2008年《空战和导弹战国际人道法手册》草案亟待解决的几个问题

由美国哈佛大学"人道主义政策与冲突研究"项目负责起草的《空战和导弹战国际人道法手册》形成了第三个版本即2008年1月草案及评注,并着手与美国、中国、法国、比利时、俄罗斯、英国等国家的作战、武器和法律专家进行"双边/地区磋商",以增强"手册"的现实性和适用性。磋商中,专家们发现"手册"草案存在不少问题:如"手册"草案"定位不准";一些原则性问题未能解决好,如习惯规则、创新与重述之间的关系等;一些"立法"技术问题遗漏较多,如某些重要概念内涵的变化、援引文献的权威性等,"手册"是否适用于"非国际性武装冲突"和"外层空间军事活动",以及对"平民直接/实际参加敌对行动"的判定标准等重要问题,有待专家组进一步研究解决。     

试析警察临战武力使用的裁量过程和因素

由于法律文本的局限和警察执法活动的复杂性,自由裁量广泛存在于警察执法活动中。警察武力使用中的裁量决定了警察是否使用武力,以及使用何种武力、怎样使用武力。与一般警察自由裁量相比,这一裁量更为特殊和困难。分析警察临战武力使用的裁量过程和影响裁量的关键因素,以更好地指导、规制警察临战武力使用行为,对警察武力使用训练与执法实践有着重要意义。     

Shifting the Risk: New Employment Patterns, Informalization, and Women's Work

The paper argues that the processes of informalization of jobs observed during the past decades have affected both high and low income countries. Starting at the micro level of the firm, the emphasis is on how economic restructuring and globalization have generated the growth of informal activities—resulting in the vicious circle of poverty and economic insecurity for an important proportion of the population. The second part of the paper analyzes the growth of women's participation in informal activities, emphasizing that there are contradictory forces at work regarding women's employment. Despite a stubborn persistence of gender discrimination and obstacles to women's advancement, progress has taken place on several fronts, such as in the education field and in the absorption of female labor in many production processes. The paper concludes by pointing out that poverty eradication programs must emphasize the need to generate decent jobs without which these programs will continue to be ineffective. In addition, re-distributive mechanisms and different forms of social protection are needed to counteract the forces and policies generating economic insecurity.     

Market Darwinism vs. Market Creationism: Adaptability and Fairness in the Design of Greenhouse Gas Trading Mechanisms

International rule-making and compliance routines with respect to the Kyoto Protocol are evolving rapidly. This paper examines potential designs of emissions-trading programs by comparing the emissions credit trading (ECT) and cap-and-trade models for achieving cost-effective reductions in atmospheric greenhouse-gas (GHG) loading in terms of their adaptability and fairness. Adaptability is a valuable attribute when markets and their governing institutions are evolving rapidly or when regulated entities do not yet have well-established and predictable compliance routines. Fairness in both procedures and outcomes is central to efforts to establish and maintain institutions of international governance. The key difference concerns the awarding of tradable emission rights, which occurs at the launch of a cap-and-trade program but following when firms reduce emissions below baselines in an ECT scheme. Implications of this difference are explored in terms of institutional adaptability and fairness during program-design stages. By not locking in emission rights at the outset, and by being amenable to incremental roll-out, ECT appears to have superior adaptive and fairness qualities during periods of rapid institutional evolution.     

The effect of compressed air foam on the detection of hydrocarbon fuels in fire debris samples

In 1998/99 the New Zealand Fire Service implemented compressed air foam delivery systems for the suppression of fires in rural areas. This study investigated whether the introduction of the foam to the seat of the fire created any problems in subsequent analyses of fire debris samples. No significant interferences from the foam were found when the samples were analysed by direct headspace using activated carbon strips. The only foam component detected was limonene.     

劳动担保合同存废论——兼论确立劳动人事一般保证制度

对于劳动担保合同,言废者有之,言存者有之。从现实来看,一方面,《劳动合同法》关于不得要求劳动者提供担保的规定未能消除大量存在的劳动担保合同;另一方面,劳动担保合同领域存在的乱象亦亟需疏导规制。因此,劳动担保合同既不可简单废除,也不能轻言存续。正确的选择是既要从严控制劳动担保合同的订立和适用,也要在立法上留有余地,确立特定行业岗位的劳动人事一般保证制度,不实行连带保证制度。     

Suicide by Intentional Air embolism

Venous air embolism occurs when air enters the venous system. The main causes of venous air embolism include medical procedures, neck and head trauma, and injuries of the genitals. Self‐induced suicidal (and intentional) air embolism is extremely rare. The authors report a rare case of a suicidal air embolism committed using a self‐made tool composed of a plastic bottle and an infusion set, injecting nearly 2000 mL of air into the cubital vein. The toxicological analysis suggested that midazolam, together with air, was also injected into the circulation using the same bottle and infusion set.     

Police Use of Less Lethal Force: Does Administrative Policy Matter?

Scholars have long theorized that constraining police officer discretion via organizational policy improves decision-making. Empirically, prior research shows that more restrictive lethal force policies result in a reduction in the number of police shootings and in racial disparity. Yet, researchers have never examined the impact of less lethal force policies in relation to the full spectrum of less lethal force tactics. In addressing this research void, we examine 3,340 use of force incidents from three US agencies, each varying in terms of policy direction and restrictiveness. The results consistently show that officers working within the most restrictive policy framework used force less readily than officers who operated within more permissive policy environments. Hence, police administrators wishing to reduce coercion should consider the potential effect that a more restrictive policy may have on such behavior.     

Police officer involved shootings – retrospective study of situational characteristics

Abstract

The study analyzed the situational characteristics of 112 incidents where police used firearms to handle high threat situations. Most shooting incidents emanated from usually uneventful tasks, e.g., handling burglaries or disturbances. The assailants were commonly armed with firearms (26%), sharp (27%) or blunt objects (10%). The incidents were regularly short-lasting (in 39% were shots fired ≤3 s from threat emerged) and occurred at short distances (in 42% at distances ≤3 m). Predominantly, the first responders had to address the situation and did so with warning shots or, equally common, with fire-for-effect shots (40%) or a combination thereof. Psychological stress was manifested as feelings of panic at some point and as motor skill alterations, e.g., firing without using sights and with one hand only. Analysis of these incidents shows that all field duty police officers should receive training in handling potentially life-threatening, sudden, close-range attacks.     

Ensuring the validity of police use of force training

This research examined the skills and abilities required of officers to effectively manage situations where the use of force may be required. The research also considered the nature of training required to facilitate the development of these skills/abilities. Seventy Western Australia Police officers participated in focus groups. Identified skills/abilities fell into seven categories: Aware, Assess, Approach, Act, Automatic, Appraise and Adapt. With regard to developing proficiency in these skills, officers emphasised the importance of relevant, applied and dynamic training, debriefing and the use of scenarios/role plays. The research highlights the need to change the scope of annual refresher training from the appropriate and effective application of force to the effective management of situations in which the use of force may be required, in their entirety. Findings also highlight the need to change the focus of training from performance and assessment to continued skill development (i.e. practice and learning).