全国人大及其常委会违宪审查程序研究——由《城市流浪乞讨人员收容遣送办法》被废止谈起

违宪审查程序设计对违宪审查的有效实施具有举足轻重的作用.我国<立法法>在全国人大常委会的违宪审查程序上存在着诸多阙失.通过对全国人大常委会违宪审查程序进行分析,提出相应的改革建议.     

红军长征落脚点的六次选择

红军长征最后落脚陕北并不是长征一开始就确定了的,而是中共中央依据敌我情况的变化和新获得的信息,不断改变建立根据地的原定设想和计划,才一步一步确立的,期间先后至少有过六次更换,才做出最后的选择。     

Judges’ views on evidence of genetic contributions to mental disorders in court

This preliminary analysis assesses how judges view the use of behavioral genetics evidence on genetic influences to mental disorders in court. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews, analyzed using constant comparative analysis, were conducted with California trial court judges. Most judges reported the beneficial effects of this evidence being presented in court, particularly as a mitigating factor for sentencing. Yet some judges viewed it as an aggravating factor and expressed concerns about genetic privacy. Judges described initial reactions to being potentially presented with evidence on genetic influences to mental disorders as apprehension, curiosity, and sympathy. Judges also reported putting significant trust in experts on these issues. Findings suggest some judges are skeptical of this evidence, but largely open to its presentation. Sympathetic reactions may result in mitigating attitudes of some judges. As judges significantly trust experts, some judges could also be overly trusting of genetic evidence and expert opinion on these issues.     

我国审判委员会制度存在的问题及对策研究

审判委员会制度是一项具有中国特色的司法制度,它在提高办案质量、维护司法独立等方面确实起到了一定的积极作用。然而,随着我国审判方式改革的不断深入,现行审判委员会制度日益背离公开、高效的审判机制改革的价值方向,在回避制度、受案范围和工作运行等方面的矛盾与不足也日益凸显。所以,从规范工作职责、健全工作机构和制定工作制度等几个方面对审判委员会制度进行改革是十分必要的。     

交通事故责任认定机制的完善

交通事故认定书是当前我国交通事故责任认定机制的核心所在,其所存在的不合理之处导致交通事故当事人的合法权益难以得到充分保护。交通事故认定书虽然同时具有具体行政行为和技术鉴定结论的某些特性,但并非纯粹的具体行政行为,而是一种特殊的技术鉴定结论。应当成立独立于公安机关交通管理部门之外的交通事故责任鉴定委员会,具体负责交通事故责任的认定,以使交通事故认定书能真正发挥其特殊作用,有效保障当事人的合法权益。     

Some determinants of internal judicial independence: A comparative study of the courts in Chile,Peru and Ecuador

This article explores the primary determinants of internal judicial independence in three Latin American countries. Considering the relative absence of research focused on this dimension of judicial life, this article is innovative in demonstrating how it is affected by two variables: the quality of judges' training and respect for their judicial careers as criteria for promotions or transfers. While these variables explain why some countries enjoy greater internal judicial independence than others, this article also shows – contrary to popular wisdom – that judicial activism does not have a strong influence on internal judicial independence. Conducting a comparison of the courts in Chile, Peru, and Ecuador using surveys and semi-structured interviews, this study also shows that judges' autonomy from politicians does not necessarily follow the same path as the lower-court judges' independence from their hierarchical superiors.     

The theme of indivisibility in the post-war struggle against prejudice in the United States

Whitfield's essay seeks to identify and explain a tendency that emerged in the United States in the 1940s and extended through the 1950s. It was then that a notion became commonplace, especially among liberals, that the victims of prejudice were interchangeable and that bigotry was undifferentiated. Before the 1940s, the problem of prejudice was not widely believed to be urgent; but the war against the Third Reich heightened awareness of the price of an irrational hostility to minorities. American liberals in particular came to the understanding that bigotry was indivisible; and, for its objects, the cards of identity could easily be shuffled. Whether the victims were Jews or Negroes or homosexuals, the hatred that they elicited appeared to be formed without making any distinctions among them. Evidence can be found in the culture of those two decades, in novels, plays and films. The unitary view of the character of prejudice had some support in social science, including in the authoritative volume The Authoritarian Personality. The theory would also be reflected in a major shift in the agenda of Jewish civil rights organizations, which redefined their mission as promoting the democratic rights of all minorities rather than the particular interests of American Jews. This distinctive tendency vanished in the 1960s, however. One reason for the change was a fuller appreciation of the hostility that minorities could harbour towards other minorities. The realization also deepened of the singular vulnerability of black Americans under the pressure of racism, which demonstrated a tenacity as well as a proclivity for violence that had been largely absent from other forms of bigotry. Finally, a broader legitimation of difference itself emerged in the 1960s to bury the notion that minorities were fungible.     

Dishonest Government: Local Government Reorganisation,England 2006–2010

‘When I use a word’, Humpty-Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass.)

Abstract

The local government reorganisation process introduced by the Labour government in England in the 2006–2010 period is characterised by a range of disturbing characteristics, in particular the misuse of the English language, the disjunctive between rhetoric and reality and a failure to distinguish between what is ‘lawful’ and what is proper. These claims are justified on the basis of an independent assessment of the government's claims regarding the costs and savings associated with a move to unitary authorities, a review of the court cases involved, which all involved serious criticism of the government's approach, and a critical review of the various contradictory statements made by government ministers during the course of the process. The evidence of the way the government handled the process has serious implications for the way in which public administration needs to be reformed.     

Are Children with Disabilities and Long-term Illnesses at Increased Risk of Disciplinary Violence?

This study examined the association between disability status and the risk of disciplinary violence at the hands of parents. The data consist of a nationally representative sample of 12–13 and 15–16-year-old Finnish school children (n = 13,459). These representative data were collected by the Police College of Finland. The results show that having a visual impairment, mental health problems, learning and/or memory difficulties, or another chronic illness, such as asthma, is associated with an increased risk of disciplinary violence. Children with multiple disabilities were significantly more likely to be targets of disciplinary violence. These findings suggest that children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to maltreatment.     

Civilian supremacy in democracies with ‘fault lines’: The role of the parliamentary standing committee on defence in Bangladesh

This article sets out to identify the conditions that promote civilian supremacy over the military in the post-military democracies. The article addresses the case of Bangladesh, where a decade-old post-military democratic political process is riddled with problems, such as the absence of opposition parties in the parliament, chronic political instability and violence and inefficient governance. However, the powerful military has not yet shown any inclination towards intervention in domestic politics. Rather, various civilian institutions, such as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence (PSCD), have been successful in raising the level of the military's accountability to the civilian government and society. The article seeks to explain the role of PSCD during 1998–2001 in promoting civilian supremacy in Bangladesh. It argues that three sets of factors can explain the PSCD's role. First, there is intense competition for political power between the two major parties, which resists the military's involvement in politics in favour of any one political party. Second, there is the important role of civil society in favour of civilian supremacy. Third, there are external factors such as the donor countries' and international agencies' stance in favour of democracy and the Bangladesh military's participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions, which are discouraging military intervention in politics at home.