Having the cake and eating it too: efficient penalty clauses in Common and Civil contract law

In this paper we examine one of the areas where there is a marked difference between Civil and Common contract law, that of the enforcement of liquidated damages and more particularly of penalty clauses. Common law judges are quite reluctant to enforce liquidated damages, especially if they believe that they include penalty clauses which are not enforceable. On the contrary, in almost all European contract laws liquidated damages are readily enforced, as are penalty clauses when they are not manifestly excessive. Although most law and economics scholars have criticized Common law courts for the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, there is a sizable minority of scholars who have defended the Common law “non-enforcement” policy on the ground that penalty clauses are inefficient because they hinder efficient breach. However, and despite the merits of the arguments advanced by advocates of the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, we believe that Common law’s rejection of penalty clauses is inefficient. We further show that the Civil law solution to the problem is not only comparatively more efficient, but that it can also appease the worries of those scholars who are afraid that efficient breaches will be deterred. The solution that Civil law systems give to the problem manages to enforce the parties’ wishes and to avoid deterring efficient breaches. However, we point out that in order for the Civil law systems to take advantage of this superiority, the interpretation of their Civil Codes should be guided by economic analysis and the respect to the wishes of the contracting parties.     

保险人明确说明义务批判

保险合同法可以体系化地解读为意思自治、给付均衡与合理期待三个核心原则的组合。立法者希望籍说明义务来消减信息不对称,贯彻意思自治。但在建构制度规范时,并未考虑信息传送方的履行成本,对信息接收方的识别成本与关注焦点也存在认识误区。这种过度理想化的设计已被实践证明是失败的。立法应废止实质性的明确说明义务,代之以形式化的信息提供义务。对于意思自治的不足,可以通过提升给付均衡度和更有效保障被保险人对获取保险产品的合理期待加以填补。     

农耕文化中的"孕育仪式"及其在少数民族中的遗存

“孕育仪式”是农耕文化的一种文化现象,是许多农耕民族都曾存在过的农业祭祀。作为古老的原始宗教祭仪,它寄寓着农业民族的许多观念和信仰,在农耕社会中经历着传承和蜕变的历史演进过程,近代许多少数民族的民俗活动中还有遗存。透过“孕育仪式”的文化表象,我们依稀看到人类在认识和改造客观世界、把握自然规律过程中所走过的一段曲折而漫长的经历。     

从滥用职权罪的罪过形式谈起——再探滥用职权罪

关于滥用职权罪的罪过形式,观点颇多,但实际上,其罪过形式只能是故意,包括直接故意和间接故意。司法实践中将本应定玩忽职守罪的过失行为,以及将虽出于故意但已构成其他更为严重犯罪的行为定为滥用职权罪的做法令人质疑。在目前情况下,应按照特别法优于普通法以及重法优于轻法的原则处理第397条滥用职权罪同其他相关条文间的法条竞合关系。另外,没有必要将滥用职权罪的主体再次恢复为“国家工作人员”,应提高和增设该罪的法定刑,将该罪和玩忽职守分列两个条文,重视对该罪未遂的惩处。     

《中华人民共和国物权法》的立法技术分析

<中华人民共和国物权法>的颁布施行可以视为建国以来最为著名的法制事件之一.在立法技术上,它取得的成绩有目共睹,主要表现在:在结构形式上采用了总则、分则、附则的营造模式,与<物权法>二百余条的规模而言大体协调和谐;体系较为清晰,内容充实,文字凝炼,少有虚言.但其立法技术上的缺陷亦同样明显,具体表现在:其一,总则中基本原则用语和范围失当,原则与规则不分;其二,不谙概念使用规则,一方面有应使用概念而未使用概念之处,另一方面又存在对已经下定义的概念却未能很好利用的情况;其三,语言文字瑕疵随处可见;另外,还存在调整范围不明、条文不均、违背一条一义等诸多技术性问题.造成这些技术问题存在的重要原因之一在于物权法的起草工作为民法学界所垄断,未能重视起草小组成员全面的重要性,未能实行开门立法.     

中国台湾的女孩生存问题及其公共政策治理

通过网络、国际会议、期刊等媒介搜集相关资料,首先对中国台湾省的女孩生存问题的态势和原因进行了梳理,发现台湾的女孩生存问题主要由出生性别比反映出来,呈现出总体上升趋势,但主要在略高于正常值的范围内波动;导致台湾女孩生存问题的原因包括根源性原因、条件性原因和直接原因。其次对台湾在女孩生存问题方面的公共政策治理措施及其效果进行了分析,发现台湾不仅采取了针对女孩生存问题的直接措施,也采取了促进妇女发展的间接措施,涉及到法律、政治、经济、人口、文化等各个领域,并建立了确保治理措施付诸于实施的运行机制。这些公共政策治理措施虽然在短期内并没有改变台湾女孩生存问题的现状,但对于提高妇女地位、促进妇女发展产生了一定的积极影响。最后借鉴台湾针对女孩生存问题治理的经验和教训,立足于大陆女孩生存问题及其治理的特点,分别从战略和操作化两个层次为大陆地区女孩生存问题的治理提出了政策建议。     

Interpersonal Factors in the Risk for Sexual Victimization and its Recurrence during Adolescence

Being a victim of sexual aggression from a peer is a common experience among adolescents and poses a significant risk for various forms of psychopathology. Unfortunately, little is known concerning specific interpersonal factors that increase an adolescent’s risk for experiencing sexual aggression. The current study assessed the contribution made by several interpersonal factors both for the first and repeated experience of becoming a victim of sexual aggression from a peer. Data were collected annually from a longitudinal sample of 200 adolescents over a period of 4 years and were analyzed using multiple-spell, discrete-time survival analysis. Approximately 46% of the adolescents reported experiencing some form of sexual aggression by the end of wave 4. Further, 65% of victims reported experiencing a repeat incident of aggression. Females were at higher risk both for initial and repeated victimization, as were adolescents with more sexual experience and higher levels of rejection sensitivity. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future prevention efforts.

略论我国现行《宪法》中过时的条款

我国改革开放至今已历30年，在改革开放第四年我国制定了新中国第四部宪法，即现行宪法，现行宪法对我国经济制度做了符合当时社会发展实际的规定，为我国改革开放的发展提供了法律保障。改革开放30年来，随着经济体制改革顺利推进，我国生产力得到巨大提升，作为我国根本大法的宪法中部分条款已明显不符合经济社会发展的实际情况，尽管现行宪法制定至今已经过四次修改，但小规模的修改没有完全修正宪法条款过时的状况。因此，从宪政研究的角度针对现行宪法中一些过时条款作逐一疏理和分析是有必要的。     

论信用卡格式合同不公平条款的法律规制

对信用卡格式合同中的条件变更信息披露之排除条款、冒用风险分配条款和抗辩切断条款这三种不公平条款进行法律规制 ,是控制发卡机构的优势滥用 ,维护持卡人的合法权益 ,促进信用卡交易乃至现代信用经济发展的必要举措。我国法律应借鉴外国和我国台湾地区的立法 ,提高立法层次 ,开展小额电子资金划拨的专门立法 ,开展消费信用的专门立法 ,颁布信用卡格式合同范本 ,以保护持卡人的条件变更知情权 ,合理分配冒用风险 ,并在一定程度上保护持卡人的抗辩权