言语识别技术发展的制约因素和破解途径

言语识别技术从产生至今已经得到了长足的发展。但是从当前言语识别技术本身及从事言语识别技术的人员来看,言语识别技术的发展和运用未能跟上信息化社会和司法实践的迫切需求。应更为深入而成熟地拓展和运用言语识别技术,以期解决影响和制约言语识别技术发展的相关因素。     

网络赌博犯罪发展新趋势及侦查革新

网络赌博犯罪日渐猖獗,且有新的发展趋势:涉案范围跨区域性,犯罪主体幕后化、专业化,犯罪手段多样化、技术化,犯罪后果严重化、广泛化。公安机关在打击此类犯罪中存在发现难、调查取证难、侦查协作难等诸多困难。针对这类犯罪的新特点,应构建从资金流到案的侦查模式,用活"打击犯罪新机制",并加强与境外的侦查协作。     

技术侦查措施的几点思考

2012年修订的《刑事诉讼法》对技术侦查的适用范围、批准程序、所获材料与证据的处理作出了规定,但在司法实践中,技术侦查制度要充分发挥其价值,仍需要对其内容进一步明确和细化。文章从违法使用技术侦查措施的责任追究机制,保障被适用者的知情权和受到伤害时的赔偿请求权三方面予以补充和完善技术侦查制度。     

Using Paint to Investigate Fires: An ATR‐IR Study of the Degradation of Paint Samples Upon Heating

Fire investigation is a challenging area for the forensic investigator. The aim of this work was to use spectral changes to paint samples to estimate the temperatures to which a paint has been heated. Five paint samples (one clay paint, two car paints, one metallic paint, and one matt emulsion) have been fully characterized by a combination of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐IR), Raman, X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy and powder X‐ray diffraction. The thermal decomposition of these paints has been investigated by means of ATR‐IR and thermal gravimetric analysis. Clear temperature markers are observed in the ATR‐IR spectra namely: loss of ν(C = O) band, >300°C; appearance of water bands on cooling, >500°C; alterations to ν(Si–O) bands due to dehydration of silicate clays, >700°C; diminution of ν(CO₃) and δ(CO₃) modes of CaCO₃, >950°C. We suggest the possible use of portable ATR‐IR for nondestructive, in situ analysis of paints.     

Mapping the effects of Brexit on legal education in Wales: proposals for addressing students’ concerns

ABSTRACT

Whilst the future for UK–EU relations remains to be realised, Brexit will have consequences for legal education. However, to date, neither the UK nor Welsh Governments have sufficiently addressed what those consequences will be for higher education. This paper, which documents the results of 336 student questionnaires received from law students surveyed from every law school in Wales, evidences that learners have already started to decide what they believe Brexit means for them. Amongst the numerous challenges for Welsh law schools is the opinion of current students that Brexit makes Wales a less attractive place for overseas students and lecturers, both EU and other internationals, to study and work. Meanwhile UK students studying in Wales are questioning the relevance of EU law modules, and are viewing aspirational careers within EU institutions as now being “closed doors”. By drawing upon our findings, as well as comparisons with other EU Member States, this paper proposes six areas where urgent collaboration between governments and universities is needed. Failing to address the concerns identified by this research has the potential to further threaten the internationalised education model that UK students benefit from by studying law at Welsh universities.     

Gorr on actus reus

Advances in forensic techniques have expanded the temporal horizon of criminal investigations, facilitating investigation of historic crimes that would previously have been considered unsolvable. Public enthusiasm for pursuing historic crimes is exemplified by recent high-profile trials of celebrities accused of historic sexual offences. These circumstances give new urgency to the question of how we should decide which historic offences to investigate. A satisfactory answer must take into account the ways in which the passage of time can erode the benefits of criminal investigation, the costs associated with investigating old crimes, and the need to prioritize investigations in the face of limited police resources. This article emphasizes the first of these factors. It begins by considering the moral goals of a criminal justice system and the contribution of criminal investigations to the achievement of these goals, distinguishing between contributions that depend on further steps in the criminal justice process, such as prosecution and punishment, and contributions that can have value independently of these further steps. Using this important distinction, the article then examines a range of factors that relate the passage of time to criminal justice goals, including the seriousness of the crime; deterioration of evidence; death of the offender, victim and others affected by the crime; and diminished psychological connectedness between those affected by the crime and their current selves. While the range and non-uniformity of relevant factors preclude a simple answer to the question of when historic crimes should be investigated and call instead for case-by-case assessment, we find that the analysis does support some general conclusions that can guide such an assessment.     

The role of criminal record in the federal sentencing guidelines

In this paper my concern is with the collective moral responsibility of criminal investigators for the outcomes of their investigations, bearing in mind that it is important to distinguish collective moral responsibility from, and relate it to, individual moral responsibility. In what sense, if any, are police detectives individually and collectively morally responsible for their success (or, for that matter, their failure) in gathering sufficient evidence to identify, arrest, and charge an offender who has committed a serious crime? Alternatively, in what sense are they morally responsible in cases where they identify, arrest, and charge an innocent person? And in what sense, if any, are police detectives individually and collectively morally responsible for the ultimate outcome of the trial, the finding by the courts of someone they have investigated and charged with a serious crime to be guilty or innocent?     

Arbitrary Chivalry:

The sparing use of the death penalty seemingly supports the myth of chivalrous treatment of women by the criminal justice system. It is widely believed that the few women who are executed must be "monsters" who deserve their fate. This historical study of the operation of the death penalty in Victoria, Australia, demonstrates that politics rather than law influences the sentencing outcome for women. Public, press, judges and politicians alike use chivalry as a way of proving that the death penalty successfully balances the competing aims of "justice" and "mercy." Chivalry, however, is sometimes dramatically discarded in the face of competing political pressures. Thus, chivalry towards women is inconsistent and inevitably arbitrary. Gender analysis is another useful strategy in undermining claims that the death penalty can ever be made fair.     

Recovery of Trace DNA on Clothing: A Comparison of Mini‐tape Lifting and Three Other Forensic Evidence Collection Techniques

Trace DNA is often found in forensic science investigations. Experience has shown that it is difficult to retrieve a DNA profile when trace DNA is collected from clothing. The aim of this study was to compare four different DNA collection techniques on six different types of clothing in order to determine the best trace DNA recovery method. The classical stain recovery technique using a wet cotton swab was tested against dry swabbing, scraping and a new method, referred to as the mini‐tape lifting technique. Physical contact was simulated with three different “perpetrators” on 18 machine‐washed garments. DNA was collected with the four different DNA recovery methods and subjected to standard PCR‐based DNA profiling. The comparison of STR results showed best results for the mini‐tape lifting and scraping methods independent of the type of clothing. The new mini‐tape lifting technique proved to be an easy and reliable DNA collection method for textiles.     

Forensic Evidence and Criminal Investigations: The Impact of Ballistics Information on the Investigation of Violent Crime in Nine Cities,

We explore the impact of information from ballistics imaging hit reports on the investigation into violent crimes. Ballistics imaging hits link two crimes involving the same firearm by forensically matching tool marks on the fired bullets or cartridge cases. Interview data collected from detectives who received a hit report were used to explore the relationship between the presence of a hit report and outcomes in 65 gun‐related violent crime investigations in nine U.S. police agencies. Findings indicate hit reports rarely contribute to identification, arrest, charging, or sentencing of suspects, because of delays in producing hit reports. On average, hit reports were completed 181.4 days after the focal crime. This delay forces investigations to proceed without the benefit of information from ballistics analysis. Additionally, hit reports rarely contained detailed information that was immediately useful to investigators. Instead, hit reports required additional research by the investigator to unlock useful information.