论会计师事务所不实财务报告的民事责任——兼评上海大智慧公司与曹建荣等证券虚假陈述责任纠纷案

会计师事务所执业过错的认定标准为“职业谨慎”,法律上的“重大性”认定依据主要是信息对决策的影响力和信息对股价的影响力。法院在民事赔偿案件中应该独立对“重大性”进行实质审查。损害因果关系的认定应肯定公司经营风险、行业风险和投资风险等作为阻碍损害因果关系的因素。在计算系统风险时,原则上宜优先选取板块指数为参考数据,计算方式采用分别认定市场风险的相对比值法。责任方式采取有限制条件的连带责任,对第三人的具体赔偿范围由法院综合考量各方因素裁定。     

刑事撤案监督运行机制实证研究--以司法体制改革后B市C区人民检察院为例

刑事撤案监督是一种司法救济途径,用以确保刑事立案活动正确合法地进行和国家法律统一、正确地实施。当刑事立案活动出现偏差时,需要由检察机关通过刑事撤案监督程序对上述权力进行制约,并向案件当事人提供司法救济。文章着眼于司法体制改革的时代背景,以"实证研究"为研究方法,通过对B市C区人民检察院的司法实践进行充分的考察,整理数据后分析实践现状,并进一步发现我国刑事撤案监督运行机制的主要问题并深入挖掘问题的成因,提出具有针对性和可行性的完善建议。     

论法官的职权调查原则——以职权主义刑事诉讼为背景的展开

职权调查原则,最早源于罗马法,成型于中世纪,指为查明真相,庭审法官(或审判长)可不受控辩双方所提供之证据材料的约束,而依职权主动调查及收集所有可能对揭示真相有意义的事实和证据。这是职权主义国家的通常设置,也是职权主义区别于当事人主义的核心要素。法官职权调查原则的正当依据在于实质真实,并不违背公正程序的要求,也不会压缩刑事辩护的空间。中国的法官职权调查原则备受诟病,核心原因在于特殊的诉讼权力构造,而非职权调查原则本身。在庭审证明实质化的大背景下,强调法官的职权调查原则是保障实质真实的需要,符合中国的职权主义传统。     

令状主义的例外及其限制

我国刑事诉讼法并未明文将令状主义确立为一项基本原则。令状主义背后所体现的司法审查精神、对公权力的制约思想以及人权保障的理念值得在诉讼程序尤其是侦查程序中贯彻。在侦查程序的构建中,应将令状主义作为解释的指针之一。对于令状主义的例外情形应当进行限缩解释,否则将导致令状主义的空洞化,紧急处分说可以作为这种限缩解释的基本依据。作为先行拘留与扭送对象之一的现行犯,在刑事诉讼法上应做统一理解。从紧急处分说出发,预备犯原则上不得作为现行犯处理;对于"正在实行犯罪"这一要件的解释,必须同时具备现行性、明白性、急迫性,对于明白性的判断应坚持事前判断与事后判断的对应原则;对于"犯罪后即时被发觉的"这一要素的解释,应同时具备时间与空间上的接近性。     

论刑法修正的协调性

刑法修正的协调性是保障刑法公正性的基础性条件。《刑法修正案(十一)》新增罪(含修正罪)充分注意到了《刑法》与相关法律之间的协调(衔接)。但是,刑法修正还要考虑新增罪(修正罪)与既有罪之间、新增罪(修正罪)之间以及修正的刑法条文与相关刑法解释(含解释性文件)之间的协调。刑法修正需要在罪状的设置、法定刑的设置以及量刑情节的设置方面保持协调。面对协调性的瑕疵,可以通过补正解释的方法确保司法适用的公正,在解释论无法解决的情况下,则只能通过进一步修正刑法加以完善。     

检察机关案件集中管理的价值基础及实现

检察机关案件集中管理是在新时期司法体制和工作体制改革的背景下产生的，其产生契合了2012年修订的刑事诉讼法的基本精神，是确保刑事诉讼法顺利实施的有效保障机制之一。检察机关应以刑事诉讼法实施为契机，构建科学的管理模式，完善相关措施，确保案件集中管理工作效能的充分发挥。     

“She's Nobody's Child/the Law Can't Touch Her at All”: Seeking to Bring Dignity to Legal Proceedings Involving Juveniles

Inquiries into a range of issues involving juveniles in the psychiatric hospitalization and criminal trial process reveal that, regularly, juveniles are subject to shame and humiliation in all aspects of the legal system that relate to arrest, trial, conviction, and institutionalization, shame and humiliation that are often exacerbated in cases involving racial minorities and those who are economically impoverished. We contextualize them into the juvenile justice system, and look specifically at how this is reflected in the case law. We then consider these findings through the filters of therapeutic jurisprudence and international human rights laws, concluding that these approaches best remediate the current state of affairs and infuse this system with badly‐needed dignity.     

Crime and mental disorders among native Dutch and ethnic minority juvenile defendants in the Netherlands

We examined the prevalence of mental disorders and the recommendations regarding criminal responsibility and treatment in pre-trial mental health evaluations requested by Dutch juvenile courts for youths between the ages of 12 to 17. Youths of native Dutch (n = 2694) and of ethnic minority background (n = 1393) were compared. The prevalence of mental disorders was similar for both groups (76.8% versus 74.4%). Criminal responsibility in native Dutch youth was more often considered ‘diminished’ or ‘strongly diminished’ than in ethnic minority youth. Admission to a juvenile institution was more often recommended for ethnic minority juveniles than for native Dutch juveniles. It remains unclear from our data whether these differences reflect a false stereotype of ethnic minority populations as being more dangerous and threatening.     

Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and criminal responsibility

The present study empirically investigates whether personality disorders and psychopathic traits in criminal suspects are reasons for diminished criminal responsibility or enforced treatment in high security hospitals. Recently, the tenability of the claim that individuals with personality disorders and psychopathy can be held fully responsible for crimes has been questioned on theoretical bases. According to some interpretations, these disorders are due to cognitive, biological and developmental deficits that diminish the individual's accountability.The current article presents two studies among suspects of serious crimes under forensic evaluation in a Dutch forensic psychiatric observation clinic. The first study examined how experts weigh personality disorders in their conclusions as far as the degree of criminal responsibility and the need for enforced forensic psychiatric treatment are concerned (n = 843). The second study investigated associations between PCL-R scores and experts' responsibility and treatment advisements (n = 108).The results suggest that in Dutch forensic practice, the presence of a personality disorder decreased responsibility and led to an advice for enforced forensic treatment. Experts also take characteristics of psychopathy concerning impulsivity and (ir)responsibility into consideration when judging criminal accountability. Furthermore, they deem affective deficiencies sufficiently important to indicate suspects' threat to society or dangerousness and warrant a need for forensic treatment.     

Violence against care workers in psychiatry: is prosecution justified?

The number of (severe) violent incidents against staff caused by psychiatric inpatients is high. Victims often do not report these incidents to the police, because of various reasons. But if they do report these incidents, the judicial authorities are often reluctant in prosecuting and convicting these patients. The central question in this article is ‘in which cases is it appropriate to prosecute assaultive psychiatric patients?’In order to identify the influential factors in the decision in respectively reporting, prosecuting and convicting psychiatric patients who assault staff, a literature review has been performed. On the basis of this literature it is advised to report and investigate a case when the incident resulted in severe injury, the incident is a sexual offence, or when a patient repetitively causes violent incidents. Moreover, it appears that, although large amount of studies has been published on violence in psychiatry, the prosecution of violent psychiatric patients has hardly received any attention in the international literature. Empirical studies on this subject are suggested, in order to develop a uniform policy, which is embraced by all parties involved.