British Abortion Law: Speaking from the Past to Govern the Future

This paper analyses the poor alignment of the aging statutory framework and modern understandings of medical best practice in the context of abortion services. With a particular focus on medical abortion, it assesses the significant challenges that the gulf between the two poses for clinicians, service providers, regulators and the courts. Law is said to be at its most effective where there is a shared regulatory community that accepts and endorses the values that underpin it. It is suggested that the example of abortion law provides a marked example of what happens when legal norms once justified by broadly shared moral understandings, concerns for patient safety and requirements of best practice are now either unsupported by or, indeed, sit in opposition to such concerns.     

Legal Hybridity,Trust, and the Legitimacy of the Shari'ah in the Bangsamoro

Legal hybrids have the potential to address justice and development issues in both conflict and postconflict settings. Using the Philippine Shari'ah court system as a case study, this study demonstrates that state hybrids suffer from legitimacy and capacity issues that also constrain their ability to deliver effective justice services and respond to conflict challenges. Forging cooperative networks between secular courts and Shari'ah courts and between local justice personnel and central justice authorities can enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of a formalized legal hybrid. This can assist in addressing the justice deficit that fuels the cycle of conflict and sustain peacebuilding efforts postconflict.     

The Legitimacy of Judicial Responses to Moral Panic: Perceived vs. Normative Legitimacy

In some instances, the criminal justice system is affected by a moral panic; that is, by an exaggerated social reaction to an assumed threat to moral values. When influenced by moral panic, courts demonize defendants and aggravate punishments. Are such responses legitimate? This article argues that by contrast to legitimate condemnation of criminal conduct, demonizing defendants ought never be legitimate. The legitimacy of aggravating punishment requires distinguishing between the sociological concept of legitimacy (“perceived legitimacy”) and the moral concept (“normative legitimacy”). Aggravation of punishment in response to moral panic might be perceived as legitimate since it expresses public perceptions about the severity of the threat to a social value, even when these perceptions are exaggerated; however, punishments that are proportionate to such a perceived, exaggerated, threat to a social value are unjust and unfair, and therefore are normatively illegitimate. When the panic subsides, courts tend to return to lower levels of punishment. The subsidence of the panic enables one to realize that a gap between perceived and normative legitimacy has been created during the panic. Should and can the gap be bridged retroactively in order to gain full legitimacy? One way to bridge the gap is to grant clemency that will reduce the punishment of defendants whose sentences were exaggerated unduly during the panic. The article proposes a more radical mechanism that allows for sentence re-evaluation in cases of moral panic.     

论禁诉令在解决中国内地与香港民商事管辖权积极冲突中的运用

禁诉令是中国香港法院用于解决它与内地法院民商事管辖权积极冲突的方法。在First Laser Ltd．案和LWSv．TNN案中,香港法院都讨论了是否签发禁诉令来禁止当事人继续进行在内地的诉讼。这两个案例较全面地揭示了香港法院审查针对内地诉讼的禁诉令中请时所遵循的法律原则以及签发禁诉令需满足的条件。禁诉令在保护我国内地的民商事管辖权和重要公共政策方面亦具有积极意义,内地可采纳该制度,对禁诉令的概念、签发条件和运用时的注意事项以及制裁措施等作出规定。     

以香港為視角看兩岸四地司法協助制度

随着内地与港澳对一国两制下司法协助新模式的积极探索和2008年以来两岸关系的历史性转折,内地和港、澳、台四地间的司法协助成效显著。尤其是近年来,两岸签署了经济合作框架协议等一系列协议,四地间经济、文化等交流日趋紧密,涉及司法协助的案件整体上增长势头明显,数量上远超国际司法协助案件。2012年人民法院办理涉港文书送达司法协助案件1515件,涉澳文书送达和调查取证司法协助案件81件,较2008年分别上升了38.5%和72.3%。2009年6月25日两岸司法互助协议生效后,当年人民法院办理的两岸司法协助案件数量即突破1000件,此后每年都在6000件以上。四地间司法协助工作的全面开展,既有利于区际司法合作的深入推进,也为四地的融合和经贸关系发展提供了制度保障和动力。本期特选取温嘉明律师关于四地间司法协助制度的文章,梳理区际司法协助的法律基础和发展历程,研讨其取得的成就及尚存的不足。     

香港特別行政區舉行2020年法律年度開啟典禮

2020年1月130,香港法律年度開啟典禮在中環大會堂舉行:法律年度開啟典禮原稱「巡迴法庭開啟典禮」,「巡迴法庭」制度自1972年被廢除,典禮於1973年停辦。1980年,香港政府為加深市民對司法制度及法庭工作的瞭解.開始再以「法律年度開啟典禮」名義重辦該活動。每逢新一年的第二個星期一,香港法律界沿襲傳統儀式,舉行法律年度開啟典禮。     

香港特区法院的违基审查权兼与董立坤、张淑钿二位教授商榷

特区立法机关应根据基本法制定法律,特区法院审查特区立法机关制定的法律是否违反基本法的权力被称为"违基审查权"。香港的普通法传统为特区法院的违基审查权提供了法理依据,特区的新法治秩序激活了普通法中法院的司法审查权,而全国人大常委会审查权的不完整性使特区法院的违基审查成为必要。司法实践表明,特区法院的违基审查权无法挑战全国人大常委会的审查权,对基本法的实施总体上是有利的;损害特区行政主导体制的主要因素并非是法院的违基审查,而是立法会的强势地位。作为植根于普通法传统、已有十多年运行实践的权力,特区法院的违基审查权无须再通过全国人大常委会释法确认。当然,基于其在特区法治秩序中的地位,特区法院违基审查权应受到特区外部与内部两方面的制约。     

从合宪性推定到权力谦抑主义——香港“郑家纯等诉立法会”案中的解释方法与司法哲学

香港"郑家纯等诉立法会"案的判决涉及"香港立法会的调查委员会是否有权传召当事人"这一颇具争议的问题。针对当事人提出的"立法会调查委员会越权"的主张,在进入司法审查后,法院面对的是如何选择具体的方法来进行审查。虽然从文本来看,香港《基本法》并没有明确赋予立法会的调查委员会以传召当事人的权力,但法院采取合宪性推定方法,认为《基本法》没有禁止立法会通过调查委员会来行使证人传召权,并判决立法会的调查委员会不存在越权情形。这种对立法机关持谦抑姿态的方法论在一定程度上超越了形式文本,在本质上建基于《基本法》架构下国家不同权力间的关系维度,具有宪法上的正当性,并且对当下中国宪法方法的建构具有启示意义。当然,香港立法会调查权的行使必须以《基本法》为依据,以香港特殊的行政主导制为基础,这又从另一面体现了立法权对行政权的谦抑。     

依法促進中國委託公證人制度科學發展

中國委讬公證人制度是委讬公證人對發展生在香港地區的法律行爲、有法律意羲的事實和文書，依照法定程序對其合法性、真實性予以證明後發往內地使用的一種法律制度，是委讬公證人辨理委讬公證事项必须遵循的规程凖则，是中國特色社會主義公證制度的重要组成部分。實踐證明，中國委讬公證人制度有效地解泱了一個國家内部不同法律制度下公證文書的使...     

Spent convictions in Hong Kong

In 1986 the Legislative Council of Hong Kong enacted the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance. The purpose of the Ordinance is to help an individual convicted of a single minor offence to have his conviction spent. Once a conviction is spent, the individual is, in certain circumstances, allowed not to disclose it and the court is barred from referring to it in certain circumstances. The purposes of this article are to demonstrate the drafting history of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance, discuss case law emanating from courts in Hong Kong on some sections of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance, and based on the experience and practice from other commonwealth countries or jurisdictions, make recommendations on how some sections of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance may be amended to strengthen the spent convictions regime. In order to contextualise the drafting history of the Ordinance, the author will also attempt to demonstrate why this proposal emerged in the 1980s – a period known for the start of the gradual democratisation of Hong Kong, the relevant factors which were happening in relation to Hong Kong’s criminal justice system and process, and the players involved.     

Bureaucratic justice: the incarceration of mainland Chinese women working in Hong Kong's sex industry

Since Hong Kong's return to the People's Republic of China (PRC) there has been a significant rise in the number of Chinese visitors to Hong Kong, including women crossing the border to engage in sex work. Sex work itself is not a crime in Hong Kong, but related activities, like soliciting, are prohibited. Sex work is treated as work for immigration purposes, and visitors who engage in work without an employment visa are breaching their conditions of stay. More than 10,000 mainland Chinese women have been arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced in recent years, causing the correctional population to expand beyond capacity. The authors examine the experiences of 58 incarcerated women in their encounters with the Hong Kong criminal justice system and find that women are processed in a highly routinized bureaucratic manner. They consider the purpose served by the largely bureaucratic form of justice that has emerged in response to migrant sex workers in Hong Kong.     

《香港基本法》解释的权限和程序问题探析

《香港基本法》是全国的宪法性法律,是香港特区的根本法。为了落实"一国两制"的精神,《香港基本法》的规定其解释权属于全国人大常委会,同时《香港基本法》规定全国人大常委会可以授予香港各级法院附条件的《香港基本法》解释权,由于二者的立场、视角、法律传统和利益存在着一定的分歧,因而在立法解释模式和司法解释模式之间存在一定的冲突与碰撞。《香港基本法》在解释主体、权限和程序设定方面存在一些问题,在实践中也引发了宪法危机,因此,应该针对存在的问题,逐步加以完善。     

司法判决“终局性”问题研究——以内地司法判决在香港承认与执行为中心

终局性问题成为内地判决在香港顺利获得承认执行的主要障碍。香港法院通过一系列判决建立起了针对内地司法判决终局性的完整规则体系。通过对普通法法域终局性规则晚近发展的考察,并依据普通法判决理由的确定理论,建议香港法院采纳灵活的终局性标准,即判断终局性的关键应在于内地司法判决是否在当事人之间创设了确定的债权债务关系。     

Resistance to the mainlandization of criminal justice practices: a barrier to the development of restorative justice in Hong Kong

This article examines the political and legal barriers to introducing restorative justice (RJ) in Hong Kong. It argues that the processes involved in RJ may be in conflict with the rule of law, which is regarded by the citizens of Hong Kong as sacrosanct in their resistance to the "mainlandization" of criminal justice practices after China resumed sovereignty of Hong Kong. It is argued that, because it could admit such potentially harmful Chinese criminal justice concepts as "rule by the people," "absence of the presumption of innocence," "leniency for self-confession and severity for resistance," and "toeing the party line," RJ would be devoid of any restorative substance and could breach the principles of due process.     

Legitimacy and online proceedings: Procedural justice,access to justice,and the role of income

Courts have long struggled to bridge the access-to-justice gap associated with in-person hearings, which makes the recent adoption of online legal proceedings potentially beneficial. Online proceedings hold promise for better access: they occur remotely, can proceed asynchronously, and often rely solely on written communication. Yet these very qualities may also undermine some of the well-established elements of procedural-justice perceptions, a primary predictor of how people view the legal system's legitimacy. This paper examines the implications of shifting legal proceedings online for both procedural-justice and access-to-justice perceptions. It also investigates the relationship of both types of perceptions with system legitimacy, as well as the relative weight these predictors carry across litigant income levels. Drawing on online traffic court cases, we find that perceptions of procedural justice and access to justice are each separately associated with a litigant's appraisal of system legitimacy, but among lower-income parties, access to justice is a stronger predictor, while procedural justice dominates among higher-income parties. These findings highlight the need to incorporate access-to-justice perceptions into existing models of legal legitimacy.     

維護内地舆香港當事人合法權益的有效制度

中國實行改革開放以來,内地舆香港的經濟往來日益频繁,涉及兩地的民商事爭議也越來越多。如何公正地處理這些爭議,切實維護内地舆香港當事人的合法權益是人民法院的重要職责。由於内地舆香港實行不同的法律制度,訴訟過程中的诸多問题都缺乏统一的程序和標凖,给爭議解決带來了许多困難。1981年,司法部經中央有關主管部門同意,     

司法对法律体系的完善

人民法院的司法活动对完善法律体系具有不可替代的独特作用。司法通过作用于法律体系的微观向度、调适过程、法与社会联系的建立、成文法固有缺陷的克服来完善法律体系。完善的具体方式包括司法解释、法律解释、指导性案例、司法审查、司法建议、参与和配合立法、送请有权机关审查和裁决、提出法律案等。对于通过司法完善法律体系,需要树立正确的理念。     

试论我国香港地区与我国台湾地区之间仲裁裁决的相互执行制度

国际商事仲裁裁决相互执行,关系到当事人合法利益的最终实现,关系到国际商事仲裁价值的实现,是一个不容忽视的程序和环节。在我国台湾地区,1997年《香港澳门关系条例》第42条及其相关规定,是我国台湾地区执行我国香港地区仲裁裁决的法律依据。近年来,我国台湾地区在执行我国香港地区仲裁裁决的实务方面采取了积极的态度,并获得了很多宝贵的实务经验。在我国香港地区,依据《仲裁条例》第2GG条的规定,我国香港地区以外地方作出的仲裁裁决可以在我国香港地区获得执行,包括我国台湾地区作出的仲裁裁决。目前我国香港地区法院还没有执行我国台湾地区仲裁裁决的制度。     

香港特区的政府资讯公开——以免费电视牌照事件为文本的分析

曾有学者评价香港特区是一个"回避法定知情权的开放政府"。1这一独特的制度究竟是如何运作的,颇令人好奇。2013年,免费电视牌照事件持续发酵,一波三折。透过该事件,可以看到立法机关脱离了行政机关,变成行政机关的监察者、制衡者与竞争者;独立的司法机关的政治影响力也越来越大。如何处理好保密与公开的关系、处理好行政效率与公众利益的关系,如何更能回应民众诉求,如何进一步提升施政能力和水平,都是摆在政府面前的重大课题。     

香港特别行政区ADR发展的新动向——商事争议强制性调解机制的兴起

香港特别行政区(以下简称香港)长期以来坚持自愿调解机制,其近年来的司法实践和立法均有了一些新的发展。香港的民事司法改革极大地促进了调解机制的发展,改革后的香港正式立法虽然仍没有采纳强制性调解机制,但是通过处罚诉讼费用这种变通的方式同样达到了强制性调解的效果。建筑业是调解在香港运用得最为充分的领域。强制性调解,尤其是建筑业中强制性调解的兴起和发展,不仅为香港商事争议的解决起了引领作用,也进一步加速了香港ADR机制发展的进程。