论我国非法口供排除规则的再完善——以非法口供证明力的阻断为视角

我国目前的非法口供排除规则仅能从形式上排除非法口供,非法口供实质上已经通过庭前案卷移送预先进入审判者的视线,并最终对案件事实的认定发挥重要作用。同时,非法口供排除规则对是否排除“重复自白”和以非法口供为线索取得的物证是否排除没有规定。这些问题都会影响非法口供排除规则能否达到彻底排除的效果,因此有必要从证明力的角度对非法口供进行研究,并对我国非法口供排除规则进行再完善。     

证人证言可靠性的心理学影响因素

证言对案件侦破和定罪量刑有至关重要的作用。证人证言的可靠性是指其准确性、一致性和完整性,它会受到一系列因素的影响。心理学以往研究得出证言可靠性的影响因素主要包括：（1）证人年龄、性别等个体因素;（2）证人作证时的心理状态;（3）证人感知案件时的环境因素;（4）询问方式和类型。这些研究虽然存在效度等问题,但也大大地拓宽了...     

"最好矫正日常生活视力"在司法鉴定中的意义

目前我国法医学鉴定实践中有关视力障碍的评价主要是以WHO防盲研究小组于1973年制定的疾病分级标准为依据,所考察的是"最好矫正视力".有时最好矫正视力与日常生活中实际使用的视力可能不一致.WHO于2003年新制定的盲及视力损害分类标准,提出用"日常生活视力"取代"最好矫正视力".在司法鉴定实践中由于伤者的夸大或伪装,"...     

性别性受苦——中国贵州苗族中年妇女关于家庭暴力的口述见证

这篇文章根据我们在贵州苗族地区所收集的口述故事书写而成.从1999到2004年,我们采用口述见证方法（oral testimony）作为我们社区发展的一种策略,尝试从苗族妇女的生命故事中,理解她们面对的困难与需要,从而让我们更能够与她们一起推动社区发展的项目和计划.我们推动口述故事项目背后,还有女性主义的关怀,希望这些偏远山区的边缘妇女能够通过口述故事发声,让我们能够聆听她们被隐没的需要,理解在家庭和社区中各种形塑她们生命历程的社会力量.在这研究中,我们特别发现中年妇女生命中面对的苦难大多与家庭相关,她们不断述说家庭的负担、家庭冲突、家庭暴力、丈夫酗酒等的问题.阅读她们的生命故事,我们得出的结论是,家庭暴力是她们主要面对的苦难之一,而这苦难是当地妇女的集体经验,是性别性和制度性的.在这文章中,我们特别希望指出,当地家庭暴力产生的根源并非是单一性的,而是父权制度、农村贫困、传统文化习惯等交织在一起,形塑了她们生命的遭遇和苦难.     

A face in the crowd: The influences of familiarity and delay on preschoolers’ recognition

Abstract

Preschoolers’ abilities to recognize former caregivers were examined. Participants were 35 children from three preschool classes. Caregivers volunteered in the classes over a 7-week period. At an initial assessment, children were asked to select former caregivers from a line-up of five photographs, and to rank-order the caregivers by personal preference. Recognition was assessed again after 3 months. Although older toddlers performed at chance levels, clear age-related increases in recognition performance were observed, with older preschoolers recognizing 86% of the volunteers at time 2. Younger children responded less consistently over time than older children. Preference for individual caregivers affected recognition performance among younger, but not older, preschoolers. Implications for children's eyewitness testimony are considered.     

Heuristics in causal reasoning and their influence on eyewitness testimony

Abstract

In two experiments the effect of knowledge of the seriousness of an event's outcome on the estimated strength of its causes was studied. In experiment 1 participants (n=87) were shown a video of a homeless man being evicted from a police station by a police officer, during which the evictee fell. One group of participants were told that the homeless man subsequently died; the other group was told that he was uninjured. Participants who thought the homeless man had died more often blamed the policeman for the man's fall. Estimations of the force of the push were not directly related to the outcome of the event, but rather to the attribution of blame, with those who blamed the officer giving higher estimates of the force of the push. In experiment 2, before watching a revised version of the video, the participants (n=88) were assigned to one of four groups. Groups A and B were told that the homeless man had died; groups C and D were told that he had survived. In an effort to counter interference of blame attribution, groups A and C were told that the officer was to blame for the man's fall, and groups B and D that the officer was not to blame. The manipulation of guilt was not successful, but this time a significant relation between event outcome and push force was found, with those who thought the homeless man had died giving higher estimates of the force of the push than those who thought that the man had survived. As in experiment 1, those who thought the homeless man had died more often blamed the policeman and those who blamed the policeman again gave higher estimates of the force of the push. It appears then that the more tragic the outcome of a violent incident, the more blame witnesses tend to attribute to the perpetrator, and the more they tend to overestimate the amount of violence involved.     

A comparison of Chinese judges' and US judges' knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony

Abstract

We surveyed 170 Chinese judges about their knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony, and compared their answers to a prior survey of 160 US judges. Although the Chinese judges were less knowledgeable than the US judges, both groups had limited knowledge of eyewitness testimony, including for such important issues as whether lay people can distinguish between accurate and inaccurate eyewitnesses. Unlike the US judges, greater knowledge of eyewitness factors for the Chinese judges was not related to beliefs that may be necessary to reduce eyewitness error. Compared to the US judges, the Chinese judges were much less likely to believe that they needed additional eyewitness training and that they knew more about eyewitness testimony than lay persons. We also discuss the impact of culture, legal systems, investigative procedures, and judges' function on the Chinese judges' responses, and the legal reforms that China may need to implement to reduce eyewitness error.     

DNA evidence in South Africa: Lessons learned to date

A trend was noted over the past 15 years in the South African courts. This trend has a multi-factorial origin and highlights the problems faced in the use of forensic science evidence in court. Although there have been improvements on how DNA evidence is gathered and presented in court, due to the fact that certain cases have been contested at the DNA evidence level, multiple issues remain that have not yet been addressed when DNA evidence is submitted to court. These issues include: accreditation, regulation of the forensic science profession, continued education, training of court officials, quality assurance, biased testimony, lack of transparency with regard to processes and procedures followed in the forensic community, incorrect interpretation of DNA evidence, lack of scientific knowledge (including the scientific method) by DNA experts, awareness by the legal profession and an over emphasis on the prosecuting perspective. These same aspects continue to plague current cases. Despite the above, the window of opportunity to address the above has not yet passed. However, it will take continuous and concerted efforts from the scientific and legal professions to bring about the appropriate change to facilitate justice for all in South Africa.     

试论当前司法鉴定存在的问题及建议

司法鉴定在刑事诉讼中起着重要的作用。但我国目前司法鉴定现状令人堪忧,存在着鉴定机构隶属不明权限不清、司法鉴定管理混乱、鉴定队伍及技术设备不完善等一系列问题。必须对此进行适当的改革,设立统一的专门性司法鉴定系统,由司法部负责对全国司法鉴定工作进行统一领导,进行专业化、行业化管理。