A reflection on the taxi reform in China: Innovation vs. Tradition

In contrast to the hostility shown in some other countries towards one of the most important examples of a sharing economy service, namely car hailing, China has always kept an open-minded attitude to this innovative Internet business model. After having been tolerant of unlicensed operations for years, China reformed the taxi industry by legalising car hailing in 2016. However, this process of reform was heavily affected by the political pressure generated by the drivers of traditional taxis. Following this reform, the taxi industry in China has been separated into two independent markets: one for traditional taxis and another for car hailing services. The Chinese experience provides a unique opportunity to study the sharing economy. This article comprises of a full evaluation of the abovementioned reform, with a specific focus on a number of characteristics specific to the taxi industry. We observed that quantity control of vehicles is still necessary in the Internet era due to imperfect competition and information asymmetries. Though the taxi reform in China has in some regards been beneficial, it has also had the unfortunate effect of preventing the taxi industry from taking full advantage of the benefits of the sharing economy. Consequently, we propose that the various levels of Chinese government should first establish a level playing field for traditional taxis and car hailing, and second, devise a mechanism to closely monitor the quantity of vehicles in the taxi market.     

China's campaign-style Internet finance governance: Causes,effects, and lessons learned for new information-based approaches to governance,

China's Internet companies and citizens are now world leaders in developing and using the Internet and related information technologies for financial transactions. Accordingly, it is important that China becomes a world leader in identifying challenges posed by Internet finance, and providing law and governance solutions to address these challenges. While the Internet and its associated technologies are now globally available, a core question is whether, and to what extent, regulatory challenges and opportunities are common across different jurisdictions, or whether they reflect local circumstances. In short, an interesting question is what can the world learn from China as it takes the lead in addressing Internet finance challenges, and what can China learn from the world as it seeks to do so?This article first identifies the landscape of China's burgeoning Internet finance market, including key technologies and services and government and nongovernment players. The article then turns to key regulatory challenges, with a focus on factors especially significant in China. The article then examines the “top down” “campaign style” approach to regulation, which is China government's initial response to emerging challenges. Following an analysis of the campaign, some suggestions are then made for future possible governance strategies. We explain how emerging “information” based and experiment-based approaches to governance are drawing on both global and Chinese experiences to harness the capabilities of the Internet and the collective energies of Internet finance enterprises and users to advance the regulation of the China Internet finance system in a way that is conducive to the public interest.     

古代书证制度的司法运行及制约因素——以司法案例为中心的制度考察

在中国古代的司法实践中,口供不是惟一的证据形式,书证这一带有浓厚客观色彩的证据在案件审理中受到了审判人员的重视,尤其在民事案件的审理中更成为具有关键意义的证据形态。本文旨在对古代社会的书证制度在司法领域的运行状况进行探讨,并依托于司法案例展开各项阐释,展现古代书证制度的原貌及特征,以期为今日社会之书证制度的完善提供历史借鉴。     

Reforming the Criminal Evidence System in China

Since 1997, China has proposed to reform the judicial system. In 2007, China officially set its goal of judicial reform as to “establish a Socialist Judicial System with fairness, efficiency and authority”. Now that the goal of judicial reform has been firmly established, the key question is how to accomplish that goal. One view advocates achieving judicial reform through administrative measures. A different path, which we proposed, is to accomplish the goal of judicial reform through reinforcing the construction of evidence system. Through analyzing the current law and investigating some judicial cases, the study found that the main reason for issues of judicial unfairness and corruption in current China is due to neglect of the construction of evidence system, and the current evidence rules contain too many problems, and the aforementioned problems have become a bottleneck for China's judicial reform and an important reason for China to reconstruct the whole evidence system. Therefore, in the long run, it would be ideal for legislature to promulgate a unified code of evidence law, but it is an extremely difficult task to coordinate the relationship between evidence law and three major procedural laws. In the short term, the most feasible compromise is to have the Supreme People's Court promulgate People's Court provisions on Evidence. After repeated test through the trials, we believe that such a unified People's Court provisions on Evidence will dramatically improve the evidence system and promote judicial fairness and the reform of legal education in China.     

SUPPORTING FAMILY STRENGTH: THE USE OF TRANSFORMATIVE MEDIATION IN A PINS MEDIATION CLINIC

This article describes, and explains the rationales for, the establishment of an innovative program in which a law school and two social services agencies are collaborating in a mediation clinic that uses the transformative model of mediation to serve clients in cases that seem ideally suited to benefit from this approach to practice—so-called "PINS" (persons in need of supervision) cases involving conflict within families, between parents and their adolescent children. The article first describes the evolution of the PINS system and the changing views of its purpose, especially in New York State. It then offers a brief introduction to the unique features of the transformative approach to mediation and explains why that approach in particular is likely to mesh with current understandings of the needs of the families involved in these cases. Finally, the article describes the innovative "Family Solutions Program" and how it uses transformative mediation to help these families and suggests that experience of this program shows how use of the transformative model, in particular, could be valuable not only for clinical education but also for effective volunteer training and supervision in mediation programs generally.     

法官视角中的能动司法

能动司法是司法创造力的体现。在美国,这种司法能动的突出表现形式是司法审查权,通过多年的案例发展,美国已经形成了较为完备的司法审查体制。在英国,至今法院尚无对立法的审查权。但在英美法系国家,由于有判例法传统,法官的司法能动性相对较大,在案件审理中,区分相似案件事实和不断发展法律规则是法官司法技术的重要组成部分。英美法系的司法能动对我国司法实践具有积极的借鉴意义。在我国,司法能动在审判领域的主要表现形式是最高法院司法解释、个案法官法律论证,其主线是政策考量与法律考量,也可称之为社会效果考量与法律效果考量。     

论我国高校司法鉴定机构的完善与发展

《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》的实施,为我国司法鉴定的发展掀开了崭新的一页。《决定》实施以来,司法鉴定机构增长迅速,其中高校司法鉴定机构增速更居各类司法鉴定机构之首。如今,高校司法鉴定机构已经成为了我国司法鉴定系统中不可或缺的重要组成部分。如何把握好高校司法鉴定机构的优势,推动高校司法鉴定机构的完善与发展,已经成为我国司法鉴定发展中的重要课题。     

“限期断狱”的中国命运:清代以来审限制度的变革与重述

审限是我国司法体系中一项重要的本土化制度。近年来,理论界对审限制度何去何从展开讨论,其历史演变成为重要依据。回溯历史,尤其是清代至今,审限制度受到了古今中西不同法律理念的冲击,历经规则变化:从清代律例中对审限制度进行详尽规定,到民国时期诉讼法典中废除审限而实践中沿用,再到20世纪80年代后立法重新确立审限制度。究其原因,在于审限制度来源自中国传统司法经验,与近现代中国提高诉讼效率的社会诉求相符合,可以保证案件进程;同时审限又是约束司法人员的重要制度--用行政责任来限制司法人员的司法权力,这也是传统中国"治吏"思想在近现代的延续。因此,审限作为一种与中国实际紧密贴合的司法制度,并非是造成今日学术界所争论的积案原因,反而是提升诉讼效率的良方。当下讨论审限制度发展,更需正视其对本土法律资源的重要意义,认识到背后"治吏"思想影响,结合法官责任制改革,从行政责任到司法责任,重新建构新时期的审限制度。     

司法改革视野下检察业务考评机制改革新思考

检察业务考评对驱动检察机关职能发挥、实现检察机关价值有重要作用。在本轮司法改革前,我国检察业务考评机制呈现层级化运作方式,由上级院考评下级院,检察官个人不作为考评主体;此后,各地在层级化考评运作下,探索构建对员额检察官个人的考评机制。我国检察业务考评的发展回应了检察改革实践,但尚未充分适应中国特色检察制度的要求,尚未做到完全按照检察规律办事,急需创新制定适应司法改革的考评措施。应从层级化考评的完善、创新设置个人考评、考评的组织与程序三方面进一步改革。     

论我国司法信任的养成

司法信任是人们基于相信司法机关能够公正、高效处理案件,维护社会公平正义的心理预期,依照法律规则的指引积极利用和参与司法,并对法官、司法程序、司法裁判及司法制度表示充分的认同与遵从。司法信任的有无与多寡将决定公正、高效、权威司法制度建设的兴衰成败。从社会学的角度看,社会转型对原有信任环境及信任基础的破坏、司法亲和力的下降、职业法官专家系统尚未建立、对司法有限性的认识不足、对司法程序的参与度不够,是我国司法信任缺失的主要原因。要增进我国的司法信任,最终建立高度的司法信任,必须坚持增进司法信任与促进公正、高效、权威相统一,推动人格信任向系统信任延伸,促进交往信任向普遍信任拓展,激励依存性信任向主体性信任转化。     

'New Governance' in European Corporate Law Regulation as Transnational Legal Pluralism

The present transformation of European corporate governance regulation mirrors the challenges that have been facing the EU's continuously evolving polity, marked by tensions between centralised integration programmes, on the one hand, and Member State's embedded capitalisms, path-dependencies and rent-seeking, on the other. As longstanding concerns with remaining obstacles to more mobility for workers, services, business entities and capital in recent years are aligned with post-Lisbon commitments to creating the world's leading competitive market, European corporate governance regulation (ECGR) has become exposed to and implicated in a set of highly dynamic regulatory experiments. In this context, 'New Governance' offers itself as both a tentative label and immodest proposal for a more responsive and innovative approach to European law making. The following article assesses the recently emerging regulatory forms in ECGR as illustrations of far-reaching transformations in market governance. The arguable parallels between the EU's regulatory transformation in response to growing legitimacy concerns and the recurring question about whose interests a business corporation is intended to serve, provide the framework for an exploration of current regulatory trajectories in European corporate law that can most adequately be understood as a telling example of transnational legal pluralism.     

我国药品专利司法保护制度立法与实践的宏观评析

专利司法保护之于激励创新药物研发的作用毋庸置疑,且得到了国内外研究和实践的印证。全面、宏观地梳理近年来我国药品专利案件总体情况,是评价和健全＂中国特色＂药品专利司法制度的基础。本文将在回顾我国创新药物专利保护立法现状的基础上,以＂中国知识产权裁判文书网＂登载的所有药品专利案件为样本,分析药品专利诉讼现状,并预测未来此类案件的发展趋势,以期为完善药品专利司法保护制度提供参考依据。     

法律体系的新成员——案例指导制度

案例指导制度是我们国家司法制度新近确立的一个组成部分。作为新生事物,它与我们现存的法律体系、法律制度是否兼容,这是值得探讨的。在大陆法系国家,案例制度一开始也受到了排斥,但後来还是逐步引进并确立了案例制度。我认为,对于中国而言,正在讨论建立的案例指导制度,与立法、司法、执法,包括法律职业、法律教育也应该是兼容的,而不是排斥的。     

The Regionalisation of Judicial Review: Constitutional Authority,Access to Justice and Specialisation of Legal Services in Public Law

Since April 2009 judicial reviews may be dealt with at regional centres and in Cardiff. This change significantly relaxed the hitherto highly centralised system of judicial review in England and Wales. The main aims were to improve access to public law redress by enabling cases to be listed and heard at the most appropriate regional location. Despite recognition of the need to improve regional access, fears exist that this reform will threaten the standing and authority of judicial review in this jurisdiction; that it will contribute to a fragmentation of judicial review and, in the regions, reduce the quality of public law adjudication, legal advice and representation. Drawing on an empirical study on the regional use of judicial review, this paper assesses these matters and considers the early effects of regionalisation on access to judicial review and the development of regional markets for legal services in public law.     

China's new regulatory regime tailored for the sharing economy: The case of Uber under Chinese local government regulation in comparison to the EU,US, and the UK

Although Uber's arrival in China has resulted in disruptive competition for incumbent taxi companies, it offers an attractive alternative in China's supply-demand-imbalanced urban passenger transport system. China's regulatory regime for Uber has evolved in three stages: from the regulatory vacuum prior to 2015 to its official legalization in 2015–2016, and the enactment of numerous local regulations in 2016, with specific and more demanding requirements for Uber. This policy is a part of the Chinese approach to the gradual liberalization of the urban passenger transport market. Policymakers should consider ‘fair competition’ as the guiding principle to balance the interests of sharing firms and incumbent service providers, as well as between different sharing firms. The core value of this principle lies in the benefits it provides for consumers and the way it engenders a pro-competitive market environment. The labor protection arrangements for sharing firms’ laborers should be more flexible and diversified. In order to recognize whether an Uber-Driver is an employee or independent contractor, a new standard taking into account a range of factors should be established through collective negotiations between the participants of the sharing economy, and dialogues between members of the judiciary, academics, and the policymakers. Further, consumer protection law and personal data protection provisions should apply when sharing firms misuse their distinctive algorithmic management model to compete unfairly to the detriment of consumers and other users. Ex ante regulatory measures designed to protect the personal data of users should be introduced for deployment in the context of the sharing economy. When enforcing these rules, a balance should be struck ensuring free data flow that is essential to sharing firms’ innovation and competition, and the need to ensure the level of data security required to underpin a well-functioning sharing society.     

中外新约与民国涉外司法审判制度的变革

1840年鸦片战争以后,列强通过不平等条约攫取在华领事裁判权,严重破坏了中国独立的的司法主权。自清末以降,政府和民众为争取国家司法主权的完整进行了不懈的努力。南京国民政府时期,尤其是在第二次世界大战中,中国加大了维护司法主权的外交斗争力度。以1943年与美英两国订立新约为标志,最终实现了百年来废除中外不平等条约的愿望,终结了外国人在华领事裁判权及相关特权。以此为契机,我国涉外司法审判制度也发生了重大变革。对于中国而言,这无疑是分享世界反法西斯战争胜利成果,融入战后国际新秩序的开端。     

1952年司法改革运动与法学界的反思——以北京市旧司法人员清理与改造为视角

1952年至1953年的司法改革运动是新中国成立后第一次司法改革,其理念与制度产物仍影响着现今司法体制的建构.司法改革运动的一条隐形动因是破解"案多人少",重塑审判工作模式,为新中国司法制度提供"人民属性"的法理诠释,并尝试建设"政治维度"、"人民维度"和"法律维度"和谐共生的新型司法制度.1957年整风期间,法学界对司法改革运动进行了反思与批判,但囿于意识形态干扰,最终酿成"反击右倾扩大化",导致"案多人少"的矛盾更加突出,司法制度全面倾斜"政治维度",进而演变成为新中国法制建设的灾难.     

Localization Path of the Research Paradigms of Legal Commentary in China — Focusing on the Public Legal Service Function of the Case-Commentary Research on the Style of Civil Litigation Documents

Conducting case-commentary research on the style of civil litigation documents is a key method for judges to produce legal documents, develop professional writing and creative skills, and enhance legal thinking. Such a study is an important way to deepen the reform of the judicial power operation mechanism and to improve the trial management mode. Considering the background of the judicial responsibility system reform, the localization of the research paradigms and case-commentary methods of the style of litigation documents can help reach the consensus of the legal professional community. It also helps promote judgment rules and the spirit of the law. Legal commentaries convey the important functions of public legal services to the public. It is necessary to integrate the Style of Civil Litigation Documents, the “one-stop” litigation service with the reform practice of judicial committees in China, and conduct detailed research on the procedural ruling function and guiding function of the style of civil litigation documents. By studying the guiding function of civil litigation document style for judicial behavior, litigation procedure, and entity processing, it is good for judges to broaden their ideas and methods to write civil litigation documents, enabling an examination of the localization path and method of the legal commentary research paradigm and demonstrating how to continue using the paradigm within the context of the comprehensive reform of the judicial system. Moreover, the study emphasizes how to exert the function of public legal services integrated with the style of civil litigation documents.     

中国特色社会主义司法改革道路概览

中国特色社会主义司法改革道路，是中国特色社会主义政治发展道路的有机组成部分。建国近六十年来特别是改革开放三十年来，当代中国司法改革经历了一个波浪式前进、螺旋式上升的历史行程。建国之初的废除“六法全书”、司法改革运动和“五四宪法”，奠定了新中国司法体制与制度的基础。以1978年12月党的十一届三中全会召开为标志，当代中国司法制度进入了恢复与重建的历史新时期，也由此揭开了司法改革的序幕。从20世纪80年代中期开始到现在，当代中国司法改革历经了三个发展阶段，从以审判方式改革为主导的司法改革，逐步深入到体制性的司法改革。当代中国司法改革所走过的不平凡的历程，乃是坚持不懈地探索中国特色社会主义司法改革道路的过程，是一个在改革中不断完善与发展中国特色社会主义司法制度的过程。     

“媒体审判”的防治

从比较法的视角出发,通过对中外相关法例的比较考察,立足于我国的法治实践,分析了媒体审判与树立司法权威的关系,并且指出:对于确保司法公正来说,在法律制度的层面上,新闻自由与司法独立都具有基础性的价值,关键在于如何界定两者的界限使得彼此能够尽可能的和谐共存,并由此对界限之内的新闻自由予以更加有力的保护,对超出界限之外的不当报道和评论加以有效防治。在合理界定媒体自由报道和评论司法的界限时,应当综合考虑以下三种关系的平衡:其一是维系司法权威的成本与收益和保障新闻自由的成本与收益的平衡;其二是新闻自由权利与获得公平审判的权利之间的平衡;其三是国情与公理的平衡。