Noise Trauma Induced by a Mousetrap—Sound Pressure Level Measurement of Vole Captive Bolt Devices

Abstract: While ballistic parameters of vole captive bolt devices have been reported, there is no investigation on their hazardous potential to cause noise trauma. The aim of this experimental study was to measure the sound pressure levels of vole captive bolt devices. Two different shooting devices were examined with a modular precision sound level meter on an outdoor firing range. Measurements were taken in a semi‐circular configuration with measuring points 0° in front of the muzzle, 90° at right angle of the muzzle, and 180° behind the shooting device. Distances between muzzle and microphone were 0.5, 1, 2, 10, and 20 m. Sound pressure levels exceeded 130 dB(C) at any measuring point within the 20‐m area. Highest measurements (more than 172 dB[C]) were taken in the 0° direction at the 0.5‐m distance for both shooting devices proving the hazardous potential of these gadgets to cause noise trauma.     

通过一典型案例谈案后足迹的运用

提取现场足迹,是寻找案后足迹的先决条件、是同一认定的基础;准确划定侦查范围,是寻找案后足迹的关键。如何运用案后足迹侦破案件,则依赖于技术人员对现场足迹的正确认识和灵活超常的扩展思维能力的培养。文章阐述了案后足迹运用的基本方法,并指出了利用案后足迹应注意的问题。     

论利用影响力受贿罪的犯罪构成要件

利用影响力受贿罪是在我国刑法修正案七中新增加的一个罪名。由于法律对近亲属和关系密切的人这一主体的范围没有明确规定,在法律适用上,容易产生分歧,本文将依据我国相关的法律规定并结合国情对利用影响力受贿罪的犯罪构成要件加以论述,并重点探讨犯罪主体的界定问题。     

Policy responsiveness to all citizens or only to voters? A longitudinal analysis of policy responsiveness in OECD countries

A close connection between public opinion and policy is considered a vital element of democracy. In representative systems, elections are assumed to play a role in realising such congruence. If those who participate in elections are not representative of the public at large, it follows that the reliance on elections as a mechanism of representation entails a risk of unequal representation. In this paper, we evaluate whether voters are better represented by means of an analysis of policy responsiveness to voters and citizens in democracies worldwide. We construct a uniquely comprehensive dataset that includes measures of citizens’ and voters’ ideological (left–right) positions, and data on welfare spending in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries since 1980. We find evidence of policy responsiveness to voters, but not to the public at large. Since additional tests suggest that the mechanism of electoral turnout does not cause this voter-policy responsiveness, we outline alternate mechanisms to test in future research.     

《刑法修正案(七)》第13条之解读

《刑法修正案(七)》第13条的规定可以概括为两个罪名,即"密切关系人受贿罪"和"离职国家工作人员受贿罪"。"密切关系人"包括国家工作人员和离职国家工作人员的近亲属以及其他与之关系密切的人,其范围比"特定关系人"要广,除了近亲属、情妇(夫)和有共同利益的人之外,还可以是同学、老乡、同事、战友、朋友等。其实质在于,行为人基于与国家工作人员的这种关系,能够或者足以影响该国家工作人员或者其他国家工作人员,进而通过该国家工作人员或者其他国家工作人员职务上的行为,为请托人谋取利益,实现与请托人之间的权钱交易行为。由于近亲属等密切关系人和离职国家工作人员既可以构成受贿罪的共犯,也可以独立构成密切关系人受贿罪与离职国家工作人员受贿罪,因此,要将其与斡旋受贿、共同受贿等行为相区别。     

Red Europe versus no Europe? The impact of attitudes towards the EU and the economic crisis on radical-left voting

The 2014 European Parliament election saw a relatively large increase in the size of radical-left parties (RLPs), particularly in Western Europe. This article aims to provide new ways of thinking about the dynamics of radical-left voting by analysing the changing role of attitudes towards the European Union in explaining support for RLPs at European Parliament elections during the Great Recession. It is argued that the Europeanisation of economic issues during the financial crisis, together with the particular kind of Euroscepticism advocated by these parties, have enabled them to successfully attract a heterogeneous pool of voters. Using the 2009 and 2014 European Election Studies, it is shown that the effect of negative opinions about the EU on support for RLPs increased significantly during the crisis. In addition, support for RLPs also increased among voters with positive views of the EU who were nevertheless highly dissatisfied with the economic situation.     

‘What is it about “fuck off” you don’t understand?’ The NILRC and politics of the Left in Northern Ireland

Abstract

At the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly Election, a somewhat peculiar political ‘party’ hastily filled in nomination papers at the 11th hour. This last-minute concoction was elaborately named ‘The Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee’. This article seeks to explore the circumstances around the creation of the NILRC, thereby developing a synthesis of the present-day situation of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI), the local Constituency Labour Party (CLP) of the UK Labour Party. In a backdrop in which UK Labour does not stand for elections in Northern Ireland, this article engages with the LPNI’s rationale and raison d’être, followed by a discussion of the NILRC experiment of 2016. The LPNI–NILRC case carries resonances and insights of interest to political groups of the left operating in deeply divided societies.     

Rewarding Fire with Fire: Effects of Retaliation on Terrorist Group Dynamics

Abstract

Comparative studies of the psychology of terrorism indicate that there is no one terrorist mindset, A theme in common among the disparate groups is the strong need of marginal alienated individuals to join a group of like‐minded individuals with a similar world view that “it's us against them, and they are the cause of our problems.” This strong need to belong gives particular force to the power of group dynamics. While the ideology is the glue that holds the group together and serves as the rationale for its actions, terrorists do not commit acts of terrorism for ideological reasons. The amelioration of the societal injustice which they indicate incites and justifies their terrorism does not reduce the lure of terrorism, because of the powerful hold of the group on its members.

Paradoxically, a policy of reactive retaliation with the goal of deterring terrorist acts may have the opposite effect and reinforce the mind set of the terrorist. For the group under threat, the external danger has the consequence of reducing external divisiveness and uniting the group against the outside enemy. The survival of the group is paramount because of the sense of group identity it provides.

Identifying the locus of control is of crucial significance in estimating the effects of counter‐terrorist policies upon a terrorist group. For the autonomous terrorist cell, active retaliation may reinforce the cohesion of the group; for the corporate terrorist organization, issues of organizational survival may become paramount. Neither the terrorist group nor the terrorist organization can be forced to give up terrorism, for to do so would be to lose their reason for being. For state‐supported and directed terrorist groups on the other hand, the terrorist group in effect serves as a paramilitary group under central government control. In this situation, group and organizational considerations are less relevant, for the object of the counter‐terrorist policy is the government of the sponsoring state. Since the survival of the state and national interests are the primary values, retaliatiatory policies, can, in the short run, have a deterring effect. In the long run, the most effective anti‐terrorist policy is one which renders the terrorist career less attractive to potential members, facilitates terrorists leaving the group, and reduces external support.     

经济犯罪刑法适用的公众认同

从法理上而言,公众认同不仅是提高刑事司法公信力的根本途径,而且是罪刑法定原则之下的必然要求。经济犯罪大都属于法定犯的范畴,与自然犯相比,其违法性不易被普通国民认知,对其的刑法规制多采用空白罪状与兜底条款,如何区分经济违法性与经济犯罪至为重要。在经济犯罪刑法适用过程中,应通过破除“刑法万能论“、合理解释空白罪状参照规范与完善裁判释法说理制度以获得公众的认同。     

作案现场留言的言语识别

作案现场留言是犯罪语言中的一种,是作案人的一张"名片"。受现场留言时空和语境所限,现场留言涵盖着作案人的个人身份特征等关联信息,分析和识别现场留言的语言表现形式和心理痕迹等特征对案件调查和侦查有着重要的价值作用。