The Direct and Cross-Examination of Complainants and Defendants in Rape Trials: A Quantitative Analysis of Question Type

This paper is a post-hoc examination of the questioning used in six rape trials. Questions asked in the evidence-in-chief and cross-examination of six complainants and five defendants were coded into different categories. The categories comprised "open", "closed", "leading", "heavily-leading" and "yes/no" questions; questions that are known to increasingly constrain witness responses. Additionally, the frequency of "multiple questions", and questions with "negatives" and "double negatives" were recorded; questions that witnesses have difficulty understanding. Broadly speaking, results showed that questions in both evidence-in-chief and cross-examination were of a constraining nature and allowed witnesses little opportunity to provide complete accounts of alleged events, particularly during cross-examination. Multiple questions were frequent although negatives were comparatively rare, and double negatives did not occur. Similar forms of questioning were used for complainants as for defendants, although more questions were asked of complainants than defendants in cross-examination. The results are discussed in terms of the adverse influence of these questioning strategies on the completeness and accuracy of witnesses' responses, and the similarity in "combativeness" of lawyers in their examination of complainants and defendants.     

浅谈我国行政问责的对象

2008年,伴随着一系列重大公共安全事故的发生,风暴般的行政问责再次进入人们的视线,公众一方面因雷厉风行的行政问责而欣慰,同时开始质疑：被问责的领导人是否真正做到了职责相当？问责程序不公开是否存在暗箱操作？为此,正在进行制度化建设的行政问责,必须在明确问责对象的基础上,确立清晰的职责权限范围,完善问责对象的责任认定与追究。     

Data Protection Impact Assessment: A tool for accountability and the unclarified concept of ‘high risk’ in the General Data Protection Regulation

Article 35 of the GDPR introduces the legal obligation to perform DPIAs in cases where the processing operations are likely to present high risks to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. This obligation is part of a change of approach in the GDPR towards a modified compliance scheme in terms of a reinforced principle of accountability. The DPIA is a prominent example of this approach given that it has an inclusive, comprehensive and proactive nature. Its importance lies in the fact that it forces data controllers to identify, assess and ultimately manage the high risks to the rights and freedoms. However, what is first and foremost important for a meaningful performance of DPIAs, is to have a common and objective understanding of what constitutes a risk in the field of data protection and of how to assess its likelihood and severity. The legislature has approached these concepts via the method of denotation, meaning by giving examples of (highly) risky processing operations. This article suggests a complementary approach, the connotation of these concepts and explains the added value of such a method. By way of a case-study the article also demonstrates the importance of performing complete and accurate DPIAs, in terms of contributing to improving the protection of personal data.     

The canary in the data mine

The present article aims at portraying the type of profile best required to fulfil the function of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) within the EU public sector. The article proposes the idiom of the “canary in a coal mine” as best positioned to describe the multidisciplinary role of DPOs. Due to the particularity and sensitivity of their function, Data Protection Officers act as early indicators of data protection incompliance within their respective area of expertise. Only when being functionally independent, Data Protection Officers could master the role of “canaries in the data mine” thus preventing possible data protection breaches and violations.     

Public Administration Dilemmas: An Analysis of Teachers’ Perceptions of the Effects of Performance Evaluation in Post-Colonial South Africa

The adoption of the principles of New Public Management by many governments across the world was invariably accompanied by the implementation of performance evaluation. It is generally accepted that performance evaluation optimizes the performance of workers. As part of a broader investigation which employed a mixed methods approach, the study used data from six interviews with high school principals and 100 survey questionnaires with purposively selected high school teachers in uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In the analysis of this data, the paper demonstrates that beyond the obvious benefits of performance evaluation such as improvement in performance, there are also unintended consequences such as a narrow focus on measured output, teacher burnout, and falsification of information in order to maximize credit or to avoid punishment. This study illustrates the understandings of high school educators in uMgungundlovu District of the effects of performance evaluation. The findings have important implications for public administration and scholars alike.     

文化视野下的政府人事法制建设——一种法社会学的话语诠释

法社会学把法看作一种社会现象,是以社会为依托、为环境的,认为对法律的理解和探究不能脱离社会。在影响法律发展的社会诸要素之中,文化的作用在学者们的眼里越来越凸显其重要——是法的社会基础。当今中国正处于社会转型时期,中国的现代文化走的是一条以自身文化为本体,兼容其它各种文化之优长的发展道路。进行现代化政府的人事法制建设必须在中国现代化文化语境下,吸取中国自有的尚道德、从严法和重人事管理的文明成果,吸取西方的民主精神、责任至上和程序正义等文明成果,进一步推进中国现代化政府人事法制建设。     

Transparency and accountability of central banks in their role of financial stability supervisor in OECD countries

We aim to get a better understanding of the accountability of central banks in their role of financial stability supervisors, distinguishing between three crucial elements: (1) the legal basis for the financial stability task, (2) providing of information on financial stability, and (3) the formal relationship between the accountable and the accountee. We conclude that in most OECD countries the law does not provide a clear objective for financial stability supervisors. Many central banks nowadays publish a stand-alone financial stability report. In most countries there are hardly any accountability measures in place regarding the objective of financial stability. JEL classification G28     

比较研究视野下的异体问责展望

同体问责与异体问责各自发挥功能和优势,共同实现对政府及其官员及时有效的问责,才是更值得期待也更完善的行政问责。应当认真借鉴美、英、法等西方国家开展异体问责的成功经验,通过激活问责主体、完善问责制度、优化问责环境、培育问责文化来不断完善异体问责制度,建立起符合社会主义民主政治特点的行政问责体系。     

Third Way Regulation? Community Legal Service Partnerships

This article examines recent changes in the civil legal aid scheme in England and Wales (now called the Community Legal Service) and the creation of Community Legal Service Partnerships in particular. The article explores three main interests: it illustrates how third way thinking has been applied to the reform of the legal aid scheme under the Access to Justice Act 1999; it explores how partnership fits within theories of public regulation; and it illustrates how professionalism is being re-shaped by a combination of new public management, contractualism and partnership. It points to important limitations in new public law theories of extended accountability and democratised governance as manifested in partnerships.     

高官问责制度构建模式的多维比较——以中国内地和香港为分析案例

不同国家和地区发展阶段、历史传统和现实环境,决定了其面临不同的制约与困境,进而形成了不同的问责制度构建模式。选择中国内地和香港地区为案例,以集中比较分析为理论视角,经由对两地问责制度出台背景与内涵特征的对比研究,挖掘出二者在构建模式上的多维差异并得出结论:从决策程序层面,内地高官问责制度是以危机决策形式发生,而香港高官问责制度则遵循了一般意义上的常规决策程序;从制度构成层面,内地高官问责制是基于单项规则的推进,而香港高官问责制更强调制度体系的整体构建;从改革性质层面,内地选择在行政管理改革框架内推行高官问责制,而香港高官问责制则属于政治体制层面的尝试性改革。在此基础上进一步认为,在制度背景和改革序列意义上,两地问责制度的构建模式并无优劣之分,而只是路径依赖作用下的理性选择。