Legal Admissibility Research Articles

Supplemental Material for Static-99R: Strengths, Limitations, Predictive Accuracy Meta-Analysis, and Legal Admissibility Review

Supplemental Material for Static-99R: Strengths, Limitations, Predictive Accuracy Meta-Analysis, and Legal Admissibility Review

Rozważania nad dopuszczalnością pełnienia funkcji sołtysa przez duchownego Kościoła Katolickiego

This article is an analysis of legal admissibility of performing the office of a village administrator by a catholic priest. Despite the fact that this theme has already been a subject of doctrine’s interest, this study distinguish itself from other studies because it is based on a case that took place in practice. That means, obviously, a choice of the Archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź for a village administrator of Piaski. Considerations are conducted from three perspectives – commonly applicable law, The Concordat itself and the canonic law. Comparative legal perspective provides a citation of relevant regulations existing in chosen countries. There are also introduced regulations referring to the status of a village administrator in Polish legal order. Conducted considerations allow to conclude that in spite of the fact that Polish commonly applicable law and the Concordat itself strongly emphasize the principle of autonomy and mutual independence of the state and churches and other religious unions, they do not provide for a prohibition of taking over public offices by priests. This case is differently regulated by the Code of Canon Law which directly forbids priests to execute offices connected with performing of public authority. Such offices should involve office of a village administrator, what determines the inadmissibility of performing the office of village administrator by catholic priest.

Opacity of Character: Virtue Ethics and the Legal Admissibility of Character Evidence

AbstractMany jurisdictions prohibit or severely restrict the use of evidence about a defendant's character to prove legal culpability. Situationists, who argue that conduct is largely determined by situational features rather than by character, can easily defend this prohibition. According to situationism, character evidence is misleading or paltry. Proscriptions on character evidence seem harder to justify, however, on virtue ethical accounts. It appears that excluding character evidence either denies the centrality of character for explaining conduct—the situationist position—or omits probative evidence. Situationism is, after all, presented as antithetical to virtue ethics. This essay provides a virtue ethical defense of character evidence exclusion rules. We show that existing virtue ethical rebuttals to situationism themselves support prohibitions on character evidence; even if behavior arises from stable character traits, character evidence should be prohibited. In building our case, we provide a taxonomy of kinds of character judgment and reconcile the ubiquity and reasonableness of character judgments in ordinary life with the epistemic legitimacy of character evidence prohibitions in law.

Pravne, socijalne i etičke implikacije editovanja humanog genoma primenom tehnologije CRISPR/Cas9

Discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 technology produced a revolution in human medicine, because of the availability, efficiency and low cost, which has raised a number of questions. Given that by applying CRISPR/Cas9 technology we can program our future children and extend their life expectancy, question is whether we should allow it. The point of the paper is to determine the limits of legal admissibility and ethical justification of this procedure, considering contemporary legal theoretical views, ethical values and social significance. Using normative, comparative and sociological method the authors analyze the impact of biotechnology development, in the context of genetic interventions, on redefining the regulatory framework. Critical consideration in the context of legal standardization of human genetic interventions and meeting the interests of all participants, has been identified as a core subject of research, which will be considered in accordance with a holistic approach to the realization of human rights.

한-EU FTA 노동조항 관련 분쟁의 법적 쟁점

This article analyses the recent report of the Panel of Experts with respect to the dispute between the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Korea (Korea) regarding the implementation of Article 13.4.3 of the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Firstly, it looks into the procedural issue, namely the legal admissibility of the EU’s complaint based on a trade-labour link requirement under Article 13.2.1. Specifically, it perceives the debate between the two disputing parties over this issue as a ‘framing battle’, i.e. ‘trade dispute’ vs ‘labour dispute’, which led the Panel to consider it unnecessary for the EU to establish the trade-labour link condition. Secondly, this article delves into the issue of the content and scope of the obligations in respect of the principle of freedom of association in the context of Article 13.4.3. In particular, it examines the reasoning of the Panel that read into the text of Article 13.4.3 within the context of the case law of the supervisory bodies in the International Labour Organization (ILO) on freedom of association as well as the whole text of the ILO Nos 87 and 98. While the article is critical of said legal reasoning, it is necessarily critical of the final cinclusion reached by the panel. Thirdly, this article explores the findings of the Panel on the compatibility with the applicable law of the concerned provisions and/or practices of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act in turn. After taking a brief note of the Panel’s decision on the obligation to make sustained and continued efforts towards ratifying the fundamental Conventions, this article concludes with some suggestions for the Korean government in order to address potential issues that may arise in the future.

Constitutional equality in the information society: the problem of private discrimination

The article deals with the implementation of constitutional norms on equality in the information society, which stimulates the manifestation of private and economic discrimination. Threats arising from the existence of natural inequalities have been investigated. On the basis of the conclusion about the legal admissibility of private discrimination, social and legal grounds for the implementation of the constitutional principle of equality have been revealed. The differentiation of private and economic discrimination is proposed, factors are identified that must be considered when determining the admissibility of discriminatory behavior in the information society: the level of market monopolization, the negotiating capabilities of the parties, the amount of costs required to restore the violated right. Considering the insufficiency of the actual capabilities of consumers of information benefits, it is concluded that it is necessary to protect the weak side of information relations. Movement to the minimum possible level of discretion on the side of provider of informational goods and creation of additional legal guarantees for constitutional and other rights of the citizen is provided.

Dendrochemical forensics as material evidence in courts: How could trees lie?

The legal admissibility of scientific tools, such as dendrochemistry providing forensic evidence for criminal or civil cases, critically relies on the quality of fundamental and applied scientific research. The “Daubert” and “Frye” criteria that federal courts in the U.S.A use for determining legal admissibility requires publication of the scientific basis for the tool, and general acceptance by the scientific community. The field of dendroforensics is rapidly evolving, with new methods constantly being developed. In this manuscript we investigate how this dendrochemical evidence has been used successfully in the courtroom. The study of tree rings using physical anatomical and dendrochronological methods has been used as evidence in courts for over 150 years. From these beginnings in dendroecology dendrochemical and biological methods have matured enough to allow it to be used in forensic investigations, finding applications as a new independent line of evidence around the world, supporting cases involving murder, trafficking of protected species, and pollution crimes. We summarize some of the key applications of dendrochemistry in forensic cases and illustrate them with courtroom examples. The basic analytical methods discussed (e.g., PCR, GC-MS, LIBS, LA/ICP-MS, EDXRF) are all conventional. However, for findings to be relevant to judicial cases, the data is normally applied with additional lines of evidence gathered such as tree physiology and relevant statistics. This can allow us to gain more powerful data to help age date a specific event or to spatially identify a source material. The purpose of this article is to show how recent research has paved the way for the use of dendrochemical evidence in courts. It shows how dendrochemistry can be useful for forensic investigations including: murder cases, trafficking of protected species, and pollution crimes. The applications are illustrated by several summarized legal cases, but due to the confidential nature of some of these cases it was not always possible to provide full details or references.

Solid state drive forensics analysis—Challenges and recommendations

AbstractSolid state drive (SSD) is rapidly replacing hard disk drive (HDD) in almost all computing devices. With the exponential growth in SSD technologies, it is quite possible that very soon HDD will become obsolete. It is good news for the end‐users, but may not be so pleasant for the digital forensics examiners. It has been a challenge for the cyber‐crime investigator ever since the evolution of SSD technology. The intrinsic characteristics of SSD are not very supportive for forensic examiners. The TRIM function and background garbage process make it difficult to retrieve deleted artifacts from the SSD. The traditional disk write blocker cannot stop the background process. There is a lot of uncertainty involved in SSD data acquisition. Sometimes it is also difficult to prove the integrity of SSD in the court of law which makes the SSD's legal admissibility questionable. The objective of this article is to examine the uncertainty involved in SSD forensics with experimental analysis. This article discusses in detail the different components of SSD and its working principle followed by experimental forensics analysis, critical observations, guidelines, and recommendations.

Legal Exclusions: Émigré Lawyers, Admissions to Legal Practice and the Cultural Transformation of the Australian Legal Profession

Legal histories of Australia have largely overlooked the exclusion of European émigré lawyers from legal practice in Australia. This article recovers part of this forgotten history by tracing the drawn-out legal admission bids of two Jewish émigré lawyers in the mid-20th century: German-born Rudolf Kahn and Austrian-born Edward Korten. In examining their legal lives and doctrinal legacies, this article demonstrates the changing role and requirement of British subjecthood in the historical constitution and slow cultural transformation of the Australian legal profession. This article suggests that contemporary efforts to promoting cultural diversity in the Australian legal profession are enriched by paying attention to this long and difficult history of legal exclusions.

End-of-life decision making w opiece medycznej w świetle standardów praw człowieka Rady Europy

The issue of decisions made at the end of life relating to the so-called “Right to death”, “death in dignity”, which in the literature on the subject is referred to as end-of-life decision making in the legal and medical space, arouses the interest of lawyers and doctors, and due to the specific gravity of the topic, it is also the subject of public debate. This article presents the issue of end-of-life decision making in health care in the light of the standards of the Council of Europe. The main purpose of the problem outlined in this way will be to analyze the legal admissibility of decisions concerning the end of life at the request of the interested person in the legal and human perspective. The summary indicates that despite the lack of a consensus in contemporary Europe as to the understanding of human rights, and hence the admissibility of active euthanasia and assisted suicide, the situation may change with the increasing emphasis on individual autonomy in medical law.

Medial Branch Blocks for Diagnosis of Facet Joint Pain Etiology and Use in Chronic Pain Litigation.

A commonly disputed medicolegal issue is the documentation of the location, degree, and anatomical source of an injured plaintiff’s ongoing pain, particularly when the painful region is in or near the spine, and when the symptoms have arisen as result of a relatively low speed traffic crash. The purpose of our paper is to provide health and legal practitioners with strategies to identify the source of cervical pain and to aid triers of fact (decision makers) in reaching better informed conclusions. We review the medical evidence for the applications and reliability of cervical medial branch nerve blocks as an indication of painful spinal facets. We also present legal precedents for the legal admissibility of the results of such diagnostic testing as evidence of chronic spine pain after a traffic crash. Part of the reason for the dispute is the subjective nature of pain, and the fact that medical documentation of pain complaints relies primarily on the history given by the patient. A condition that can be documented objectively is chronic cervical spine facet joint pain, as demonstrated by medial branch block (injection). The diagnostic accuracy of medial branch blocks has been extensively described in the scientific medical literature, and evidence of facet blocks to objectively document chronic post-traumatic neck pain has been accepted as scientifically reliable in courts and tribunals in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. We conclude that there is convincing scientific medical evidence that the results of cervical facet blocks provide reliable objective evidence of chronic post-traumatic spine pain, suitable for presentation to an adjudicative decision maker.

Thick and Dazzling Darkness: Religious Poetry in a Secular AgeThe Art of Confession: The Performance of Self from Robert Lowell to Reality TV

Thick and Dazzling Darkness: Religious Poetry in a Secular AgeThe Art of Confession: The Performance of Self from Robert Lowell to Reality TV

Civil liability for damages related to germline and embryo editing against the legal admissibility of gene editing

The creators of CRISPR-Cas9 method have turned to the world community, including lawyers, to undertake a public discussion on the implications that it can create. One of the most important problems to be resolved in the future, will be the issue of establishing very clear legal principles of compensatory liability for damages resulting from the editing of genes in human embryos and reproductive cells. It is necessary to show possible legal problems that may arise and—what is more—the fact that they will certainly appear in future legislative work in the world. Questions must be asked to which world legal experts will seek answers. And this is the goal of this paper was set—showing possible legal problems and asking questions related to liability for damages resulting from the editing of genes in human embryos and reproductive cells that will be answered in the future. The most important research questions are therefore: what is the genetic nature of the genes edition—is it a treatment whose aim is to treat infertility of parents or the future child? How to determine the scope of responsibility in the situation when it comes to the “cure” of one mutation, but there is a tendency to develop a disease in the future? What then is the scope of the doctor’s duty to inform? How to qualify the editing of a gene that is not intended to cure the existing disease, but to obtain a certain specific immunity? What legal obligations will weigh on parents who decide to edit the genes of the embryo or in the preconception phase? Finally, the question arises about the time limits of this gene-editing responsibility. If we make genetic modification of hereditary nature, then will the children or grandchildren subjected to gene editing be able to make claims? In this paper, the provisions of international European law, common law and continental law on the example of Polish law have been analysed. The key findings of this paper are to show that legal problems in gene editing are not limited to answering the question whether it should be admissible or not. For this reason, the role of legal discourse, and in particular of private law, should focus on the reinterpretation of traditional compensation structures, so that they also protect the rights of people whose genome has been modified.

Dowody elektroniczne a sprawiedliwość procesu karnego

This paper deals with the application of modern technologies for practical use in the form of electronic evidence in criminal trials, in order to realize the autotelic value of justice. First of all, as part of the introductory remarks, an outline of civilizational, technical and technological progress is provided. Secondly, the author indicates the types of values that appear in criminal procedural law. Thirdly, the concept of electronic evidence is analysed, along with the proposals of desirable amendments in the Polish law. Fourthly, the correlation between electronic evidence and the value of fairness is examined, including the question of legal admissibility of such evidence. The article ends with a concise summary containing original observations about the issues covered by the analysis.

The Relationship between Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law Using the Example of Targeted Killings

This article examines the relationship between human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) using targeted killings as an example. It analyses the question of whether such an instrument is justified within the human rights and IHL framework, in particular to what extent human rights, which protect every life, influence the legal admissibility of targeted killings under IHL. First, the admissibility of targeted killings under human rights law is discussed. The relationship between the two areas of regulation and the influence of human rights law on international and non-international armed conflict will then be examined. The article shows that human rights law requires a broad interpretation of the concept of the civilian as well as a precise weighing within the proportionality test. Furthermore, the influence of human rights on combatants participating directly in hostilities and on the figure of the permanent fighter is discussed. All in all, the article suggests an interpretation closely oriented towards human rights due to the high potential of danger resulting from targeted killings.

Delação Premiada: o valor probatório no processo penal

O presente artigo objetiva analisar o valor probatório da delação premiada no processo penal brasileiro. Utilizando-se do método de pesquisa qualitativo e de uma revisão bibliográfica e jurisprudencial, inicialmente, far-se-á um breve escorço histórico acerca da origem do instituto, de acordo com a legislação americana e italiana, as quais serviram de inspiração ao legislador pátrio. Na sequência, serão objeto de investigação as previsões normativas da colaboração processual no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, a conceituação e a sua natureza jurídica, bem como os requisitos mínimos legais previstos para a sua admissibilidade. A fim de possibilitar melhor compreensão, abordar-se-ão as questões que permeiam a prova no processo penal, desde a sua delimitação conceitual até a atividade de valoração processual. Ato contínuo, a partir de uma análise das aferições internas e externas da prova, discorrer-se-á a respeito do valor probatório da delação premiada no Brasil, à luz da regra de corroboração. Em arremate, tratar-se-á de algumas problemáticas que gravitam em torno do instituto: a (in)constitucionalidade e a questão ética em face da delação premiada. Encerra-se o presente desenvolvimento com a conclusão de que a delação possui valor probatório, podendo, efetivamente, ser utilizada como meio de obtenção de prova para sustentar o édito condenatório de terceiros, desde que, submetida ao crivo do contraditório e da ampla defesa, encontre respaldo nos demais elementos de prova reunidos no processo penal.

Scenarios, Probability, and Evidence Scholarship, Old and New.

Scenarios, Probability, and Evidence Scholarship, Old and New.

Feeling coerced during psychiatric hospitalization: Impact of perceived status of admission and perceived usefulness of hospitalization

IntroductionPerceived coercion is not exclusively related to the patient's legal status at admission. Patients are not always aware of their correct status and voluntary patients often report having felt coerced. Moreover, involuntary patients commonly report that their hospitalization was justified. The first goal was to disentangle the contribution of the legal and of the perceived status of admission in predicting perceived coercion. The second goal of this study was to investigate to which extent perception of the usefulness of the hospitalization affected perceived coercion. Material and methods152 inpatients were interviewed about their knowledge of their legal status of admission, perceived need for hospitalization and subjective improvement. They completed the MacArthur's Admission Experience Survey and the Coercion Experience Scale. Results6.6% of voluntarily admitted patients and 30.4% of involuntarily admitted patients reported an erroneous status of admission. 88.2% of voluntarily admitted patients and 44.7% of involuntarily admitted patients felt that they needed hospitalization during their stay. Levels of perceived coercion at admission and during hospitalization were mostly predicted by their perceived legal status. While involuntary patients frequently perceived the need for hospitalization and reported subjective improvement after admission, their perception of coercion markedly differed from voluntary patients. ConclusionsPerceived coercion was marginally related to the legal admission status, which leaves room for interventions that reduce the patients' feeling of being coerced and avoid its negative effects. If many patients revised their belief on the need for and benefits of hospitalization during their stay, their perception of coercion was left partially unchanged.

Pakistan - Legal Recognition of Contracts and Transactions Arrived Through Electronic Means

Pakistan's Electronic Transaction Ordinance, 2002 (ETO'02), amongst other things, provides rules for contracts arrived through electronic means by categorizing that their legal recognition and admissibility is presumed until it is rebutted. Accordingly, such electronic contracts do not require any physical form because ETO'02 in effect recognizes the presumption as regards the electronic means / forms / retention methods adopted for the same. This short paper provides guidance as to the jurisprudential basis for recognition of contracts and transactions arrived through electronic means under the applicable law of Pakistan.

Brief of Amicus Curiae National Association of Scholars in Support of Appellants, Sander and First Amendment Coalition v. State Bar of California, 1st Civil No. A150625 (Cal. Ct. App. filed Jan. 26, 2018)

The public good often depends on social science research that employs personal data. Volumes of scientific breakthroughs based on data accumulated through access to public information demonstrate the importance and feasibility of enabling research in the public interest while still respecting data privacy. For decades, reliable and routine technical methods have ensured protection for personal privacy by de-identifying personal data. Social science research into legal education and admission to the bar is presently a matter of urgent public interest and importance, requiring solid empirical analysis of anonymized personal data that government authorities possess. Social science research of the very kind proposed by Appellants Sander and The First Amendment Coalition represents standard, indeed commonplace, research practice furthering the public interest, while employing established methodologies that minimize the risk to privacy.