我国环境刑罚轻缓化探析

毋庸置疑,在整个国际社会对环境犯罪处以轻缓刑罚的背景下,我国亦应该对环境刑罚采用轻缓化的原则。诚然,我国的环境刑罚制度与其他国家相比还有许多亟待完善的地方,但这并不妨碍我们在借鉴其他国家先进的立法经验的基础上构建适合我国具体国情的环境刑罚制度。在环境刑罚中要突出自由刑的适用,扩大并完善财产刑的适用,明确财产刑中过于模糊的规定,逐步改善环境犯罪的刑事处罚措施过于单一的缺点和功能上的不足,同时提高对辅助刑罚措施的关注。在环境犯罪方面,在适用传统刑罚措施惩治的基础上配合适用辅助刑罚措施,使我国环境刑罚轻缓化实践不至于成为一纸空谈。     

浅谈未成年人的犯罪与惩罚

未成年人犯罪是指已满14周岁不满18周岁的人所实施的危害社会、触犯刑律并应当受到刑罚处罚的行为。现从未成年人的犯罪原因、刑事责任认定、适用刑罚三个方面进行探讨,根据刑法的基本原则和未成年人的特点,对未成年人犯罪的刑罚,关键要起到教育和震慑作用,而不能适用死刑、无期徒刑、剥夺政治权利和没收财产,这样才能体现中国法律对未成年人的保护。     

终身监禁刑罚措施的再斟酌——以《刑法修正案(九)》为契点

作为死刑替代措施而被提出的终身监禁刑罚措施并非法定的刑种,但确属事实上的独立刑种;这一刑罚措施缺乏刑罚根据,违反报应刑、目的刑以及刑罚人道主义.其产生是刑罚民粹主义兴起、情绪化立法以及失衡的刑事政策和重刑主义导向的刑罚结构改革所致.鉴于此,在立法层面上应早日废除终身监禁,在司法层面上则应停止适用.     

《刑法简明教程》学习辅导

学习刑法课程,应通读《刑法简明教程》一书,并掌握以下基本内容：总论部分,首先应了解刑法的概念、特征、目的、任务、基本原则等基本理论,明确我国刑法的适用范围,重点把握刑法的三大基本原则：罪刑法定原则、适用刑法平等原则、罪责刑相适应原则;其次要系统掌握犯罪和犯罪构成等方面的理论,了解排除犯罪性行为、故意犯罪的形态、共同犯罪以及定罪等方面的内容;第三,应了解有关刑事责任及其实现方式(主要是刑罚)的内容,重点掌握刑罚的种类、刑罚的适用原则及相关内容。总之,通过对本部分内容的学习,应全面地、系统地、深入地掌握有关犯罪、刑事责任和刑罚的内容。     

析社区矫正的基本理论

社区矫正作为与监禁矫正相对应的刑罚处罚方式,起源于1960-1970年代的西方国家,它在适用对象、矫正方式、理论基础等诸方面都有别于传统的刑事司法模式。社区矫正不是对监禁矫正的否定,它只是使得刑罚处罚方式更加完善,趋向现代法治理念的要求,对克服长期监禁刑的弊端大有裨益。同时我国的社区矫正工作无论是立法还是司法实践都还处于初步阶段,对这一新兴的刑罚处罚方式应当坚持理论研究与实践应用并重,使社区矫正与监禁矫正并驾齐驱。     

新刑事诉讼法背景下的刑罚执行监督

刑罚执行是实现刑罚权的最后一个阶段,执行的效果直接决定了整个刑事诉讼活动的价值是否实现。而目前中国仍存在"重审判轻执行"的思想,2012年新修订的刑事诉讼法对刑罚执行监督工作的重要性进行强化,并确立了检察机关对刑罚执行工作进行监督的主要方式。在新刑事诉讼法背景下,如何细化完善目前刑罚执行监督中存在的问题,更有效的保障刑罚正确、合法、有效的执行还有待理论界和实务部门的探索和实践。     

论影响刑罚个别化实现的四个条件

理论、制度、技术和主体是影响和制约刑罚个别化实现的四个条件.理论是刑罚个别化实现的先导,制度是刑罚个别化实现的保障,技术是刑罚个别化实现的支撑,主体是刑罚个别化实现的承担者.     

论刑罚执行个别化及其实现

刑罚执行个男q化是刑罚个别化实现的最重要环节。刑罚执行个别化具有惩罚罪犯，实现刑罚的惩戒正义；矫正罪犯，促使罪犯适应社会；为刑罚制定个别化、刑罚裁量个别化提供具体的、丰富的经验的重要价值。一个科学的、细化的并能够根据罪犯情况变化及时调整的罪犯分类体系和多样化的刑罚执行内容有利于刑罚执行个剐化的实现。     

中国打击恐怖活动犯罪的刑事立法完善

全国人大常委会于2011年10月通过的《关于加强反恐怖工作有关问题的决定》对恐怖活动的定义进行了明确,并对恐怖活动组织及恐怖活动人员的认定机关及相关工作程序等问题进行了明确。但是,该决定对恐怖活动的定义过于宽泛,不利于集中打击对中国国家安全构成重大威胁的基于民族分裂主义和宗教极端主义产生的恐怖活动犯罪。而且,中国刑法没有关于恐怖活动犯罪刑罚的特殊规定,不利于实现惩处此类犯罪罪刑相适应原则的实现。为此,要通过立法完善刑法相关规定：第一,建议修改刑事立法,对恐怖活动犯罪作狭义规定,并将其界定为危害国家安全犯罪下的一类犯罪。第二,全面完善恐怖活动犯罪刑罚规定,对恐怖活动犯罪全面适用剥夺政治权利、财产刑和比客观表现相同的普通刑事犯罪更重的刑罚,并考虑设立不得减刑、假释的无期徒刑（终身监禁）刑罚制度。     

专利犯罪立法比较研究

综观世界各国对专利犯罪的有关规定,关于立法模式,可分为附属刑法规定型和刑法典规定型两种类型;关于专利犯罪罪名设置,可分为立法侧重保护公共法益与国家法益、立法侧重保护个人法益、立法对两种保护并重3种基本类型;关于专利犯罪刑罚,各国立法皆重视罚金刑的运用,另有一些国家对专利犯罪规定适用资格刑;关于专利犯罪追诉方式,多数国家都实行自诉制度。我国应借鉴其它国家有关规定完善我国专利犯罪立法,立法模式应采取附属刑法规定和刑法典规定相结合;情节恶劣、危害严重的冒充专利行为和专利侵权行为应构成犯罪;扩大罚金刑的适用,适用资格刑;应在刑法或刑事诉讼法中将专利犯罪明文规定为告诉才处理之罪。     

The regulatory choice of noncompliance in emissions trading programs

This paper addresses the following question: To achieve a fixed aggregate emissions target cost-effectively, should emissions trading programs be designed and implemented to achieve full compliance, or does allowing a certain amount of noncompliance reduce the costs of reaching the emissions target? The total costs of achieving the target consist of aggregate abatement costs, monitoring costs, and the expected costs of collecting penalties from noncompliant firms. Under common assumptions, I show that allowing noncompliance is cost-effective only if violations are enforced with an increasing marginal penalty. However, one can design a policy that induces full compliance with a constant marginal penalty that meets the aggregate emissions target with lower expected costs. This last result does not depend on setting an arbitrarily high constant marginal penalty. In fact, the marginal penalty need not be higher than the equilibrium marginal penalty under the policy with the increasing marginal penalty, and can actually be lower. Finally, tying the marginal penalty directly to the permit price allows the policy objective to be achieved without any knowledge of firms’ abatement costs.     

An experimental study of blind proficiency tests in forensic science

We conducted a series of sender?Creceiver experiments to study the consequences of implementing a regime of blind proficiency tests in forensic science to reduce error rates and improve the criminal justice system. Senders are our surrogate for forensic laboratories and receivers, for the judge or jury. Our experimental surrogate (random audits with a penalty) for blind proficiency tests reduced sender error rates by as much as 46% depending on the level of experimentally induced bias. When penalties improve information quality, receiver error rates fell by as much as 26% depending on the level of the sender bias. We also find that the penalty must be large relative to the payoff to induce the reduction in errors. Our results suggest that a regime of blind proficiency testing has the potential to reduce forensic science errors.     

Penalties and the deterrence of unlawful collusion

This paper investigates the size of penalties required to deter cartel formation. Allowing the penalty to be increasing in duration within the infinitely repeated game framework, penalties do not need to be as severe as previous research would suggest.     

我国死刑案件被和解的非正当性分析

轻微刑事案件可以适用刑事和解我国理论界和司法界就此基本达成共识，重罪案件和死刑案件可否适用刑事和解理论界争议颇为激烈。文章主张死刑案件不能和解，死刑被和解将违背我国死刑适用的宗旨，破坏死刑适用的标准；死刑案件和解严重背离了罪行法定原则和刑法面前人人平等原则、罪责刑相适应原则；也不符合刑事和解的应有价值；容易滋生新的司法腐败；其本质是国家推卸本应承担的对被害人的救助责任；死刑案件刑事和解也并非控制死刑适用的良策。     

TIME, MONEY, AND OPTIMAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES

The economic approach to optimal criminal penalties measures the welfare effects of crime and punishment in dollar terms, ignoring differences in the marginal utility of money among people. This paper alternatively proposes using time as the unit of measure in determining optimal criminal penalties, measuring the costs and benefits of crime in hours or days instead of dollars. The policy implications differ substantially from those in the existing economic literature. Equal prison terms impose similar time costs on all individuals rather than being more costly for those with higher foregone earnings. Equal fines impose the same cost on all individuals in the dollar-based economic models but in a time-denominated system are costlier to those who require more time to earn the money to pay the fines. In principle, one can use either money or time in setting penalties. However, time-based penalties are more consistent with the fundamental and widely held principles of justice on which the U.S. legal system rests.     

A Tax Evasion Model with Allowance for Retroactive Penalties*

Discrete models of tax evasion are considered when evasion has occurred over a period of several years. Allowance is made for growth in income, investment of illicit gains from successful evasion, and the imposition of retroactive penalties. Retroactive penalties increase deterrence of evasion if introduced at a point where evasion has been continuing for some years, since the utility gain from continuing successful evasion is unaffected, whereas the utility loss will be increased regardless of attitude to risk. Prohibitive penalty rates are determined, and a range of penalty rates are given in which some dishonest taxpayers may become honest. The formulation of the basic model and consequent conclusions are relevant to the current Australian taxation scene.     

论法定量刑情节的适用

法定量刑情节,既包括刑法总则规定的对各种犯罪共同适用的情节,也包括刑法分则对特定犯罪适用的情节。从重或从轻处罚的标准,应该坚持＂基准点＂说。在减轻处罚的情况下,仍然要判处刑罚,只是区分不同的情况,在法定刑以下,或者在下一个量刑幅度内判处。多功能情节在中国刑法中属于从宽情节。多情节同向从重处罚,必须要限定在法定刑的量刑幅度内判处,可以是法定最高刑,但不可以突破,升格成加重处罚。在存在多个逆向情节的情况下,采取相互抵消的做法是不恰当的。     

The Importance of Being Honest*

Given individual propensities to cheat (stealing, overcharging, etc.), the optimality conditions for the amount of resources devoted to law enforcement and for the severity of penalties on convicted cheats are derived. In some interesting cases, the optimal penalty equals the market price divided by the probability of conviction and it is optimal to spend very little on enforcement and impose a severe penalty. These conclusions seem to apply to the practical case of metered parking violation.     

Penalty Functions for Environmental Violations: Evidence from Water Quality Enforcement

We empirically estimate a penalty function for water quality violations of private firms in Georgia. We find that seriousness of infraction and historical compliance records strongly influence penalty levels, while the intentionality of violations and the method of discovery do not. The size of the polluting company is also an important determinant of financial penalties. Overall the results support the plausibility of modeling assumptions used in much the theoretical enforcement literature but indicate the need for caution in interpreting models that assume penalty amounts are invariant to violation characteristics.     

To Comply or Not To Comply? Pollution Standard Setting Under Costly Monitoring and Sanctioning

In this paper, we characterize optimal regulatory policies composed of a pollution standard, a probability of inspection and a fine for non-compliance, in a context where both monitoring and sanctioning are socially costly, and the penalty may include gravity and non-gravity components at the regulator’s discretion. Under given penalties, the optimal policy entails compliance with the standard as long as a quite intuitive condition is met. Non-compliant policies may include standards even below the pollution levels that minimize the sum of abatement costs and external damages. Interestingly, the appropriate structure of the penalty under non-compliance is highly progressive, while the best possible shape of the fine under compliance is linear. If the regulator is entitled to choose the structure of the fine, linear penalties are socially preferred and the optimal policy induces compliance.