AN APPLICABILITY OF THE LIVELIHOODS APPROACH IN THE ASSESSMENT OF POVERTY IN URBAN CHINA

The paper aims to examine an applicability of the livelihoods approach to poverty studies in urban China. Basically, the approach identifies the poor as active agents tackling the problem with the type and level of capabilities, assets, activities on which they draw for their livelihoods. It highlights the multifaceted reality of their struggles against poverty. This paper argues that the livelihoods approach, which takes a people-centred approach to reduce poverty, can be a new platform for the assessment of poverty in urban China.     

Cheating in sport： Lithuanian case for legal regulation

Globally much attention is paid to cheating in sports, known as ＂war on performance enhancing drugs＂,＂concern for criminalization＂, ＂eradicating menaces to sport＇s integrity＂ etc. Meanwhile, in Lithuania the legal framework of cheating in sport is quite new and almost every kind of law is theoretically possible, therefore it is important to ascertain the relationship between disciplinary, civil, administrative and criminal law. Two dangerous forms of cheating are chosen to analyze in this work： doping and match-fixing. In conformity with said analysis primary guidelines for potential legal regulation are offered.     

TRANSFORMATION OF RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF AUTHORS＇ RIGHTS IN INFORMATION SOCIETY

The work created by the author is a unique value, which must be protected against its unauthorised use or piracy. However, the copyright protection should not take a wrong direction, because not only for authors, but as well a common society is entitled to rights protection, especially in the era of new technologies or information society. This article deals with intellectual property protection problems in the information society, when it is so easy to access copyright protected works via internet--such use for personal entertainment in order to get access to and share the achievements of culture and art with friends and family should have copyright restrictions It is high time to discuss the introduction of so-called ＂culture access fee＂, which would allow legal access to copyright protected works with slight blanket payment for all right holders.     

THE IMPACT OF LEGISLATIVE CHANGE ON ADJUDICATION PROVISIONS AND THE REQUIREMENT FOR WRITTEN CONTRACTS UNDER THE NEW CONSTRUCTION ACT

The deletion of Section 107 of Part II of the Housing, Grants and Construction Act 1996 will have a profound effect on the requirements for contracts in writing under the adjudication provisions of the new Construction Act 2009. This paper presents a reflection on the legal provisions and case law concerning the requirement for contracts in writing under the provision of the 1996 Act, against the backdrop of new rules encompassing oral and partly-oral agreements between parties. While the new provisions are unlikely to have an impact in cases where there are formal contracts which incorporate adjudication clauses, the changes are more likely to have an impact where there letters of intent are involved and where contracts in writing are based on standard terms and conditions supplemented by oral agreements. While the legislative changes may not have an impact on the role of the Adjudicator, it may affect their modus operandi, requiring more efforts to ascertain the precise intentions of the parties under dispute.     

PROTECTION OF MALE SEXUAL RIGHTS IN THE CRIME OF RAPE

Crimes relevant to sexual offence in the current Criminal Law of the PRC, such as the crime of rape, the crime of forcible molestation and humiliation of women, the crime of indecency with a child, establish a relatively close net for protecting female sexual rights. However, the protection of male sexual rights is surprisingly neglected or disregarded. In current China, sexual offences against males （including sexual offence against a male by male and sexual offence against a male by female） are getting worse. Unfortunately, male victims of sexual offences cannot seek for legal remedy due to the lack of legal provisions. In theory, the Criminal Law needs to bring in the protection of male sexual rights. This thesis will focus on the issue relevant to sexual offences against males on the crime of rape. The authors will present increasing evidence of sexual offences against males and explore the reasons. We will analyze the necessity of amending the provisions of the crime of rape based on theoretical and practical research, and learn from the advantages of legislations of different times and places in China and other countries. We will conclude with suggestions for amending the current Criminal Law about the crime of rape in order to fill up the gap in legal protection of male sexual rights in China.     

WHAT SHOULD AN IDEAL E-ADMINISTRATION MODEL COMPRISE？

The dominance of computer and information technologies in the second half of the 20th century has begun to transform the conventional forms of concepts and relations in law and public administration. This transformation has beeome a trigger and an indispensable decisive factor of an ongoing change which has deep impacts on the social order. In this context, the conventional relations between citizens and administration have appeared in new forms with the emergence of the Internet and other information technologies. In administrative law, this innovation, mostly referred to as e- administration, results in changes in administration and administrative activities and applications. This change gives the signals of a start that will have deep impacts and transform both public administration and administrative law. The factors that influence the emergence and success of e-administration are the level of development, financial capability, level of infrastructure, national legislation and public support in a country. The recent global crisis has led to a decrease of acceleration in e-State applications. In international literature, Fang suggests a list of requirements for e-State and hence for e-administration. An expanded version of this list can be accepted as the ＂ideal＂ for the time being. Ten characteristics required for the good practice of e-administration are as follows：     

TOWARDS THE RULE OF LAW OR THE RULE OF THE BOOTS？ A LIBERAL PERSPECTIVE ON DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Since the beginning of the ＂war＂ on terror, governments have implemented counter-terrorism laws and policies, in breach of their obligations under international human rights law, on account of the necessity to protect democracy against its enemies. Reliance on the human rights discourse in order to justify the violations committed renders it difficult to criticise these drawbacks without rethinking the concepts of rights and democracy and reformulating them. The present article attempts to answer this challenge along the lines of the reconstruction of the notions of liberal democracy as the rule of law and liberty, and human rights as spheres of individual sovereignty.     

RATIONALIZING PEACE

You cannot simultaneously prevent anct prepare for war. Albert Einstein The paper discusses that a public economics view of why global peace is still not achieved. Using formal public economics theory, the paper highlights the difference between the final product ＂peace＂ and the intermediate public good ＇＇prevention of conflict＂. We argue that nonexistence of the intermediate market is one of the main obstacles for achieving pure peace.     

TRANSSEXUAL PEOPLE IN THE WORKPLACE： ZERO TOLERANCE FOR DISCRIMINATION

Worldwide, transsexual people are often subjected to discrimination and prejudice generally, and, particularly, in the working environment. This has an effect on their physical and mental health. The paper investigates the nature of transsexualism, the change or alignment of a transsexual person＇s sexual expression with her or his internal identity by surgery and hormone therapy, the criteria for such a diagnosis, the causes of transsexualism and the prevalence of same. Relevant South African laws are discussed as background for an analytical discussion of two reported cases of discrimination against transsexual people in the workplace. The writer of the paper welcomes the approach of the Labour Court of utilising these opportunities to destigmatise transsexualism and zero-tolerance for unfair discrimination against transsexual people. These judgments had probably contributed to a better understanding of transsexualism, particularly since such matters seldomly reach the court. The writer views the judgments as wake-up calls for employers （i） not to repeat traditional prejudice towards transsexual people and （ii） to embrace the diversity of employees. She anticipates that this will lead to better employment relations in workplaces, which, in turn, will enhance the quality of working life for transsexual people. The coverage of the cases in the media will also assist in raising awareness of transsexualism among employers, the medical community and the wider population. Following these cases, she suggests that employers have to root out discriminatory practices against transsexual people completely and to display a more mature attitude towards such employees. Moreover, policy-makers in academia and the health sector will have to review, amongst others, the curricula of universities to provide for sexuality training,     

A review of developments and changes in the world＇s constitutions

The constitution is a living document, which being the case, there is a need to increase the understanding of the constitution through systematic research and teaching at various levels. This paper aims to be a catalyst that inspires creative action to claim and advance certain new constitutional rights encapsulated in various world＇s constitutions. It seeks to raise awareness of new constitutional rights. World＇s most constitutions have incorporated constitutional provisions that ensure the entrenched new fundamental human rights. The latest constitutions, including South African constitution of 1996 are advanced and have included significant number of rights which were left out in the old constitutions. The courts are given the widest possible powers to develop and forge new remedies for protection of constitutional rights and the enforcement of constitutional duties.     

Imagining the law and the constitution of societal order in Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker＇s 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ address

Legal scholar James Boyd White has challenged both lawyers and rhetoricians to imagine the law as an enterprise of language. In contending that members of the legal profession should see law as an activity of speech and imagination occurring in a social world, he has urged lawyers to view the legal profession as an interaction of authoritative texts and as a process of legal thought and argument instead of thinking of law as a technical system of regulations and applying its rules in a mechanical way. By asking members of the legal professional to consider law as rhetoric, White has encouraged them to recognize the socially constitutive nature of language, which runs contrary to a perspective of law as machine or, rather, the law as only a mechanistic system of rules and regulations. His ideas have inspired the ＂law and literature＂ movement, which has motivated other scholars to analyze the texts of judicial opinions, for example, according to White＇s theories. However, this essay takes White＇s concept of imagining the law and applies it public address and, specifically, to the 1965 ＂Crime and the Great Society＂ speech given by former Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker. Chief Parker＇s address reveals a vision for the City of Los Angeles in which Parker, himself, asks his audience of citizens and civic leaders to share for advancing a specific agenda for law enforcement＇s role in society.     

CHINA＇S LATEST MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT AND FAMILY PROPERTY： TRADITION AND MODERNITY

China＇s latest Marriage Law amendment illustrates how tradition contributes to China＇s modernity. Traditionally, a house was a necessity for a marriage in China. This is because in ancient China, marriage secured the continuation of the family line and provision for ancestors. In modern China, the one child policy and soaring housing prices collectively force the ＂three families＂ to buy a house for the new couple. However, what happens when the couple divorces？ Shall the house then be considered community property？ The 2011 Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People ＂s Court of Several Issues on the Application of the Marriage Law of the People＇s Republic of China, provides that where real estate is purchased by the parents of one party, and after the party＇s marriage is registered under the party＇s name, such real estate shall be deemed as a gift given by the parents to the party and the party＇s personal property. This interpretation represents a compromise between tradition and modernity.
The article will firstly introduce the marriage system in ancient China, illustrating that under the doctrine ofli, the real purpose of marriage was to be a bond of love between two （families of differenO surnames. Retrospectively, this secured observance of ancestral rituals in the ancestral temple, and prospectively, continuation of the family line. The house was a necessity for marriage because one of the six ceremonies required for marriage under li was the procession, and then welcome of the bride at the groom ＂s home. （Other ceremonies involved a matchmaker securing a proposal, matching auspicious birthdates, exchanging gifts between the bride＇s and groom＇s families, setting an auspicious wedding date, honoring ancestors and deities, and having an elaborate banquet）.
The article will then analyze the marriage law in the of Republic of China, in which even the post-dynasty marriage law adopted the western marriage system, the strong resistance of the old tradition forced the law-     

STRATEGIES AND RESPONSES TO PLAGIARISM IN SLOVAKIA

The rapid increase in the number of higher education institutions （HEI）, students, accessibility to information and communication technology （ICT） and internet penetration after 1989 and a low level of copyright and intellectual property rights awareness contributed to the growth of plagiarism at HEIs in Slovakia. In 2008, the Ministry of Education decided to establish a common national repository for bachelor, master, dissertation, rigorous and habilitation theses. The amendment to the ttEI Act dated 2009 stipulates that every thesis or dissertation of a HEI operating under the Slovak legal order shall be sent to the central repository and undergo the originality check before it is defended. The originality check of every new thesis is made against the national repository, as well as against other resources, primarily the internet ones. From 2010 to the end of March 2013, more than 235 thousand theses and dissertations have gone through this process. The quality of the solution （organisational and technical） meets the expectations and has a positive impact on the academic community. This paper describes the implementation of the Central Repository of Theses and Dissertations and of the Plagiarism Detection System into practice and the experience from their operation. ]t also analyses the impacts of the implementation on HEIs, feedback and reactions of the academia and the public, and provides recommendations regarding the prevention and detection of plagiarism. It also addresses the growth in the number of internet texts and texts in media containing the term plagi6torstvo （plagiarism） and the growth of search hits （search frequency） for this term in the period 2002-2012.     

IS FREEDOM OF SPEECH POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE？

What is the nature of freedom of speech？ The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is often taken as an important example of free speech protection. However, the premise underlying the First Amendment is that freedom of speech is positive rather than negative. Yet such a conclusion is far from being proved. The original academic model of freedom of speech is usually understood as the model of ＂minimal government. ＂According to this paradigm, harmful speech should not be constrained but rather contested in the ＂free marketplace. ＂Allowing ＂more and better speech＂ to challenge the harmful speech seems to be the best reconciliation. But ＂more and better speech＂ could fail in some occasions as well as the marketplace theory. Does the enforcement of legal protection in such area or the interference of the government always end up in over expanding and abuse of power？ As a matter of fact, China is now facing the same challenge as the Western society. How should we reconcile the legal protection of sinking voices, the limitation of against harmful speech and the governmental power of censorship？ Through discussing the several cases in China, we try to examine the consequence of both the old and new media techniques and internet that challenge not only the authority of the traditional power but also endanger the rights of individuals.     

Faren Magazine Summary

The downfall of ten Chinese business leaders in 2007 and its reason,Environmental risks test banking ＂new deal＂,Each piece of legal affair constitutes a part of the ＂system project＂,Crimes for fraudulent value-added tax receipt,Investigation of insurance medium market,The more successful, the closer it is to bankruptcy,     

＂Common knowledge＂ and the legal construction of race： Constructions of white people through U.S. expansionism,naturalization and immigration law

This article takes as a starting point, key claims from studies of the invention of the human category ＂white＂ during the late Seventeenth Century in Colonial North America： that ＂white＂ reflecting a unique group of humanity was an invention deployed to divide laborers; that white people were by law assigned greater material value and rendered more valuable; and that those who were seen as white were thought to be like the British and believed to be superior to those seen as nonwhite. Each of these claims will be briefly reviewed. Building upon the foundation of whiteness studies in law and history, this article explores what Ian F. Haney Lopez identifies as the ＂common knowledge＂ of race, the legal standard established within naturalization prerequisite cases in order to determine whether one was racially ＂white＂ by law. This article works to bridge the ideas revealed through studies of the invention of white people within Colonial North America and this legal standard that emerged in the 1920s. U.S. expansionism, immigration and naturalization law in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries provide critical areas of inquiry for the developing understanding of the ＂common knowledge＂ of race and the role of law in the construction of race.     

Foster children＇s right to family： A description and analysis of the legislative approach in Sweden

This paper emphasizes the foster children＇s right to family life and investigates whether change of custody and guardianship to foster parents is a successful option to achieve this right. Using CRC as the base for my definition of the right to family I will include the right to continuity, well-being and a family environment in the understanding of the term ＂right to family＂ in this article. These rights may, primarily, be fulfilled by the child＇s parents, and, if necessary for the best interest of the child, be complemented or substituted by foster or adoption parents. The analysis of different solutions concerning state interventions will base on Swedish law. In Sweden, a child in need of help or assistance as a result of abuse, neglect, or other inappropriate behavior in the home setting may be helped by the Social Welfare Committee-voluntarily or by a court order-in the child＇s home or a foster home. Other alternatives contain judicial involvement by changing custody and guardianship or making a decision for adoption. Since many years ago, the most commonly used alternative for children needing long term placements outside their homes in Sweden has become foster care. This development of many long-term placements has been criticized for not fulfilling the needs of the children, especially their needs for family continuity, stability and well-being. As a consequence, an amendment to the Social Services Act 200l was enacted in 2003 which states that the Social Services Committee shall consider the ＂permanence＂ of foster care by changing custody and guardianship to the foster parents three years later since a child starts in foster care, and every six months thereafter, as long as the child remains in the foster parents＇ care. Assuming that the foster parents are fit and willing to become custodians and guardians, and the child views the foster home as his or her home, the District Court can decide to change the custody and the guardianship to the foster parents. The assessment is to be based solely on the best interest of the child, and not on the fitness or wishes of the original custodian. However, can changing the custody and guardianship assist foster children＇s right to family？ This paper elaborates on this question by describing a legal reform in Sweden.     

RIGHT TO INFORMATION： AN ARDUOUS JOURNEY FROM BRITISH RAJ TO INDEPENDENT INDIA

Democracy is the axis of Indian polity. It requires openness and transparency in every sphere of country＇s governance. Right to Information is the core of openness and transparency. It is not only a lifeline but also an acid test for an alive and vibrant democracy. After a long battle against ＂secrecy-regime＂, Right to Information found legislative sanction in the year 2005. But, the task is not over; because it is not easy to sensitize people in power to do away with the century old colonial legacy of ＂secrecy-regime＂, which helped them to play safely, just by enacting a single piece of legislation. Both political parties and bureaucracy are not accepting the norms set by the Act whole heartedly due to this reason. They often gang up to scrap the Act as well as the decisions of the competent authorities. Massive effort is, therefore, required from every quarter of the society including all democratic institutions to adopt the policy of openness and transparency by putting themselves within the compass of the Act. Only then we would be nearer to the goal of Gandhian concept of ＂Swaraj＂ and     

THE PROCEDURE OF PLEA BARGAINING IN ROMANIA A NEGOTIATION OR JUST A FORMAL INSTITUTION？ THE COMMON LAW SYSTEM

Entry into force of the law No. 202/2010 regarding some measures to accelerate the settlement of the process, already raises a number of problems of interpretation. According to the Explanatory Memorandum of Law 202/2010 states that： ＂Unlike the other laws, the law No. 202/2010 comes into Romanian legislative with the aim of speeding criminal proceedings as well as to prepare the implementation of the new codes, some of the regulations contained in future coding being found in this law.＂ In this respect, in the explanatory memorandum to the bill, it was noted that ＂from the major failures of justice in Romania, the harshest criticism was the lack of celerity in solving cases. ＂ As often judicial procedures prove to be heavy, formal, expensive and lengthy, it was recognized that judicial effectiveness of justice consists, largely, in the speed with which the rights and obligations enshrined in judgments are part of the juridical circuit, thus ensuring the stability of legal relations to be decided. The introduction of simplified procedure of admission of guilt in the Criminal Code, now in force, was justified in the explanatory memorandum, among others, by Article 6 paragraphs 3 letter d） of the European Convention which guarantees the defendant the right to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses under the same conditions as witnesses against him. This right has a relative character,＂ the defendant may give up his pursuit before an independent and impartial tribunal, and elect to be tried based on the evidence administrated in criminal prosecution. In this respect, the Strasbourg Court stipulated that the defendant has the opportunity to waive the right guaranteed by Article 6 paragraph 3 letters d） of the European Convention and, consequently, he cannot claim that this right was violated, if the sentencing court based its decision on the statement made during prosecution of a witness （anonymously） in whose defendant waived hear