Metric forensic anthropology decisions: Reliability and biasability of sectioning-point-based sex estimates

Subjective decisions make human cognitive processes more susceptible to bias and error. Specifically, research indicates that additional context biases forensic anthropologists’ morphological analyses. To address whether metric analyses are also subject to bias, we conducted a pilot study in which 52 experienced osteologists measured a difficult-to-classify human femur, with or without additional contextual information. Using a metric sectioning-point sex-estimation method, participants provided a sex estimate for individual skeletal element(s) and, when given multiple elements, the combined skeletal assemblage. Control group participants (n = 24) measured only the femur. In addition to the femur, bias group participants (n = 28) either measured a female humerus and viewed a female-biasing photograph (n = 14) or measured a male humerus and viewed a male-biasing photograph (n = 14). We explored whether the experts in the different groups would differ in: (1) femoral measurements; (2) femoral sex-estimation conclusions; and (3) final sex-estimation conclusions for the skeletal assemblage. Although the femoral measurements and femoral sex estimates were comparable across groups, the overall sex estimates in the female-biased group were impacted by contextual information—differing from both the control and male-biased groups (p < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that cognitive bias can occur even in metric sex-estimation conclusions. Specifically, this occurred when the metric data and single-element sex estimates were synthesized into an overall estimate. Thus, our results suggest that metric methods are most vulnerable to bias when data are synthesized into an overall conclusion, highlighting the need for bias countermeasures and comprehensive statistical frameworks for synthesizing metric data to mitigate the effects of cognitive bias.     

检察机关机动侦查权分析及完善路径

机动侦查权是检察机关侦查权力不可或缺的一部分。从保留必要性来看,监察委员会的调查权和公安机关的侦查权均不能取代其法律监督的宪法地位。修订后的《刑事诉讼法》对检察机关机动侦查权的适用范围做出了限缩,机动侦查权在司法活动中运用的频率偏低。其原因是,检察机关机动侦查权在修订后的《刑事诉讼法》的相关规定要求下存在适用边界不明、启动程序繁琐、机关职权划分不明等问题。在明确《刑事诉讼法》对机动侦查权的功能定位是适时监督、寻求个案正义的前提下,通过划分机动侦查权适用的具体范围、简化机动侦查权的启动程序、确立检察机关启动机动侦查权的主导地位等路径对检察机关机动侦查权进行完善。     

Peace Pedagogy and Interpretative Frameworks of Distrust: State–Society Relations in the Colombian Peace Process

The Havana Peace Accords of 2016 sought to end five decades of internal conflict in Colombia. As well as disarming the FARC, they promise to bring state institutions to abandoned regions and enable citizen participation. However, there is an obstacle to this which has consistently been overlooked by Juan Manuel Santos' government: a chronic distrust in the state dating back to colonialism. This article draws on ethnographic research with the Colombian government's ‘peace pedagogy’ team, tasked innovatively with educating citizens about the Havana Accords and incorporating them in the co-production of peace. It shows that citizens' learning about state policies, and reception of state efforts to shape that learning, are filtered through pre-existing perceptions of the state: in Colombia, interpretative frameworks of distrust. This ethnography illuminates state–society relations in the Colombian peace process, offering implications for ongoing implementation of the Accords, and posing questions for other countries in transition, arguing that historically-constituted perceptions of the state should be taken into account when communicating government policies to society.     

“债随物走”规则的理论基础是什么——以企业转投资案例为焦点的实证研究

最高人民法院于2003年通过司法解释创造了"债随物走"规则。这一规则在实践中常适用于企业将其重大资产对外投资的交易。现有的相关研究大多认为这一规则是对法人财产独立制度的违反,主要以继受人责任和公司分立作为对该规则进行限缩解释的理论基础。针对这一规则,截至2018年9月的全样本实证研究表明,我国法院在企业对外投资情形下适用"债随物走"规则有其现实的考虑,其决定性因素包括债权人的类型与新设公司外部投资者的数量。现有相关研究并未意识到这些因素的重要性。与现有理论相比,资产分割理论可以很好地帮助人们分析"债随物走"规则的制度成本与收益,也更契合目前我国的司法经验,可以为这一规则未来的适用提供指导。根据法院的判决经验与理论分析,法院应仅在转移资产的企业之债权人明显缺乏自我保护能力,且资产受让公司外部投资者数量较少的情况下适用"债随物走"规则。     

论法官惩戒委员会的法律地位

设立法官惩戒委员会,并由该委员会对法官履职是否构成违法审判提供专业意见,是完善法官惩戒制度的重要内容和制度创新。对法官惩戒委员会的定位与职能,学界的建议与实际的制度建构并不完全一致。各地在设立法官惩戒委员会的过程中,因对其法律地位的理解不深、不透甚至存在偏差,导致其处于“无功能”的状态。作为一个全新的制度设计,在有域外先例可供借鉴的情况下,吸收其有益经验,再根据中国现实国情来建构,是制度建设的有效途径。当前,应根据修订后的我国《法官法》对法官惩戒委员会的相关规定,在明确法官惩戒委员会法律地位的基础上,在设立主体、委员构成、设立模式上下功夫,并做好与其他职能部门的衔接工作,确保法官惩戒委员会依法建构并保证制度得以顺利运行。     

骨龄自动化评估的研究进展

骨龄是反映人体生长发育的一项重要指标,能够较为客观地反映个体生长发育水平及成熟度。传统的人工骨龄评估通常是将左手腕X线片与参考标准进行比较,从而获得相应的骨龄值,该方法既耗时又存在观察者间的差异。近年来,随着计算机科学的不断发展,促使骨龄评估开始由传统的人工评估向自动化评估转变。虽然骨龄自动化评估的研究已相当多,但大部分仍处于实验阶段。本文综述了近年来国内外学者在骨龄自动化评估方面的相关研究与进展,以期为相关研究人员提供参考与研究思路。     

中国法史学基础问题反思

中国现代法律史学是在传统法律史学和外来法律史学的双重基础上建立起来的。正确认识中国法律史学的学科性质,对完善这门学科的独立品格,促进这门学科的进一步发展具有重要意义。运用现代法学理论,特别是运用部门法理论去分析中国传统社会的法史材料,是中国现代法史学研究方法形成和发展的主要标志。但不应简单地用部门法理论、现代法理学的一般概念去比附评论中国传统法史材料,使中国法史学研究带上过分浓厚的现代色彩。应重视法史学研究的学术批评问题,提倡既非庸俗吹捧也非恶意贬低的高水平的独立评论。     

法经济学视角下的转轨期的中国立法

本文针对转轨期的中国立法,采用法经济学的成本效益的比较分析方法,探讨了计划经济向市场经济转型过程中的矛盾冲突,分析了传统管制向公共规制和立法博弈发展的理论和现实。     

论股东大会决议瑕疵的法律救济

股东大会决议是股份有限公司的最高意思表示。由于种种原因 ,股东大会决议往往存在瑕疵 ,对其进行必要的法律救济 ,是维护公司利益 ,保护股东和第三人的合法权益的客观要求。我国《公司法》在这方面的规定还非常欠缺 ,有必要加以完善。     

论加强对高校大学生法律行为的教育

为实现高校培养新型人才的目标 ,高校对大学生进行法律行为教育势在必行。法律行为的可变性和社会性是法律行为教育理论依据的关键 ,应采取多种方式加强对高校大学生法律行为的教育。