The forensic examination of structural fires in Victoria,Australia: Decision-making processes and impact on judicial outcomes

There is a body of published research that has evaluated the contribution of forensic science to the criminal justice system, but many disciplines of forensic science remain unexplored in this regard. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution that forensic fire examination services provide to criminal investigations and court processes in arson cases. Forensic fire examination services differ in a number of ways to the disciplines covered in previous research on the impact of forensic evidence on justice outcomes. Forensic fire examinations involve a combination of scene examination and laboratory analyses, and the results can provide critical evidence of whether an incident that has occurred is a criminal offence (i.e. whether a fire has occurred as the result of an act of arson). Forensic fire examination is also a discipline that has faced challenges and undergone development in recent decades regarding its scientific basis and the issue of contextual bias. In this study, data were collated for 273 structural fires that were examined by the forensic fire services in Victoria, Australia. In this jurisdiction, scene and laboratory forensic services are delivered within short time frames with a focus on providing impartial scientific and investigative services to assist criminal investigations conducted by police. The current dataset was highly skewed in terms of criminal justice outcomes and was not suitable for conducting the planned statistical analyses. Nonetheless, the pattern of findings obtained suggested that the inclusion of forensic evidence which supported the prosecution of arson may be associated with an increased likelihood of suspects being charged and defendants found guilty. Examination of the decision-making process of the forensic fire examiners has provided insight into the variety of evidence that is considered by forensic experts in reaching the important conclusion about the origin and cause of structural fires.     

Violence,displacement and democracy in post-conflict societies: evidence from Mali

This article examines the political crisis in Mali, 2012–2013, to test the impact of violent conflict on public attitudes to democracy. In post-conflict situations, democracy building depends on interim steps to restore trust among citizens and to address national reconciliation and transitional justice. According to the results of a custom-designed opinion survey, recent experiences of violence and displacement in Mali have undermined both interpersonal and interethnic trust as well as public confidence that elected governments can resolve national conflicts. While internal displacement is frequently accompanied by violence against property, violence against persons increases popular demand for a retributive brand of transitional justice. Nonetheless, the Malian experience suggests that citizens in post-conflict societies – including those displaced from their homes – still yearn to live in a peaceful and unified country and have not abandoned a widespread preference for democracy.     

Reviving the Russian empire: the Crimean intervention through a neoclassical realist lens

Although many policy-makers and scholars maintain that international norms have altered the motivations underlying state behaviour, this article argues that states continue to pursue national self-interest, but in ways that remain understudied. While traditional realist assumptions explain a great deal of state behaviour, they have not been widely used to account for important alternative tools of state intervention, such as economic and normative strategies. Focusing on the case of Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine, this article offers insights into how, and under what circumstances, these tools are used to accomplish traditional state objectives. Guided by the tenets of neoclassical realism, the article argues that in the case of Russia, military force is no longer the sole, or even the primary, means used to accomplish traditional security goals. Such dynamics have significant theoretical and policy implications for contemporary international relations.     

Procedural justice and perceived electoral integrity: the case of Korea's 2012 presidential election

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of scholars focusing on why voters around the world differ in their evaluations of electoral integrity. One group of scholars contends that perceived electoral integrity is determined by partisan status according to election results. Another group claims that individual perception of election quality is influenced by such political cues as institutional support for election management bodies. Although the two groups have developed this subject differently, they both underestimate the degree to which the election process affects electoral integrity. Based on the theory of procedural justice, this study argues that the more problems citizens see in the electoral process, the more negatively they tend to rate elections. An analysis of a public opinion survey conducted immediately after the December 2012 presidential election in South Korea provides credible evidence for our theoretical expectations and presents an important implication for elections of new democracies in a comparative perspective.     

Labeling effects of initial juvenile justice system processing decision on youth interpersonal ties*

The juvenile justice system can process youth in myriad ways. Youth who are formally processed, relative to being informally processed, may experience more public and harsh sanctions that label youth more negatively as “deviant.” Drawing on labeling theory, the current study evaluates the relative effect of formal justice system processing on the interpersonal dynamics of youth peer networks. Using data from the Crossroads Study, a multisite longitudinal sample of first-time adolescent offenders, the current study applies augmented inverse probability weighting and generalized mixed-effects models to estimate the effects of formal processing on friendship selection processes of homophily and withdrawal and considers whether these effects vary by race and ethnicity. Consistent with expectations of homophily, formally processed youth acquire more new deviant peers and fewer nondeviant peers during the 3 years after their initial processing decision compared with informally processed youth. The findings suggest no differences exist across processing types in withdrawal from friends. These effects were consistent across racial and ethnic groups. Ultimately, this study explores the dynamic interpersonal mechanisms associated with labeling theory and offers additional insight into the negative effects of formal processing.     

传统中国纠纷解决机制的特点

传统中国存在多元纠纷解决机制,纠纷解决规则有自生自发性特点,解决纠纷的刑事法律发达,注重实质上的公正。从纠纷解决机制的演变来看,存在从重视调解向重视审判的趋向,对纠纷解决方式的选择,可以使我们有效化解纠纷,促进社会和谐。     

起诉裁量权与宽严相济刑事司法政策的具体运用——以对检察机关不起诉决定权的考察为视角

2007年2月1日,高检院出台了《关于在检察工作中贯彻宽严相济刑事司法政策的若干意见,》该《意见》明确规定：“要正确把握起诉和不起诉条件,依法适用不起诉。”在此强调合理使用法律赋予检察机关的起诉裁量权,是宽严相济刑事政策在检察实践中实际运用的具体体现。本文以当前我国检察机关起诉裁量权暨不起诉决定权在司法实践中的具体运用为考察对象,对照宽严相济刑事司法政策对检察工作的具体要求,分析了现实环境下我国检察机关起诉裁量权存在的不足并相应地提出了完善的初步构想。     

论流动人口犯罪的心理特征及其心理预防

流动人口犯罪主体作为一个群体,当这个群体的犯罪行为方式经常、反复、呈稳定状态出现的时候,便构成了一个群体的人格特征。流动人口犯罪的犯罪心理也呈现出自身的特点。从这种心理特征出发,我们可以找到流动人口犯罪的内在规律,而且,流动人口犯罪是一个社会问题,有其深层的社会原因,研究流动人口犯罪心理特征更可以探求流动人口犯罪心理形成的社会根源,从而从多方面努力来防治流动人口犯罪。     

侦查监督程序完善刍议

人民检察院是国家法律监督机关。在加强人民检察院对公安机关的侦查监督过程中,应当坚持在我国宪法框架内进行。完善立法、健全侦查监督的程序和加强检察监督的强制性要同时并举。在加强人民检察院的侦查监督过程中,应当强调的是其对公安机关在程序上的制约,为诉讼参与人提供程序上的救济。