A New Stage in the Functioning of the Comrades' Courts

On October 23, 1963, the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet passed a decree "On Additions and Amendments to the Statute on the Comrades' Courts." This decree is of exceptional importance in further elevating the role of these courts in educating the working people for communism.     

论法治秩序中的“公民美德”

讨论法律与发展的中国经验,不能忽视中国智识群体的“中国经验”,不能忽视他们对中国法治的“问题域”的关注和深入讨论。讲法治秩序,讲宪政安排,讲人的权利保障,需要具有某种能力并有力量去要求并维持政府权力限制之“德性”的公民。提倡以“公民参与”为导向的“公民美德”,显示了公民对有权者施加某种形式的限制的意愿及能力的重要性,对于中国法治秩序形成的先决条件和重要环节而言,是一个极其重要的可能的资源。     

20世纪中国文学的现代性阐释与文化政治问题

在对 2 0世纪中国文学不同的阐释模式之中 ,“现代性”的模式实际上具有独特的阐释力量 :一方面 ,它能够穿透曾经被既有的现代性阐释置于盲区的“革命文学”以至于后来的“文革文学”;另一方面 ,其对学术视野的开拓亦有着相当重要的学术价值。 2 0世纪中国文学现代性追求的基本主题是从“文化大革命”及其以前的“解放政治”而到“改革时代”的“生活政治”。 90年代中国文学的现代性问题主要包括 90年代中国文学的历史语境与文学领域的制度安排、文学工作者的身份认同与话语政治以及文本策略与文本政治等等     

论法官在困难案件中的角色

在困难案件的处理中法官应扮演一种“保守主义型”的司法裁量者的角色。由于缺乏一种可靠的指导原则和方法,从而限制了法官在重大的法律问题上发挥积极的作用。“积极干涉型”的司法裁量者角色受到严格的制度限制,并将使法院陷入社会争议和冲突的漩涡,削弱其权威和地位,妨碍司法功能的正常发挥。     

Own-race bias in lineup construction

The lineup identification of a suspect is often a critical stage in a criminal investigation. One factor which may affect the fairness of a lineup is bias on the part of the person constructing the lineup. the own-race bias, the tendency of individuals to perceive more similarity in the appearance of other-race members than in their own, may affect lineup development. Black subjects and white subjects were asked to construct lineups using both black and white suspects. On three of four measures, their behavior was very similar while making white lineups but different on black lineups. Relative to their performance on white lineups, white subjects became less selective on black lineups but black subjects became even more selective on black lineups. Both groups displayed own-race bias by being more selective about own-race photos than other-race photos. This lessening of selectivity may make lineups constructed by cross-race lineup constructors less fair than lineups constructed by own-race lineup constructors.     

Police Reporting by Sexual Assault Victims in Western and in Non-Western Countries

The current research had the primary goal of investigating the difference in police reporting patterns by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. The data for the present study were obtained from the International Crime Victimization Survey. The present work found a significant difference in police reporting behavior by sexual assault victims in Western and in non-Western countries. Gender, urban residency, and the number of offenders were important factors for victims in non-Western countries, but not for those in Western countries. On the other hand, a victim’s prior relationship with his or her offender and family income level were significantly related to police reports in Western countries, but not in non-Western countries.     

The Place of Legal Positivism in Contemporary Constitutional States

The aim of the paper is that of discussing some recent antipositivist theses, with specific reference to the arguments that focus on the alleged incapability of legal positivism to understand and explain the complex normative structure of constitutional states. One of the central tenets of legal positivism (in its guise of methodological or conceptual positivism) is the theory of the separation between law and morality. On the assumption that in contemporary legal systems, constitutional law represents a point of intersection between law and basic moral values, antipositivists contrast legal positivism with two main arguments. First, on a more general level, the positivist theory of the separation between law and morality is questioned; then, and consequently, the neutrality thesis in the juristic study of law is rejected. The author discusses both these antipositivist arguments, and offers a brief defence of methodological positivism.     

Intra-country regulation of share markets: does one size fit all?

A large body of evidence suggests that financial development is greater in countries that impose stricter regulatory requirements on their major stock exchanges, but this leaves open the question of whether or not such regulation should be uniformly applied to all equity trading platforms within a country. On the one hand, regulatory variation permits a wider choice of investment opportunities for investors, lowers the cost of capital for some firms, and enhances price discovery and efficiency. On the other hand, the presence of lightly regulated exchanges can potentially have adverse spillover implications for a country’s other financial markets.

Ideology and Politics in Soviet Society

A few days ago the former leader of the Lithuanian Communists, A. Brazauskas, became president of Lithuania, the republic where democratic transformations first began in the old USSR. The circle has been closed, as it were. The Party's old guard in Russia is celebrating, counting the days until it can "begin to roll" again in Moscow. The Communist Party has risen again from the ashes. On the television screens, the "Gekachepists" [members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency] are being hailed as good angels. Rumors of their impending demise—dear Tat'iana Ivanovna Koriagina, indeed you defended them so zealously—have turned out to be greatly exaggerated. There they are, all having grown a little younger, with shining eyes. …     

The thin line between legitimate and criminal enterprises: subsidy frauds in the European Community

This paper describes and analyses a large fraud against the financial interests of the European Community (EC). On the basis of this case and our interviews with officials in five EC countries, we highlight structural impediments to the control of such frauds, draw parallels with other research on organisational crime and suggest that the distinction between organised crime and white-collar crime be abandoned in favour of an enterprise model of crime. We conclude by pointing out that legal changes and strict controls alone cannot substantially reduce the huge potential for EC frauds, especially in view of the abolition of EC's internal borders in 1993. Antifraud policies must also address the underlying structural factors.     

The Bosses Will Lose Their Mandates

The upper house of parliament is expected to approve yet another amendment to the Federal Law "On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the RF [Russian Federation]" at its plenary session today.     

The Deputies Have Stopped Extremism: On the Level of Legislation

Yesterday, an amendment to the Federal Law "On Countering Extremist Activity" that was introduced by deputies representing all of the Duma's factions was passed on the first reading.     

The Internet as a New Factor in State and Public Development

On 14 March, when the State Duma introduced a bill that would have instituted a moratorium on executions, it almost had to dissolve itself—not completely, of course, for a quorum was maintained, but almost. Before the bill was put up for discussion, the LDPR [Liberal Democratic Party of Russia] faction (50 people) left (on private business), and during the final vote 193 deputies abstained; whether they went for a walk or simply stayed in their seats but did not press the button is unknown, but they refused to deal with one of the questions that is most important for Russia's future (there were 176 votes "against" and 75 "for" the bill).     

村基层组织人员“以国家工作人员论”的司法认定

2000年4月29日,全国人大常委员会《关于<中华人民共和国刑法>第93条第2款的解释》确定了村基层组织人员"以国家工作人员论"的基调和范围,但至今村基层组织人员"以国家工作人员论"的认定仍然是司法实践的难点。村民委员会与村党支部属于村基层组织,村基层组织人员是指在村民委员会等村基层组织中管理集体公共事务的人员,不是泛指所有村民。村基层组织人员在具备法律性、公务性、协助性等实质条件时才能"以国家工作人员论"。村基层组织人员"以国家工作人员论"时只能构成贪污罪、挪用公款罪与受贿罪。     

刑事诉讼制度改革中的“底限正义”——对中国刑事诉讼制度改革理路的质评

我国刑事诉讼法修改在即,但是关于刑事诉讼制度改革我们始终缺乏一种方法论上的指引。“底限正义”理论是一种指导刑事诉讼制度改革的有效方法和策略,它一方面认可人类社会存在着最低限度的正义要求,从而为以法律移植为主要内容的我国刑事诉讼制度改革提供了理论依据;另一方面又承认正义的相对性和多元性,承认法律制度移植的可选择性,从而为我国当前刑事诉讼制度改革提供了微观操作步骤。同时,“底限正义”理论对我国刑事诉讼法学研究的深入拓展也有着重要的借鉴意义。     

The Scope of Application of Analogical Reasoning in Precedential Law

This article describes the scope of application of an analogical argument in the province of precedential law. Inter alia, it revolves around such issues of the doctrine of precedent as: distinguishing, ascertaining and crystallizing the meaning of ratio decidendi or expanding its coverage onto the cases of first impression. Allowance has also been made for the presence of analogy in searching for the law-maker’s intention, the determining of the obsolescence of precedents and quoting precedents out-of-jurisdiction. The place analogical reasoning has in legal education has also been touched upon. On top of that, the article highlights the usage of analogy in precedential law which enables the replacement of the conception of rationes decidendi for the proposition of applying judicial precedents directly upon the relationship of similarity that obtains between cases decided previously and the instant case.     

Community midwifery and state measures: the new midwifery in British Columbia

The New Midwifery, a form of community midwifery rooted in home birth and intensive prenatal and postnatal care, has attracted great controversy since its appearance in British Columbia in the early 1970s. On the one hand, this form of community midwifery has endured despite legal prohibition. Midwives derive an income from their practices, obtain necessary supplies and equipment, and are active in lobbying for recognition through the State. On the other hand, community midwifery is marginalized and illegal. Out-of-hospital births comprise less than one percent of births in British Columbia (and nationwide). Community midwives are excluded from the provincal Medical Services Plan and they lack hospital privileges if their clients are transferred to hospital. Community midwives are more likely than medical personnel to be tried for criminal negligence causing death and subject to prosecution under theMedical Practitioners Act of practicing medicine without a license.Community midwifery illustrates the structural limits placed on female birth attendants working outside the norm of professionally accredited, hospital situated childbirth. It is concluded that State measures in Canada structure power relations in a dialectical fashion. This includes measures to consolidate the monopoly status of the medical profession and the nursing profession, while temporizing about demands for independent midwifery practice. State powers are however relatively autonomous of dominant economic groups such as the Medical profession. Not all prosecutions of community midwives are successful, and contradictions in State policies surrounding monopolistic powers and civil liberties, and gender relations are evident.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association Meetings, University of Manitoba, June 1986. The author is grateful for resources provided through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Department of Anthropology and Sociology (University of British Columbia), and the School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University. Comments from Carol Bullock, Nanette Davis, Bob Ratner, Livy Visano and the Journal referees have been helpful in revising this paper.     

Morphologic and clinical aspects of alveolitis

Non-infectious "pneumonias" are said to occur more frequently, among other things as a result of increasing environmental pollution. There is still no final systematizations of these pathogenetic complex diseases that is universally accepted; they are mainly defined according to pathomorphological criteria and are summarily termed "alveolitis" because of their localization in the acini of the lung. On the basis of a forensic expert's opinion, the problems are demonstrated.     

Medicaid program; state share of financial participation--HCFA. Withdrawal of interim final rule with comment

On September 12, 1991, we published in the Federal Register an interim final rule with comment entitled "Medicaid Program; State Share of Financial Participation" (56 FR 46380). It dealt with the use of State taxes and provider donations as the State share of the costs of the Medicaid program. On October 31, 1991, we published a clarifying interim final rule with comment (56 FR 56132), which withdrew and cancelled the September 12, 1991, interim final rule. After further consideration, the Secretary has also decided to withdraw the October 31, 1991 interim final rule.