关于完善我国行政执法制度的几点思考——行政执法现状与对策研究

行政执法既是依法治国的重点也是依法治国的难点.改革开放以来,我国行政法制建设成绩显著,但在行政执法方面却不能令人满意,与依法行政的要求存在较大差距.本文对当前我国行政执法的现状作了评述,对存在的主要问题及其原因作了剖析,并对如何健全与完善我国行政执法制度作了对策性的思考.     

Safe harbor provisions of Chinese law: How clear are search engines from liability?

It seemed well-settled that Chinese law provided owners of search engines with safe harbor against unreasonable interference from copyright holders. But the judgment of IFPI v. Yahoo! shook this belief. This controversial judgment is related to the rather convoluted applicable legal rules, with joint infringement rules interweaved with the safe harbor provisions. To fully expose the scope of search engine provider's liability and the legal issues of the Yahoo! China ruling in particular, this paper examines the Chinese provisions for joint infringement and liability for search engines, discusses all the Chinese “safe harbor” provisions, those in the Regulation RCIN, the Judiciary Interpretation for Digital Copyright and the Administrative Measures for Digital Copyright. Following this discussion, suggested errors in legal application in the Yahoo! China case are analyzed and a suggested right approach is argued.     

The propriety of establishing the fact of neonatality based on the examination of the child's corpse

It is shown based on the historical and legal analysis that the designation of the child's status as a newborn infant throughout the period of its neonatal life till violent death "at or immediately after births" is the exclusive prerogative of the law-enforcement authorities. An original approach has been developed and recommended for the introduction into the expert practice. According to this proposal facts and arguments in the "Expert conclusions" should be formulated so as to avoid mentioning the child as newborn and to indicate only the duration of its extrauterine life. Such an approach leaves it to the law-enforcement authorities to decide in each concrete case whether the child should be designated as a newborn infant or not.     

论电子商务交易的流转税法律属性问题

如何确定电子商务在线交易数据化产品的流转税法律属性,是目前中外各国财税当局在电子商务税收实践中面临的共同问题,税法理论界也存在着不同的观点。在我国现行流转税体制未进行结构性的改革调整的情况下,在线交易的数据化产品提供,不宜视为增值税意义上的销售货物行为,而应该区别具体情况,分别确定为营业税意义上的提供服务或转让无形财产交易。这样能够在更大程度上体现税收中性原则和实现课税公平,也有利于我国对电子商务课征流转税的制度与未来可能形成的电子商务流转税国际协调规则的接轨。     

客观真实、法律真实辨析——在社会主义法治理念视野下

无论是追求客观真实,还是追求法律真实,其最终归宿都是为了及时有力地依法打击各种犯罪活动,有效维护社会治安秩序,保障国家、集体、人民群众的生命、财产安全。要在社会主义法治理念的指导下,正确把握好客观真实与法律真实的关系,最大限度地做到“法律效果与社会效果”的统一。     

The Fragility of Law: Anti-Jewish Decrees,Constitutional Patriotism,and Collaboration Belgium 1940–1944

In October and November 1940, the German Military Command which ruled conquered Belgium, introduced a series of measures aimed at the identification and exclusion of the Jews of that country. The Belgian government of the day refused to allow the measures to be incorporated into Belgian law, but did permit, under their reading of the Hague Convention, government departments and local administrations to assist in implementing the German anti-Jewish Decrees. The Brussels Bar, Prosecutors and Court of Cassation refused to accept the authority of the Occupier to violate basic rights guaranteed under the Belgian Constitution. Officials in Antwerp, on the other hand, struck all lawyers identified as "Jews" from the Roll. This article examines these instances of "constitutional patriotism" and "constitutional betrayal" by these actors in the Belgian legal system, and offers some preliminary discussion of important questions about our historical and current understandings of legality, legitimacy and citizenship in light of this part of the Belgian experience of law under Nazi occupation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Big data analytics in electronic communications: A reality in need of granular regulation (even if this includes an interim period of no regulation at all)

Over the past few years big data analytics have forcefully entered the mainstream. Admittedly, modern life would be inconceivable without the services afforded by this type of processing in the field of electronic communications. At the same time public administrations are increasingly discovering the benefits of big data analytics afforded to them by telecommunications operators. Nevertheless, despite public attention and high volumes of expert analyses, the majority of approaches on the challenges to personal data protection by this type of data processing remains theoretical; Tellingly, the EDPS speaks of the “black box” of big data analytics. However, the authors were able to open, and stare into, the “black box” of big data analytics in the electronic communications field in 2017 and 2018 in the context of GDPR compliance assessments. Their analysis first attempts to set the legal scene today, answering two crucial questions on scope and applicable law, before presenting a typology for a scalable and granular approach that the authors feel is necessary but nevertheless is missing from the text of the draft ePrivacy Regulation. The authors therefore conclude that processing requirements and particularities, as evidenced under the big data analytics paradigm, make necessary a much more detailed approach than the one afforded by the draft ePrivacy Regulation today. Until these needs are met, through the introduction of a new, fundamentally amended text, the authors suggest that the current regulatory framework and the mechanisms afforded by it be extended for an interim period, so as to afford legislators with the necessary space and time to revise their work.     

Data retention and the future of large-scale surveillance: The evolution and contestation of judicial benchmarks

Recent and upcoming judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have resurfaced a much-debated topic on the legal limitations of law enforcement authorities and intelligence services under EU law in implementing surveillance operations. In its decisions, the CJEU has reinstated and at times remoulded its case-law on data retention, unearthing a variety of legal issues. This article aims to critically analyse the legal limitations of (indiscriminate) surveillance measures, the role of the private sector in the scheme, and the line between the competence of the Member States and that of the EU on national security matters. It also aims to remark on the latest developments on the reception of the decisions by the Member States and the EU legislator, as well as on the ongoing dialogue between the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).     

毒品犯罪若干刑罚问题新议——以大陆刑法理论为研究视角

本文以大陆刑法理论为研究依据,对毒品犯罪的若干刑罚现象作了分析并认为,没收毒资、制毒工具等是大陆刑法对物的保安处分;对不满16周岁和患有精神病的犯罪嫌疑人进行政府收容教养或强制治疗是对人的保安处分措施;《刑法》第356条是毒品犯罪的常习犯规定,当该规定与《刑法》第65条发生实体竞合时,可以合并适用两个条款;以“顶风作案”等藉口处罚行为人,在大陆刑法理论中找不到任何依据,不应予以提倡;毒品数量应当是毒品的纯量。     

Legal Socialization of Children and Adolescents

Research on children and the law has recently renewed its focus on the development of children's ties to law and legal actors. We identify the developmental process through which these relations develop as legal socialization, a process that unfolds during childhood and adolescence as part of a vector of developmental capital that promotes compliance with the law and cooperation with legal actors. In this paper, we show that ties to the law and perceptions of law and legal actors among children and adolescents change over time and age. We show that neighborhood contexts and experiences with legal actors shape the outcomes of legal socialization. Children report lower ratings of legitimacy of the law and greater legal cynicism when they view interactions with legal actors as unfair and harsh. We show that perceived legitimacy of law and legal authorities shapes compliance with the law, and that these effects covary with social contexts including neighborhood. We identify neighborhood differences in this relationship that reflect differential experiences of children with criminal justice authorities and other social control agents. The results suggest that legal actors may play a role in socialization processes that lead to compliance with or rejection of legal and social norms. An erratum to this article is available at .     

"人性化执法"三思

"人性化执法"这一提法不宜炒作,它反映了人们对执法与法治的一种误读.人性化实际上是法律自身原有之意,"人性化执法"的提法反映了长期以来执法过程中存在的瑕疵,而且这一提法有可能助长"人情化执法"的弊端.     

Telecommunications and Crime: Regulatory Dilemmas

This paper examines the regulatory context of crime arising from the connectivity of computing and communications. Nine varieties of telecommunications‐related crime are considered: theft of services, communications in furtherance of criminal conspiracies, telecommunications piracy, the dissemination of offensive materials, electronic money laundering, electronic vandalism, telemarketing fraud, illegal interception, and electronic funds transfer fraud. The paper concludes that the most appropriate configuration of regulatory strategies for the control of telecommunications‐related crime entails a mixture of law enforcement, and technological and market‐based solutions. The pursuit of a strict regulatory agenda is, in most cases, not feasible because of the limited capacity of the state. Over‐regulation, moreover, may stifle commercial and technological development. It is argued that the marketplace may be able to provide more efficient solutions to the problems of telecommunications crime than state interventions.     

Constitutional Right to a Healthy Environment in Belgium

Since 1994, the right to a healthy environment has been recognized under Article 23 of the Belgian Constitution. It contains a standstill clause, which precludes the authorities from reducing substantially the level of environmental protection without reasons of public interest. The effectiveness of Article 23 of the Constitution has remained unclear for a long period. Therefore, the legal protection of the environment has more often been achieved through reliance on the right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by Article 22 of the Belgian Constitution and by Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), both of which have provisions with direct effect. The scope of protection of Article 23 of the Constitution is broader than the one provided by Article 22 of the Constitution and Article 8 of the ECHR, which is limited to nuisances with an effect on the person's private or family sphere, excluding a more general protection of the environment. However, the standstill provision in Article 23 only precludes the State from decreasing the level of protection of a healthy environment where this protection is provided for by law. It does not preclude retrogressions regarding 'factual' situations. In this regard, claims founded on Article 8 of the ECHR and Article 22 of the Constitution still have their utility. As a result, Article 23 and Article 22 of the Constitution and Article 8 of the ECHR are complementary to a certain degree.     

The uneasy case for rehabilitating small firms under the 1997-reorganization law in Belgium: evidence from reorganization plans

Using a sample of small Belgian firms that reorganized under the 1997 Law on Judicial Composition, I empirically review the law??s effectiveness to rehabilitate distressed debtors. The econometric findings show that firms with less pre-bankruptcy operational losses and a better cash position are more likely to successfully execute their reorganization plan and that certain debt restructuring measures can contribute to firm rescue. Despite these positive findings, many firms still failed to reorganise under the 1997-reorganization law, which resulted in constant criticism on its effectiveness leading up to its recent replacement in 2009. My data also shows that within the former reorganization procedure the Belgian debtor was faced with high debt instalment payments compared to international practice and that successful plan execution relied too much on the uncertain realization of the operational cash flow projections. In discussing the legal framework of the new Law on Corporate Continuity enacted in 2009??replacing the 1997-law??I argue that this new law is a more effective legislation to save distressed businesses.     

Normative Principles of China’s Political-Legal System

As a system that is symbolic of contemporary China, the politicallegal system refers to the governance structure that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), law-enforcement and judicial agencies and various governance subjects jointly promote a peaceful China initiative and build a China under the rule of law. The historical evolution from the classical rites-law tradition to the modern politicallegal system reflects the consistent political focus and ideological exploration of China’s politicians and thinkers about the national rise and fall. The basic structure of the political-legal system can be divided into three principal groups of relationships, namely, the relationships between various law-enforcement and judicial agencies, the relationships between law-enforcement and judicial agencies and external bodies, and the relationships between the CPC and law-enforcement and judicial agencies. The normative principles concerning these three principal groups of relationships constitute the basic rules for the institutional design and practical operation of the political-legal system. The normative principles of the first group of relationships relate to self-integration, division of responsibilities, mutual cooperation and mutual restraint. The normative principles of the second group of relationships involve prioritizing social autonomy, primary-level governance and front-end governance. The normative principles of the third group of relationships are concerned with macro-leadership, centralized leadership and leadership under the rule of law. The analysis of these three sets of normative principles shows that China’s political-legal system not only follows the universal law and common mechanism of modern national governance, but also accumulates the local experience and unique wisdom of China’s governance.     

Protecting the communication: Data protection and security measures under telecommunications regulations in the digital age

This paper aims to provide a comparative overview and evaluation of various legal frameworks for electronic communications security in light of the recent developments in the electronic communications sector. The article also includes an insight on European Union and Turkish legal environment for data protection security in electronic communications sector.     

Technology and special needs provision in the UK: is current law satisfactory?

Recently, the government has issued legislation on disability discrimination (the UK Disability Discrimination Act 2005) that is silent on the issue of access to technology for those adults and minors with special needs/disabilities either in the classroom or out of the classroom. At the same time, commercial legislation from Europe drives forward with new directives on the regulation of technology as part of the European Union's Lisbon Goals to make Europe more efficient through the use of Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) and to provide an increasing array of on-line services (payment of taxes, licensing, identity cards, and access to public services). With more rapid provision of public and private services on-line, there is a pressing need to ask to what extent current legislation should address access to assistive technology for those with special needs and disabilities. Furthermore, the legal obligation on government to provide ICTs as communications aids in school classrooms either as an auxiliary aid or service, or as an education and associated service for those who are disabled is unclear under current UK disability discrimination and special needs law. As far as the writer is aware, currently, no study as yet has reviewed disability and SEN legislation to determine what obligations (if any) arise on government to provide communications aids based on ICTs to children with disabilities. And yet, disability remains a central issue.     

From European Integration to European Integrity: Should European Law Speak with Just One Voice?

Abstract: This article examines whether and how the moral principle of legal coherence or integrity, which has recently been developed further as a response to disagreement in the national legal context, applies to European law. According to the European integrity principle, all national and European authorities should make sure their decisions cohere with the past decisions of other European and national authorities that create and implement the law of a complex but single European legal order. Only by doing so, it is argued, can the European political and legal community gain true authority and legitimacy in the eyes of the European citizens to whom all these decisions apply. Although European integrity is primarily a product of European integration, it has gradually become one of the requirements of further integration. The article suggests that the principle of European integrity would help dealing with the growing pressure for common European solutions under conditions of increasing diversity. It places disagreement at the centre of European politics, as both an incentive and a means of integration by way of comparison and self‐reflectivity. It constitutes therefore the ideal instrument for a pluralist and flexible further constitutionalisation of the European Union.     

Living on the Boundaries in America

Abstract

In this article I examine marginalized youths' ideas about the United States, the law, and police. My interpretive analysis is based upon in-depth, unstructured interviews with juvenile parolees living in poverty in a large southwestern city. In general, these parolees could be described as uneducated, unemployed, non-white, youth gang members. Through an examination of the youths' narratives and stories about America and its legal authorities, I attempt to illustrate how their ideas can be understood as evolving from their structurally based interactions. I present the general themes of the marginalized youths' legal and political consciousness and attempt to show how this consciousness flows from their hostile interactions with legal and conventional authorities. Ultimately, I suggest that the contrast between the youths' social justice ideals and the reality of their lives on the margins influences how they think about America, law, and the police.     

CLOUD act agreements from an EU perspective

For many years, transatlantic cooperation between the EU and the US in the area of personal data exchange has been a subject of special interest on the part of lawmakers, courts – including supranational ones – NGOs and the public. When implementing recent reform of data protection law, the European Union decided to further strengthen guarantees of the protection of privacy in cyberspace. At the same time, however, it faced the practical problem of how to ensure compliance with these principles in relation to third countries. The approach proposed in the GDPR, which is based on a newly-defined territorial scope of application, clearly indicates an attempt to apply EU rules extraterritorially in relation to data processors in third countries.Irrespective of EU activity, the United States has also introduced its own regulations addressing the same problem. An example is the federal law adopted in 2018, specifying how to execute national court orders for the transfer of electronic data. The CLOUD Act was established in response to legal doubts raised in the Microsoft v United States case regarding the transfer of electronic data stored in the cloud by US obliged entities to law enforcement authorities, as well as in cases where this data is physically located in another country and its transfer could result in violating the legal norms of a foreign jurisdiction. The CLOUD Act also facilitates bilateral international agreements that enable the cross-border transfer of e-evidence for the purposes of ongoing criminal proceedings. Both the content of the new regulations and the model proposed by the US legislature for future agreements concluded on the basis of the CLOUD Act can be seen as an alternative to regulations arising from EU law.The purpose of this paper is to analyse the CLOUD Act and CLOUD Act Agreements from the perspective of EU law and, in particular, attempt to answer the question as to whether this new legal mechanism brings the EU and the USA closer to finding common ground with regard to a coherent model of exchange and protection of personal data.