环境犯罪的惩治与传统刑事归责原则的创新

由于环境犯罪侵害的特异性和主观认定上的困难,传统刑事归责原则在环境犯罪惩治中面临着困境.对此,西方各国刑法理论先后提出了相对严格责任、绝对严格责任、新新过失论等理论.基于环境犯罪的特殊性和刑事责任的价值与功能,对环境犯罪应采取一种相对严格责任的归责原则,即通过诉讼程序上的举证责任的倒置来减轻犯罪指控的难度,直接根据污染事实推定被告对危害后果的发生是有主观过错的,但同时允许被告反证自己主观没有过错.     

环境犯罪的构成要件

环境犯罪是一种新的犯罪类型,其构成要件有自己的特点,与传统犯罪构成要件有很大不同。本文对此进行了探讨,并提出了自己的观点。首先,在环境犯罪中,犯罪主体有自然人和法人两种;其次,大多数环境犯罪是过失犯罪,其过失将依据这样一个标准来确定,即行为人是否采取了有效防治措施以力图避免损害结果的发生,如果没有,应认定过失成立;再次,环境犯罪之客观要件主要指犯罪行为以及犯罪行为与危害后果的因果联系。在确定犯罪行为时,利益衡量原则将起非常重要的作用。鉴于具体、明确的因果联系难以证明,因果关系必须采用推定因果关系的原则确定。     

Light distribution in dynamic street lighting: Two experimental studies on its effects on perceived safety,prospect, concealment,and escape

The relationship between light and perceived safety at night is intuitively strong, yet theoretically and empirically its workings are largely unknown. Intelligent dynamic road lighting, which continuously adapts to the presence and behavior of users, can light the street only when and where it is needed. As such, it offers a solution to the energy waste and luminous pollution associated with conventional road lighting. With this innovation, however, new questions emerge about the effect of lighting on perceived safety. We need to consider not only how much lighting pedestrians need to feel safe, but also which parts of the street should be lit. In two experiments, we investigated the effect of different light distributions on perceived safety, and explored mediation by people's appraisal of three safety-related cues suggested in the literature: prospect (having an overview), escape (perceived escape possibilities), and refuge/concealment (perceived hiding places for offenders). Both experiments, one with stationary and one with walking participants, demonstrated that people prefer having light in their own immediate surroundings rather than on the road that lies ahead. This could be explained, partially, by changes in prospect, escape, and concealment. Against expectations, prospect was higher with lighting distributions in which participants' immediate surroundings, but not the more distant parts of the road, were most strongly lit.     

社会安全事件空间分布研究

在讨论社会安全事件空间分布特点的基础上,简要介绍用于空间自相关性分析的主要算法。重点对基于密度聚类(DENCLUE,density-based clustering)的算法的基本原理、过程及利用积分均方误差MISE进行精度检验等方面进行阐述。将该算法用于社会安全事件空间分布研究领域中的犯罪热点区域探测。分析结果表明,与以往分析方法相比DENCLUE算法具有抗噪声能力强、能生成任意形状的聚类等特点,可有效地用于社会安全事件空间分布区域的研究,但也发现算法在格网边长的确定及窗宽长度选择方面的不足,有待进一步研究。     

环境监管失职罪的正确认定

结合真实案例探讨了环境监管失职罪的两个难点问题,主张运用监督过失理论认定监督人的预见范围,运用偶然因果关系的理论分析监督人的失职行为与危害结果之间的因果关系。     

Legal ivory trade in a corrupt world and its impact on African elephant populations

Illegal hunting of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) for ivory is causing rapid declines in their populations. Since 2007, illegal ivory trade has more than doubled. African elephants are facing the most serious conservation crisis since 1989, when international trade was banned. One solution proposed is establishment of a controlled legal trade in ivory. High prices for ivory mean that the incentives to obtain large quantities are high, but the quantity of tusks available for trade are biologically constrained. Within that context, effective management of a legal ivory trade would require robust systems to be in place to ensure that ivory from illegally killed elephants cannot be laundered into a legal market. At present, that is not feasible due to corruption among government officials charged with implementing wildlife‐related legislation. With organized criminal enterprises involved along the whole commodity chain, corruption enables the laundering of illegal ivory into legal or potentially legal markets. Poachers and traffickers can rapidly pay their way out of trouble, so the financial incentives to break the law heavily outweigh those of abiding by it. Maintaining reliable permitting systems and leak‐proof chains of custody in this context is challenging, and effective management breaks down. Once illegal ivory has entered the legal trade, it is difficult or impossible for enforcement officers to know what is legal and illegal. Addressing corruption throughout a trade network that permeates countries across the globe will take decades, if it can ever be achieved. That will be too late for wild African elephants at current rates of loss. If we are to conserve remaining wild populations, we must close all markets because, under current levels of corruption, they cannot be controlled in a way that does not provide opportunities for illegal ivory being laundered into legal markets. Comercio Legal de Marfil en un Mundo Corrupto y su Imapacto sobre Poblaciones de Elefantes     

关于《中华人民共和国刑法》环境犯罪规定的思考

《刑法》修订后，在环境犯罪的立法体例、犯罪主体、定罪处罚等方面取得了很大的进步。但是《刑法》在立法模式构成、犯罪客观要件、处罚和可操作性以及与环境资源法规中的刑法规范相协调等问题上还存有诸多缺陷。因此有必要从上述几方面入手，完善环境犯罪的刑事立法。     

Compliance with ivory trade regulations in the United Kingdom among traders

Global demand for elephant ivory is contributing to illegal poaching and significant decline of African elephant (Loxondonta africana) populations. To help mitigate decline, countries with legal domestic ivory markets were recommended by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to close domestic markets for commercial trade. However, implementing stricter regulations on wildlife trade does not necessarily mean compliance with rules will follow. Using an online questionnaire, we examined the relationship between self-reported compliance with ivory trade regulations among 115 ivory traders in the United Kingdom and 4 dimensions (control, deterrence, legitimacy, and social norms) hypothesized to influence compliance with conservation regulations. Although most traders supported regulations, a large number did not always check that they comply with them when trading objects containing ivory. The main factors influencing compliance with ivory trade regulations were traders’ ability to comply and their perceptions of the regulations and punishments to deter illegal trade. These findings demonstrate the utility of conservation criminology to improve wildlife trade regulations and identify opportunities to reduce illegal ivory entering the market in the United Kingdom. Compliance could be improved by clearer regulations that facilitate easier detection of illegal ivory products and stronger prosecution of violations.     

The impact of a natural disaster on altruistic behaviour and crime

Institutional altruism in the form of a public‐sector intervention and support for victims and social altruism generated by mutual aid and solidarity among citizens constitute a coming together in a crisis. This coming together and mutual support precipitate a decrease in crime rates during such an event. This paper presents an analysis of daily fluctuations in crime during the prolonged ice storms in Quebec, Canada, in January 1998 that provoked an electrical blackout. Of particular interest are the principal crisis‐related influences on daily crime patterns. A first series of analyses examines the impact of altruistic public‐sector mobilisation on crime. A significant decline in property crime rates was noticed when cheques were distributed to crisis victims in financial need in Montérégie, and hence they were attributable to public intervention (institutional altruism). Moreover, the rate of social altruism (financial donations), which was more substantial in adjoining rather than distant regions, was inversely proportional to crime rates.