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.     

THE OMBUDSMAN AND THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN EUROPE： CASE STUDY OF ITALIAN ＂CIVIC DEFENDER＂

The paper is centered on the Ombudsman＇s role in the defense of individual human rights. The institution of the Ombudsman is based on the idea that citizens should be entitled to complain against specific acts and behaviors of their rulers and that their complaints should be investigated by an independent body. In Europe, the establishment of a specific office to investigate citizen complaints against public bureaucracy is relatively recent,     

THE LEGACY OF HARVARD PROFESSOR RONALD DWORKIN FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT： WHY AND HOW HE CHALLENGED PHILOSOPHERS OF LAW,SUPREME COURT JUSTICES,AND POLITICIANS TO TAKE RIGHTS SERIOUSLY

The weaker members of a political community are entitled to the same concern and respect of their government as the more powerful members have secured for themselves.     

MEDICALLY ASSISTED HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (ART) AND HUMAN RIGHTS — THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

The present article examines how the progress of science, and in particular, medically assisted human reproductive technologies (ART) have provoked a revolution in the sphere of family relations, generating a series of ethical and legal conflicts. The article focuses on the European perspective, without ignoring the international sphere, given the globalization of the phenomenon. The emerging legal issues are analyzed through the filter of international human rights, not only an important aspect to take into consideration in the context of bioethics in general, but a “passage obligé” given that certain concepts find their explanation and coordinates in international human rights law. It is from this perspective that the relationship between ART and human rights is presented. The applicable international and European legal instruments and principles shall be mentioned, as well as a brief comparison of national legal frameworks in Europe. The emerging bioethical and legal issues are examined in correlation with the response of the European Court of Human Rights through its case law aimed at balancing conflicting rights when faced with issues pertaining to ART. Lastly, the article presents in more detail the particular legal issues under debate in France and Italy, two European countries with specific legislation in the field.     

ANTI-ABUSE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS UNDER THE ANTI-MONOPOLY LAW: CHINA’S APPROACHES

Even though China’s first Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) was effective on August 1, 2008, the implementation of Article 55 has been delayed until 2014 when several actions were taken. For examples, several foreign giant intellectual property holders were investigated for possible abuse of their intellectual property rights and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce released the Rules on Prohibiting Conducts of Abusing Intellectual Property Rights by Excluding or Restricting. The underlying message is obvious: China starts to pay more and more attention to the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights on the one hand, she decides to seriously deal with the abuse of intellectual property rights by intellectual property owners, especially those giant international companies. Because the issue of how to balance the tension between IP law and the AML is a new topic in China, this paper intends to outline the prevailing experiences from foreign jurisdictions especially from the United States and European Union and to propose some useful strategies and approaches, which are fit into China’s reality.     

WHAT DOES ACCESS TO JUSTICE REQUIRE? — OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO INVOKE THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Persons with disabilities have a right to effective access to justice under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). This article provides insights on the parameters of that right, including a close examination of the history and text of Article 13, which directly addresses access to justice and other relevant UNCRPD provisions. In addition to the UNCRPD, this article discusses implementation guidance from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including its guidelines for State Party reports and jurisprudence. The initial reports by eleven States Parties — Argentina, Azerbaijan, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, Mexico, Peru and Turkmenistan — are also considered. The Committee’s feedback regarding implementation of Article 13 by these eleven States parties is critiqued for being limited and inconsistent. This article then attempts to clarify what effective access to justice actually requires. It does so by focusing on the insights that can be drawn from implementation of Article 13 since the UNCRPD was adopted as well as implementation guidance from the Conference of States Parties, the International Disability Alliance, the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and the National Center for Access to Justice. This article concludes with recommendations on how the Committee can improve its guidance on access to justice to help ensure that equal rights will not be illusory for persons with disabilities.     

Part Title – THE ITALIAN DEBATE ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS PART II OF SPECIAL ISSUE 14:1

Editorial Introduction

Part Title – THE ITALIAN DEBATE ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS PART II OF SPECIAL ISSUE 14:1     

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL ERA,HORIZONTAL EFFECT AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN “STATE” AND “SOCIETY” IN GERMAN AND EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY

The article discusses the proposal for a “Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights of the European Union,” whose central element is a binding effect of its fundamental rights not only to state authorities, but also to powerful private internet companies, which have a potential similar to that of the state to infringe on fundamental rights in the digital era. The article outlines the traditional German approach to fundamental rights and its underlying distinction between state and society, which makes it difficult for German scholars to handle a so-called horizontal effect of fundamental rights. Finally, the article discusses the main objections to such a horizontal effect and shows some practical problems it has the potential to cause in German and European constitutional law.     

LAW SCHOOLS AS DEPOSITARIES OF THE IDEA OF HUMAN RIGHTS -- FROM TOTALITARIANISM TO YOUNG DEMOCRACY （AS EXEMPLIFIED BY POLAND）

The role, which the higher training institutes （universities） played under the totalitarian communist regime, maintaining and developing the idea of human rights, can hardly be overestimated. In non-democratic political .systems, the human rights——understood as certain fundamental and inalienable rights each human being is vested in---have always been regarded as a threat to the existing legal and social order. It is for that very reason that the promotion of human rights under the totalitarian systems is either forbidden or greatly limited.     

RULE FOR PREFERRED STOCK IN CHINA: OVERTHROW OF THE PRINCIPLE OF “EQUAL SHARES,EQUAL RIGHTS”? — FROM A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The principle of “equal shares, equal rights” was established by the Company Law of 1993 of the People’s Republic of China. At the initial stage only issuance of common stocks was allowed and the issuance of preferred stocks was interpreted as prohibited. The Company Law of 2006 has changed the rigidity of provisions of the Company Law of 1993 and laid down the legal foundation for issuance of preferred stock. The Rule for Administration of the Pilot Project for Preferred Stocks released on March 21, 2014 by the China Securities Regulatory Commission started the issuance of the preferred stocks in the Chinese capital market. The establishment of the legal system for issuance of preferred stock in China is not the symbol of overthrowing the principle of “equal shares, equal rights,” but the expansion and development of the principle of “equal shares, equal rights” in a new era.     

ON THE WAY TO THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA： PROGRAMMES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AS FACTOR OF THE INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION IN UKRAINE

Within the framework of the FP7 project ＂START＂, the cooperation with European research centres has had a positive impact on raising the level of innovation researches and the introduction of innovations Institute for Superhard Materials of the National Academy of Sciences （ISM NAS） of Ukraine in the economy of Europe and Ukraine, which in turn permits to speed up the way for Ukrainian science to the European research area through the creation in Ukraine of the scientific organizations of innovative type.     

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