The trust in Spanish and Italian private international law Part II

This is the concluding part of the Article of which the firstpart appeared in the (September QUERY FOR OXFORD) issue of Trusts& Trustees and which dealt with the position of trusts underItalian conflict of law. This second part examines the positionunder Spanish conflict of law rules and the impact that theHague Convention might have on it.     

论信托法的源流

一、罗马法的“遗产信托” 最初的信托发生在古代罗马法.罗马法中的信托只限于“遗产信托”.这和发源于中世纪的近代英国信托制度和已普及两大法系国家的现代信托制度虽有共同的地方,但远不如它们趋于成熟和完备的程度,笔者认为罗马法中的“遗产信托”还只能被认为是信托制度的萌芽状态.……     

The trust in Spanish and Italian private international law: Part I

Civil Law jurisdictions' recognition of trusts depends on theindividual conflict of law rules of each jurisdiction. The HagueConvention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Trusts intendsto bring a degree of certainty into how a foreign trust is received.However, the matter is complicated, in particular, as to thestatus granted in each jurisdiction to the convention. Thisarticle, based on a paper presented at the convention on CatalanCivil Law, ‘Los patrimonios fiduciarios y el trust’,held in Tarragona on 20 and 21 October 2005, examines the positionof trusts under the conflict of law rules in Italy and in Spainand the impact made on the recognition of trusts by the HagueConvention. This article appears in two parts; in this firstpart the position in Italy is examined and the second part concludeswith the position in Spain.     

The impact of license plate recognition technology (LPR) on trust in law enforcement: a survey-experiment

Objectives

We examine the extent to which individuals' knowledge of an advanced police technology (license plate recognition or "LPR") may impact perceptions of police. Technologies with the capacity to track individuals' movements are becoming increasingly common in police practice. Although these technologies may yield positive benefits, their use may also heighten community concerns about increased surveillance, data storage, and data security, thereby potentially negatively impacting community-police relationships.

Methods

We utilize a survey-based experiment with randomized assignment of participants (n=405) to investigate the impact of individuals' knowledge of LPR use on a variety of police perceptions, including trust in police, community approval, respect for citizens, and respect for individual rights.

Results

Most respondents were unaware of LPR use prior to the survey. When compared with a control group, respondents who encountered brief mentions of LPR functions on the survey expressed significantly lower levels of trust in police. Additionally, "strong agreement" with other positive statements about police also appears to have declined in this sample in response to LPR information. Notably, the sample contained high pre-existing levels of trust and support for police, factors which may have moderated the impacts of LPR information.

Conclusions

These results support the hypothesis that awareness of LPR use may negatively impact perceptions of police, including trust in police. More generally, although technologies like LPR represent technological innovations, they may also yield unintended consequences, including the potential to undermine police-community relations if adoption decisions are not accompanied by sufficient transparency or community support.

     

领导干部必须具备现代法治观念

在推进我国法治化的进程中,各级领导干部承担着极其重要的历史责任,并发挥着关键性作用,而这一切都主要取决于他们自身的法律素质,尤其是取决于他们是否具备现代法治观念,唯有如此,他们才能完成时代所赋予的伟大使命,将中国建设成为现代化的社会主义法治国家。     

关于完善我国个人所得税法的设想

我国个人所得税法虽经历次修改但仅是局部微调,没有弥补现行个税法的根本缺陷,我国个人所得税法的改革和完善仍任重而道远。本文借鉴国外个人所得税法改革的合理成分,在分析我国个人所得税法缺陷的基础上,提出应在分类征收模式向分类与综合相结合的征收模式转变;减少累进税率级次,降低最高边际税率;实行税收特别措施;采用基本扣除与专项扣除相结合的方式,建立弹性税制,推广税收指数化和加强征管五个方面予以完善。     

公平正义：和谐社会的基本法治理念

和谐社会应该是一个法治社会,而法治社会最基本的理念就是公平正义。公平正义是法律的主要价值形态,更是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要价值基础,是和谐社会的重要标志和主要内容,也是法律调整的根本目标,是协调各种利益、处理各种矛盾的根本尺度。没有公平正义,社会主义便会失去灵魂的支撑,失去自身质的规定性;没有公平正义,就没有安定有序的社会秩序;没有公平正义,和谐社会的建设就会失去动力。因此,应将公平正义确立为和谐社会的基本法治理念。     

试论刑事侦查执法理念的重构

“社会主义司法制度必须保障在全社会实现公平和正义。”这是新世纪新阶段我国司法制度改革的价值追求。作为司法制度重要组成部分的刑事侦查制度,同样,面临与时俱进,开拓创新的问题,作为刑事执法理念必然会在多方面发生变革。本文提出刑事执法的价值观要从专政工具论转向多元平衡论、正义观从偏重实体正义转向实体与程序并重、侦查观从查明事实转向法律真实、证据观从依赖人证转向强调可采信的社会证据和司法观从侦查为中心转向以公正审判为核心的理念,从我国刑事侦查制度改革角度出发,力求为我国刑事执法制度改革提供理论资源和观念平台。     

The Law Commission's recommendations: a triumph in trust reform

A major advance in trust law reform has been achieved by theLaw Commission's recommendation that there should be no radicallegislative change but a substantial shift in practice associatedwith exemptions of clauses in trust instruments. The advance is as much in the way the changes are to be achievedas in the actual proposals (Law Com No 301) that the law Commissionhave put to the government. These were presented with prideto interested parties in the House of Lords late in July. The shift in practice has not been arrived     

The idea of selective release

We interviewed 203 juvenile inmates housed in a juvenile corrections facility in New Orleans, using a revised version of the Rand instrument developed by Chaiken and Chaiken. The purpose was to demonstrate how prediction scales, used in the past to identify high-rate offenders for selective incapacitation, actually may be more suitable for identifying low-rate offenders for selective release. Our results show that the prediction scale performed worse at identifying high-rate offenders but better at identifying low-rate offenders. We discuss the policy implications of our findings.     

The emergence of the Islamic trust

The Islamic trust, governed by both the laws of the jurisdictionunder which it is written and by Shari'ah law, has become apopular financial and devolution planning vehicle for assetsheld by Muslims. This article examines how these trusts havedeveloped.     

The law and the public's health: a study of infectious disease law in the United States

Law plays crucial roles in the field of public health, from defining the power and jurisdiction of health agencies, to influencing the social norms that shape individual behavior. Despite its importance, public health law has been neglected. Over a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine issued a report lamenting the state of public health administration, generally, and calling, in particular, for a revision of public health statutes. The Article examines the current state of public health law. To help create the conditions in which people can be healthy, public health law must reflect an understanding of how public health agencies work to promote health, as well as the political and social contexts in which these agencies operate. The authors first discuss three prevailing ways in which the determinants of health are conceptualized, and the political and social problems each model tends to create for public health efforts. The analysis then turns to the core functions of public health, emphasizing how law furthers public health work. The Article reports the results of a fifty-state survey of communicable disease control law, revealing that few states have systematically reformed their laws to reflect contemporary medical and legal developments. The Article concludes with specific guidelines for law reform.