TOWARDS A NEW CONCESSIONS REGIME IN THE EU： ABOUT THE MERITS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF THE CONCESSIONS＇ DIRECTIVE

The European Commission published a proposal at the end of2011 for a self-standing directive on the awarding of concessions in the context of the revision of the public procurement framework. With the aim of harmonizing rules and developing minimum standards based on the EU primary law and ECJ case law, the purpose of the proposed directive was, according to the Commission, to ensure more transparency and legal certainty in all Member States in awarding concessions and enhance the development of PPPs （Public-Private Partnerships） 1 However, negotiations on the proposal for a concessions directive proved to be difficult. The text2 finally adopted on February 26, 2014 stems from three compromises： 1. Within the European Commission, between a fully fledged approach and a so-called ＂light approach ＂; 2. within the Council between Member States in favor of a detailed directive for the sake of easy transposition, and Member States reluctant to the very directive, whose added value was challenged either by fear of amending their own existing national legislation on concessions or, conversely, by fear of putting at risk existing contracts awarded without open tender; 3. within the European Parliament, as the rather technical issue of public procurement became a politically driven debate on both the principle of subsidiarity and the legitimacy of private operators to manage services of general interest. As a result of a complex deal brokered by the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, the main merit of the directive is its existence. In the light of the numerous exclusions to its scope, it remains to be seen whether some of its promising provisions regarding the definition, the award and the life of concessions will facilitate on the ground the development of transparent, performing concessions projects. At the end of the day, options to be embraced by the Member States for the transposition of the concessions directive will be a key element in the success and use of the new legal concessions reg     

＂RAISING THE BAR＂ THE ROLE OF SELF- GOVERNMENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS OF LAWYERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

This article constitutes an extension of the speech delivered at the European Pro Bono Forum, organized by PILNET, which was held in Warsaw in October 2013. In the forum, representatives of the Council of Bar Associations from numerous European countries and representatives of NGOs around the world shared their experiences and ideas, designed to promote pro bono activities among lawyers, and discuss the problems faced when conducting said activities in their countries.     

BUYER＇S REMEDIES AND CURE BY SELLER A STUDY OF THE HARMONIZATION OF EUROPEAN SALES LAW FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COMPARATIVE PRIVATE LAW

The development of e-commerce and the desire for the development of the integrate inner-market leads to a high regulatory need, the European legislators finally seek to the approach of harmonizing the contract law and draft out the Proposal for a Common European Sales Law （CESL）. However, this regulatory instrument is still faced with heavy criticism and the unknown fate in the future. This paper will analyze the commercial transactions in Europe from the perspective of comparative private law under the framework of CESL, Contracts for the International Sale of Goods （CISG） and German provisions on sales contract and hope to provide reference for the participants or those who have potential investment intention on the European market.     

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     

STATE＇S CONTROL AND TENURE ARRANGEMENT OVER FIXED OBJECTS DUTCH CITIZENS PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE： THE CASE OF INDONESIA

Indonesia had been colonized by Dutch Government for more than 300 years. Posterior to Indonesia independent proclamation on August 17, 1945 there was a number of State＇s legal problems found and one of them is the control and tenure arrangement of private property that left by Dutch citizens in the country of Indonesia. Specific purpose of the paper is to criticize the existence of Act Number 3 PRP Year 1960 regarding the Tenure Arrangements Fixed Objects Dutch Citizens Private Property that has reflected a sense of unjust, uncertainty and inexpedience for the greatest number of Indonesian people. It is because the Act of 1960 defines inconsistency between Article 4, paragraph （2） with general explanations Article 1 Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 223 of 1961. It also set the terms of priorities to obtain fixed objects belonging to individual citizens Dutch not in accordance with the principle of equality before the law. Legal implications arising from control and tenure arrangements of objects and equipment owned by a Dutch individual are a problem that occurs in the received ground objects P3MB. To implement the control arrangements of objects and equipment owned by a Dutch individual that reflects a sense of fairness, certainty and benefit to society by applying the concept of 3 in 1 in the Land Acquisition： Acquisition of land objects P3MB for laws subject.     

THE ACT OF THE PEOPLE＇S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE （ THE DRAFT PROPOSAL） I. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PEOPLE＇S REPUBLIC OF CHINA＇S ACTIONS ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE

I. The Necessity of Legislation. -- As the largest developing country, China has the most greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Therefore, the world, including America, pays close attention to China＇s policies regarding the control of greenhouse gas emissions. Considering the continuous growth of global warming, China＇s policies for controlling greenhouse gas emissions should be consistent and ruled by law. So it is necessary to enhance the establishment of laws and systems for standardizing settlement.     

STUDENTS AS THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT FOR EDUCATION： AN INTROSPECTION OF PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT IN TAIWAN

A Zero Physical Punishmentpolicy had been adopted and enacted into law in 2006. Articles 8 and 15 of Educational Fundamental Act have made Taiwan become the 109th country which implements a Zero Physical Punishment policy. In the past years, people in Taiwan used to take physical punishment as a part of teachers＇ legitimate disciplinary power. However, physical punishment has profound impacts on students＇ personalities and is in contravention with educational fundamental right which centers upon students＇freedom of personality development and students＇right of being free from physical harms. For that matter, after the Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 382, students are not a part of Special Power Relationship anymore. Therefore, students, as the core of educational fundamental right, have the right to reject physical punishment or the right to seek for judicial remedies after being physically punished. Also, when teachers perform their disciplinary power, they must obey the core of educational fundamental right--students＇freedom of personality development. Besides, since the Zero Physical Punishment policy is the edueational prineiple in our country, the state, teachers, and parents must work together to carry it out and make schools become the appropriate places for students ＇freedom of personality development.     

EU EMERGING POWERS AND TRANSNATIONAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE

The paper analyses the change in transnational economic governance after the financial and economic crisis in 2008 and the role of the sovereign actors in the European Union and emerging powers. The research question covers the key issues of collective action challenges in the economic area. On cooperation： Is there a demand for substantially enhancing transnational economic governance？     

Retirement pensions and gender： The Spanish case from the European perspective

The European Union in its task of coordinating the different social protection systems recommends member countries to take steps to prevent economic imbalances caused by ageing populations. Spain and other European countries-such as Sweden, Italy or Germany, follow the trends marked by the European Union with regard to pensions. In recent years, these countries have carried out reforms to be entitled to benefits, increase the proportionality between contributions and benefits and introduce formulas similar to private funded systems. These reforms will lead to retirement pensions linked to contributions becoming an airtight system, thus excluding the most vulnerable workers from them. This work aims to show that this type of restrictive measures despite being formulated in a neutral way, fail to correct-and actually increase-the differences between women and men in employment, since women are more affected by unstable working conditions than men. Lower wages for women and higher incidences of their careers being interrupted to attend to family duties will make access for women to retirement pensions even harder. The shortfalls in the protection of retirement pensions contrast sharply with a common European employment policy which aims to raise the employment rate of women. Having examined the incidence of this type of reforms from a gender perspective, the final aim of the work will be to show whether the European directive against discrimination regarding Social Security, headed by Directive 79/7 and displayed in the European Court of Justice＇s case law, constitutes an adequate regulatory tool to neutralize those reforms which lead to indirect discrimination.     

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.     

Pragmatic relevance/strength of lexico-grammar choices in EU legal documents

The present study focuses on the communicative relevance of lexical choices in the documents of the European Union Committee of the Regions （CoR） and of other related bodies within a pragmalinguistic perspective. The function of the Committee of the Regions is to issue opinions on proposals for Community legislation which are closest to the citizen interests - education, youth, culture, health. It is thus a voice at the heart of the EU which aims at increasing the participation of European regions in community life. Our corpus consists in 100 documents （Proposals and Opinions） whose lexico-grammatical aspects and communicative/ rhetorical strategies are here investigated. Our hypothesis is that such texts aim at creating a holistic we to construe a common ground of interests, within the constraints of legal intercourses, shared by both the sender and the receiver of the messages. Frequently occurring lexical items are： welcome, ensure, strengthen, aid. To stress urgency, generate empathy, emphasize needs and endorse value-positions are the recognizable perlocutionary effects of such semantic/pragmatic choices. Tools for analysis were taken from the domain of pragmalinguistics, from Evaluative/Appraisal Frameworks and, also, from social sciences. Particularly relevant appeared the notion of＇advocacy＇ （i.e., when researchers are asked to use their expertise to defend the subjects＇ interests in healthcare, education, political rights, and cultural autonomy）. This study will provide both qualitative and quantitative data to support our hypothesis, and will offer suggestions for further research.     

THE CONCEPTUAL BASIS OF PRIVACY STANDARDS IN CHINA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CHINA’S PRIVACY LAW

China has one of the longest histories of civilization in the world. In ancient China, civil disputes were solved by moral principles of Confucianism, called li (礼). Therefore, at the time of the emergence of li, privacy was indirectly protected to some extent. However, li also restrained the legal privacy protection at that time. Moreover, the substantial meaning of traditional protection for privacy is quite different from that in modern society. In consequence, it is difficult to postulate that there was legal protection for privacy in ancient China, though privacy had been indirectly protected by the theory of li. If the right to privacy is seen as a milestone in its evolution in modern society, the modern concept and protection of privacy emerged in China almost a century later than in some Western countries. 1 The first consideration for the protection of privacy in China was a judicial interpretation by the Supreme Court in 1988.2 Since then, China has been developing its own protection for privacy. This article is to explore privacy standards in both ancient and modern China with two main parts: (a) The first part discusses the privacy in ancient China, including traditional Chinese concepts of privacy, traditional Chinese protection for privacy, and its evaluation; (b) the second part examines the privacy standards and privacy protection in modern China.     

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,     

THE ASYMMETRY OF THE WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT MECHANISM AND CHINESE STRATEGY： IN WHAT WAYS DO THE SYSTEM AND RESULTS FAVOR COMPLAINANTS？

By referring to 400 WTO cases, this paper reviews the results of WTO dispute settlement proceedings and the systemic causes in order to find out whether the WTO dispute settlement system ＂s results reflect a clear tendency of favoring complainants, and if so, whether the internal asymmetry of the system leads to such results. Based on these findings, and by considering a number of factors, this paper analyses the influence on national interests brought about by such asymmetry, so as to find whether there is a two-way adjustment effect and relative deprivation effect for developing countries. Then, according to the current economic situations of the WTO＇s Asian countries, this paper suggests that the Asian members should reform their policies to overcome the disadvantages of the WTO asymmetric proceedings. In this part, this paper comprehensively evaluates the measure of actively using the WTO dispute settlement system that favors the complainants, in order to develop overseas markets and realize potential benefits of treaty negotiations.     

REHABILITATION OF DRUNK DRIVERS AND THE SMADIT PROJECT： COLLABORATION AMONG THE POLICE FORCE,THE ROAD ADMINISTRATION AND THE SOCIAL SERVICES

The aim of the SMADITt project is not only to reduce the number of drunk drivers on the Swedish roads but also to reduce the number of repeated drunk driving offences. The SMADIT project is a three-way collaboration between the Swedish Police Force, the Swedish Road Administration and the Swedish Social Services. According to the guidelines the police should inform the suspected drunk drivers about SMADIT and ask if they want to be contacted by the Social Services. If they agree to take part in the project, then a member of staff from the Social Services will contact them within 24 hours. The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a qualitative study evaluating the effects of SMADIT. Thirteen male drivers and one female driver who agreed to take part in the SMADIT project were interviewed. The questions covered their experience of SMADIT, why they agreed to participate, what kind of help they received but also their attitudes towards drinking and driving in general and the event leading up to the conviction. The results showed that the initial contact with the police determined if they would agree to participate in the project or not. Both written and verbal information were essential An important aim with SMADIT project is the early contact with the Social Service. However, the results from this study showed that several informants needed time for reflection and to recover from the shock after being stopped by the police on suspicion of drunk driving. However, according to informants, it was important that not too many days passed before a contact was established. During the meeting with the Social Service, the informants were then offered different kinds of treatment. All of the informants were very pleased with this contact. According to the guidelines provided by the SMADIT project a consensus has to be reached, otherwise the Social Services cannot contact the person. In this study, we found that a person straight after the event does not always think clearly and therefore we propose that the SM     

AN OBSERVATION OF THE RUSSIAN POLITICAL HISTORY IN THE 20TH CENTURY： A NON- IDEOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION

Most of the foreign observers used to study Russia in the 20th century from the ideological point of view, praising or hating, no matter how they （claim） try to be non-ideological. But there is a big historical assumption： with or without ideology, would Russia have had a totally different path of development, or is there a unique path only for Russia？ What are the problems of Russia had to face and what is the right thing to make historical justice？ These questions become more and more urgent especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union when observers lost their ideological coordinate. This article tries to look ＂inside＂ Russia and ftnd out whether there is a historical discipline of the Russian path.     

Judicial review of penalty clauses in Spanish law： A reason to not converge towards other European laws

Unlike the majority of European civil law systems （France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland）, the UNIDROIT Principles and the projects for the harmonization of European Private Law （PECL, DCFR and Gandolfi Code）, Spanish law only allows courts to reduce the sum stipulated by the parties in a penalty clause if the breach of contract has less entity than the one anticipated. Hence, the judicial review of penalty clauses on the grounds of equity is excluded. This paper aims to analyze why this is the most desirable solution in terms of efficiency, and why Spanish law should not converge towards other European laws.     

THE PRESS AND THE JUDICIARY： COURT AND JUDICIAL REPORTS IN THE PREss IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Western scholars have argued that image making and image management are a preoccupation of the judiciary. Images of the judiciary may take a variety of forms and be produced for kinds of audiences. One form of judicial image making and image management is live performances in the courtroom and other court settings. Another is the written judgment where the preoccupation is the style of the written text. Press and other mass media reports of judicial activity are another. The audience for judicial images is equally diverse, from fellow judges, lawyers in the courts and the wider legal community, the litigants before the courts to the executive, legislature and the public both in the courtroom and beyond. The image of the judiciary that is available to the public has a particular significance in Western rule of law democracies. As a general rule courts and the judiciary are required to operate in public and their activities must be open to public scrutiny. A recent policy manifestation of this goal is debated about confidence in the justice system and initiatives designed to improve confidence. In the majority of cases public scrutiny of judicial activity and public confidence in the judiciary relies upon the media. Objective and accurate press and media reports play a key role in shaping public understanding of the judiciary and generating or undermining confidence in that institution. Reports in regional and national newspapers have long been an important source of information, shaping public knowledge and facilitating public scrutiny of the justice system. In the UK, there is almost no scholarship on these representations past or present. The result is little known about the representation of the courts and the judiciary in press reports. Little is known about what the diligent reader of these reports can learn about judicial activity. The aim of this article is to take a first step towards changing that state of affairs. It uses a data set made up of 205 contemporary domestic newspaper reports of court and judi     

THE LEGITIMACY OF RACE AS VARIABLE IN THE DELIBERATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS

This paper investigates the issue of race as a variable in research ethics and the extent to which it is morally appropriate to regard the race of research subjects as a relevant factor for research outcomes. The author analyses the challenges posed to deliberation in Institutional Review Boards （IRB ＇s） on this matter. The first part of the paper consists of a conceptual analysis of the notion of deliberation, drawing on the work of Elster, Habermas, Rawls, Gambetta and others. Special attention is paid to the dialogical structure of deliberation and the complexities attached to the notion of race, as a social construct. Arguments in favour and against the proposal that race is a valid variable in biomedical research are systematically distinguished. The author comes to the conclusion, based on an extensive literature review, that race sometimes has to be taken into consideration, subject to clearly stated qualifications. In conclusion it is argued that deliberation, especially about such a controversial notion such as race should not be expected to yield definitive truths. The most we can expect is a series of （hopefully） progressive settlements that represent provisional beacons of insight on which we can draw in future conversations. Race represents a field of tension and contestation that will inevitably continue to permeate interpersonal contact and social relations for the foreseeable future.