A mixed DNA profile controversy revisited

Semaan et al. (J Forensic Res, 2020, 11, 453) discuss a mock case “where eight different individuals [P₁ through P₈] could not be excluded in a mixed DNA analysis. Even though … expert DNA mixture analysis software was used.” Two of these are the true donors. The LRs reported are incorrect due to the incorrect entry of propositions into LRmix Studio. This forced the software to account for most of the alleles as drop-in, resulting in LRs 60–70 orders of magnitude larger than expected. P₁, P₂, P₄, P₅, and P₈ can be manually excluded using peak heights. This has relevance when using LRmix which does not use peak heights. We extend the work using the same two reference genotypes who were the true contributors as Semaan et al. (J Forensic Res, 2020, 11, 453). We simulate three two-donor mixtures with peak heights using these two genotypes and analyze using STRmix?. For the simulated 1:1 mixture, one of the non-donors’ LRs supported him being a contributor when no conditioning was used. When considered in combination with any other potential donors (i.e., with conditioning), this non-donor was correctly eliminated. For the 3:1 mixture, all results correctly supported that the non-donors were not contributors. The low-template 4:1 mixture LRs with no conditioning showed support for all eight profiles as donors. However, the results from pair-wise conditioning showed that only the two ground truth donors had LRs supporting that they were contributors to the mixture. We recommend the use of peak heights and conditioning profiles, as this allows better sensitivity and specificity even when the persons share many alleles.     

Not Dead Yet? Explaining Party Member Activity in Germany

While political parties in Germany have been steadily losing members for more than two decades, there has been no sign of a breakdown in their day-to-day grass-roots activities. Despite many prophecies of doom, the ‘party on the ground’ does not seem to be dead yet. There is some evidence that the declining number of party members is compensated for by an increasing share of party activists. The question is how the erosion of the political parties’ member-ship base affects their levels and types of activity. This paper aims to describe and explain these two dimensions of activity in German political parties, using data from German party membership studies from 1998 and 2009. The analyses show that parties are partly able to compensate for membership losses via an increased activity of the remaining members, but at the same time, it is possible that changes in the social profile and motivations of the most active group of members may lead to future difficulties in coping with party work and canvassing new members.     

外国刑法中犯罪成立要件的实质化

罪刑法定主义应当是形式与实质的统一,以此为基础的犯罪概念和犯罪成立要件也必然具有形式与实质的内容。不同法系的国家实现犯罪成立要件实质化的途径各有千秋。     

Criticizing the image of the student as consumer: examining legal trends and administrative responses in the US and UK1

There is widespread concern that higher education is being compromised by being turned into a ‘commodity’ to be ‘consumed’. This article represents an initial attempt to explore the trends in both the UK and US, and considers how the law has responded to them. It argues, however, that there is an important distinction to be drawn between ‘commodification’ and ‘consumerism’. Education has always been a commodity to be bought and sold; the true danger lies in the move to a ‘rights-based’ culture where students (and politicians) see education merely as something to be ‘consumed’ rather than as an activity in which to participate. Whilst the law seems thus far to have been something of a bulwark against this movement, it remains an open question as to whether this will continue to be the case if HEIs do not themselves act more proactively in challenging this damaging view of higher education.     

胎儿地位的法哲学思考——以权利之概念分析为基础

胎儿地位问题是自罗马法以来倍受法学界关注的重要课题之一。对这一问题的探讨,必须以权利之概念分析作为基础。坚持“活着出生规则”为前提,采取概括保护与个别保护相结合的立法策略,应该作为我国民法保护胎儿利益的明智选择。     

电子商务中知识产权的法律保护

电子商务活动对社会的多个方面造成了很大的影响,也对传统的知识产权保护内容、保护方式、具体的原理及制度构建等方面提出了新的要求。在立法尚未完善的情况下,司法为拓宽电子商务领域知识产权保护做了一定的探讨。建立完善的电子商务自律机构和规则、逐渐完善相关的立法、加大对侵权行为的打击力度、协调国际上的知识产权保护,是发展电子商务并充分保护知识产权的有效途径。     

山东检察研究与检察改革情况报告

一、检察研究总体情况(一)检察研究成效明显近年来,山东省检察研究工作坚持以邓小平理论和“三个代表”重要思想为指导,以建立科学的中国特色社会主义检察理论体系为目标,坚持基础研究和应用研究“两手抓”,立足服务,深入基层,重点围绕党和国家中心工作、围绕检察制度和检察工作面临的重大理论和实践问题,进行了广泛而深入的调查研究,为强化法律监督、完善检察制度、推进检察事业创造了良好的理论环境,检察研究服务大局、服务检察业务、服务领导决策的职能作用得到了充分的发挥。     

Legislation and educational change: the struggle for social justice and quality in China's compulsory schooling

Whether a law can bring about change has been an important topic of debate in the literatures of law, sociology and education. With reference to the 2006 revision of compulsory schooling legislation in China, this article examines the functions and limits of the use of law to effect educational change. It explores why and how China continues to rely on instrumental use of the law to bring about change and rectify problems that the previous legislation did not. The article shows that law can be used as a tool for social justice that helps defend children's right to access basic quality education. However, the realization of legislative change requires favourable economic, social and/or cultural conditions, the support of extra-legal means and a concerted effort by all actors in interpreting and enforcing the law.