过程,明确死者的致伤过程,分析损伤的致伤方式和机制、损伤的严重程度,判断属生前伤抑或死后伤,明确死者的死亡原因。结果道路交通事故二次损伤致死案例存在损伤严重,多发伤与复合伤常见,生前伤、濒死伤与死后伤并存,致伤方式多样,致伤机制复杂,甚至多次损伤相互掩盖等特点。结论道路交通事故二次损伤致死的法医学鉴定需结合事故现场勘验、尸体检验等综合分析和判断。     

97例醉驾案例的回顾性分析

目的通过对醉驾案件的回顾性分析,探讨醉驾人员构成、发生时间以及心理等。方法收集97例杭州市某城区2011年5月1日—2012年4月30日醉驾入刑实施一周年的案件,从醉驾易发时间、驾驶人年龄、性别、职业特性、户籍所在地和心理因素等方面进行分析。结果 97例醉驾案例中,26~40岁、外地户籍、非职业驾驶员的男性为多,22:00至次日5:00易发生醉驾。结论醉驾与时间、年龄、性别、职业等具有一定相关性,醉驾驾驶员多存在侥幸、图方便、逞强、好面子心理。     

Repeat Citizens in Motor Vehicle Stops

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the possible existence of the repeat phenomenon and their impact on racial disparities in police motor vehicle stops. The repeat phenomenon is the existence of a small proportion of people or places that account for a much larger proportion of events. While this phenomenon has been identified and discussed in other areas of criminal justice and criminology, it has not been extended to motor vehicle stops. The current study examines the existence of repeat citizens in a population of motor vehicle stops (N = 4775) from a Mid-western city during 2001. A small, but significant, concentration of motor vehicle stops were discovered among a few citizens and significant predictors of citizen performance included citizen race, gender, age, residency, time of the stop, and reason for the stop.     

电动两轮车侧翻倒地滑动摩擦系数实验研究

目的两轮车侧翻倒地后的滑行摩擦系数是利用两轮车碰撞后倒地滑行距离进行速度计算的关键参数,论文通过试验研究提出用于道路交通事故速度计算的电动两轮车侧翻倒地滑动摩擦系数。方法在综合分析电动两轮车侧倒滑行摩擦系数影响因素的基础上,利用正交试验设计摩擦系数实验方案,并采用实车牵引的方法,在不同速度条件下,分别在干燥、潮湿的沥青混凝土路面及水泥混凝土路面上进行实验。结果实验所得数据显示,电动两轮车侧翻倒地滑动摩擦系数的范围为0.40～0.60。结论通过对所得数据进行处理,提出适用于电动两轮车交通事故再现的摩擦系数范围。     

司法与行政的有限分立——晚清司法改革的内在理路

面对近世西域分权思想的传入及其对传统中国法律与司法制度的冲击,晚清统治集团把革新司法权力运行体制与方式,推进以司法与行政相分立为核心的司法体制改革,作为施行预备立宪的基本思路和策略选择。在国权统一的模式下,晚清统治集团推行有限度的司法与行政之分立。然而,中央官制改革方案对于法部与大理院之间司法权限的界定并不清晰,遂引发了后来影响广泛的法部与大理院之间围绕司法权限而展开的激烈争论。这场部院司法权限之争,深刻地反映了司法独立理念与行政支配司法理念之间的价值冲突。晚清司法改革标志着新的近代型司法制度的出现,体现了近代中国法制与司法文明的历史进步。     

湖南省基层交警警力不足的成因及解决对策

近年来,交通管理工作任务日益繁重与警力不足之间的矛盾日渐凸现。执法环境严峻、非警务活动多等是造成基层交警警力不足的外部因素;工作任务繁杂、源自工作本身以外的压力过重、警力配置不科学、经费保障不足等是公安机关内部的因素。要通过科学配置警力、完善管理机制以及落实从优待警等途径从根本上解决基层交警警力不足的问题。