The Griffiths Question Map: A Forensic Tool For Expert Witnesses’ Assessments of Witnesses and Victims’ Statements

Expert witnesses are sometimes asked to assess the reliability of young witnesses and victims’ statements because of their high susceptibility to memory biases. This technical note aims to highlight the relevance of the Griffiths Question Map (GQM) as a professional forensic tool to improve expert witnesses’ assessments of young witnesses and victims’ testimonies. To do so, this innovative question type assessment grid was used to proceed to an in‐depth analysis of the interview of an alleged 13‐year‐old victim of a sexual assault and two rapes. Overall, the GQM stressed how the interview was mainly conducted in an inappropriate manner. The results are examined with regard to scientific knowledge on young witnesses and victims’ memory. Finally, it is argued that expert witnesses in inquisitorial systems might use the GQM while encountering difficulties to fulfill the legal standards for expert evidence in adversarial systems because of the lack of studies regarding its reliability.     

医疗事故技术鉴定证据合法性探析

医疗事故技术鉴定证据作为一项民事证据,必须符合我国有关证据的三个基本特征,但在现行有关法律法规和实践中还存在诸多问题.本文从鉴定机构资格及中立性、证据形式要件三个方面对医疗事故技术鉴定证据的合法性提出质疑,并就完善我国医疗事故技术鉴定证据作一思考.     

刑事侦查的智能理论及实践手段

智能理论在刑事科学技术中的应用虽时间很短 ,但发展迅速。本文较详细地论述了人工智能及专家系统在刑事侦查领域中的应用前景及理论方法。根据刑侦系统的特点 ,如何有效地将智能理论和方法应用到实际问题中去 ,是开发刑侦智能系统的关键。研究表明 ,犯罪的发生是随机的 ,判断犯罪的行为和状态是模糊的 ,所以 ,刑侦智能系统的核心是对两种不确定性问题的研究。     

The power of presentation: How attire,cosmetics, and posture impact the source credibility of women expert witnesses

Gender stereotypes may negatively affect perceptions of women professionals' credibility, including forensic experts. This study investigated the impact of behavior-based and appearance-based factors on women expert witness's credibility. Jury-eligible adults were shown one of 16 conditions depicting a woman expert which varied based on combinations of three primary independent variables: (1) attire, (2) cosmetic use, and (3) posture. Expert attractiveness and participants' sexist attitudes served as covariates. Results revealed that women experts were seen as marginally more credible when wearing a skirt suit with a closed posture stance than when wearing a pant suit with a closed posture. Secondary analyses indicated expert attractiveness and participant sexist attitudes accounted for the most variability in credibility scores. Credibility of women expert witnesses may be impacted by irrelevant peripheral cues. Findings can inform discussions aimed at mitigating extraneous factors that inadvertently undermine the reception of women expert witness testimony.     

论检察机关设置专家辅助人制度

司法鉴定制度是我国司法制度的重要组成部分,长期以来,我国刑事司法鉴定领域存在着种种弊端,不仅影响了司法鉴定的公信力,还损害了国家法律的正确统一实施,这与检察机关的监督缺位有着密切的关系。因此在完善司法鉴定制度本身的同时,应该通过建立检察机关专家辅助人制度来加强对刑事司法鉴定的监督。探讨在我国设立检察机关专家辅助人制度具有重要意义。     

论法医鉴定的规范性

针对近年采对公安机关法医鉴定机构法医鉴定书的文证审查和对有争议的鉴定结论的重新鉴定,法医鉴定存在一些不规范问题,影响了鉴定结论的准确性和采信率,因此．应针对这些问题,规范法医鉴定。从理论的层面重视法医鉴定书的规范制作,正确引用临床病历资料．正确选择鉴定时机,准确表述鉴定结论等,从而提高法医鉴定结论的准确性。     

Meta-analytically quantifying the reliability and biasability of forensic experts

Abstract:  In this paper we employ meta-analytic procedures and estimate effect sizes indexing the degree of reliability and biasability of forensic experts. The data are based on within-expert comparisons, whereby the same expert unknowingly makes judgments on the same data at different times. This allows us to take robust measurements and conduct analyses that compare variances within the same experts, and thus to carefully quantify the degree of consistency and objectivity that underlie expert performance and decision making. To achieve consistency, experts must be reliable, at least in the very basic sense that an expert makes the same decision when the same data are presented in the same circumstances, and thus be consistent with themselves. To achieve objectivity, experts must focus only on the data and ignore irrelevant information, and thus be unbiasable by extraneous context. The analyses show that experts are not totally reliable nor are they unbiasable. These findings are based on fingerprint experts decision making, but because this domain is so well established, they apply equally well (if not more) to all other less established forensic domains.     

WTO争端解决机制中的专家决策与公众参与

专家决策在WTO争端解决机制中起着主导性作用.依照DsU的有关规定,专家组成员可以请求其他专家帮助他们评估某一WTO成员方的政策,以界定该成员方所采取的措施是否符合其所承担的自由贸易义务.然而,不论是专家的选任还是专家意见的征求,都有需要改进之处.WTO争端解决的法律化及民主化是公众参与的先决条件.实质上,公众参与的法律基础是透明度.公众参与作为一项手段,可以大大加强WTO争端解决机制的效力.