‘A Very Uncommon Case’: Representations of the Zong and the British Campaign to Abolish the Slave Trade

This paper examines the representation of the case of the Zong within the British campaign to abolish the slave trade. It traces the ways in which the case produced an iconic narrative for the movement by paying particular attention to Granville Sharp's original accounting of the event, and then to the ways in which the latter was transformed in key abolition propaganda documents. It is argued that the legal implications of the trial fell away as the Zong was appropriated, and mythologised, in its adaptation to the abolitionists' agenda.     

The genetic legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the island of New Providence

The Bahamian archipelago has been influenced by a wide array of settlers (Lucayans, Eleutherian Adventurers, British Loyalists, Creoles from the United States and African slaves) throughout its short but dynamic history. Nevertheless, the Bahamas remains poorly characterized genetically and little is known about each group's contribution to the island chain. In the current study, the population of New Providence was analyzed based on 15 autosomal STR loci routinely employed in forensic DNA fingerprinting applications. A comparison of this collection with African groups reveals similar genetic profiles to West African populations from Equatorial Guinea and Angola, possibly resulting from the importation of slaves from West African ports during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Although the New Providence collection exhibits strong genetic affinities to the two US African American reference populations, the detection of unique alleles among them may necessitate the utilization of population-specific databases in forensic cases especially when the STR profiles include these specific variants.     

The Tennessee Slave Code

Abstract

Numerous studies have found evidence of racial discrimination in the imposition of the death penalty, particularly in the South. In this article, the authors posit that the legal antecedents of modern discrimination in capital cases are found in the codified rules that governed slavery. Using the capital punishment provisions of the 1858 Slave Code of Tennessee, the biases inherent in the laws of the Old South are documented. The discriminatory practices that blacks faced both as victims and offenders under the slave codes are linked through historical analysis and conflict theory to the current discriminatory practices documented by modern death penalty research.     

法律交融中的国际贸易行政诉讼

国际贸易行政诉讼是在国际法与国内法交融、公法与私法交融过程中生成的行政诉讼特殊类型。在我国法制语境中,国际贸易行政诉讼是指在WTO制度的框架下,人民法院依法审理国际贸易行政案件并做出裁决,以保障和补救受损方国际贸易权益的具有专项性、涉外性与国际性的诉讼活动与制度。国际贸易行政诉讼具有特定的制度结构、主体结构与利益结构。考察其影响,它具有国际法定义务履行功能、国际贸易行政争端解决功能、国际贸易权益救济等复合功能。     

从侵犯商业秘密罪看全球化背景下刑民法之界域

1997年侵犯商业秘密罪进入刑法典以来,司法实践中出现了很多问题.这就需要对侵犯商业秘密罪进行立罪反思,当前在侵犯商业秘密罪之立罪上.存在着立罪理念困惑、立罪依据迷茫以及立罪技巧混沌等问题.其症结在于侵犯商业秘密罪上存在着刑民之交叉互动,未能对其进行界定,面对着全球化背景的冲击,必须在刑民之间厘定一条相对明晰的界域,来达到更好的对商业秘密保护之目的.     

全球疫情背景下贸易自由与人权保护互动机制的完善

贸易自由和人权保护之间长期互动,并诞生了不同的理论支持各自的观点。二战后,国际贸易体制与人权保护机制也在各自的道路上不断发展并深化。在新冠肺炎疫情影响下,为了应对贸易自由和人权保护带来的制度性冲突,我国应以人类命运共同体理念为指引,对基本人权进行最大程度的保护,同时保障目前国际贸易体制正常有序的运转与发展。我们应采取有效措施,在短期内达到抗击疫情、稳定形势、保护生命、维持贸易的目的;在长期的发展中进行价值性引领,通过制度设计促进合作,最终达到繁荣贸易、保护人权的目标。     

中美经贸协议背景下地理标志和通用名称界分研究

对于地理标志和通用名称的界分,我国当下采取的标准为“指代一类商品”标准。这一标准并不能反映地理标志和通用名称的本质区别。地理标志通用化的本质是“标示地理来源”功能的丧失,故应当引入“标示地理来源”标准。对于通用名称的判断范围,应当坚持以全国标准为主,同时严格限制相关市场标准的适用。《中美经贸协议》本质上是美方寻求更广泛的市场准入的尝试,对我国地理标志和通用名称的界分提出了新的要求。《地理标志保护中的通用名称判定指南》(征求意见稿)虽然回应了《中美经贸协议》的要求,但是提供的保护水平过低,不利于地理标志资源的开发利用。应当在符合《中美经贸协议》要求的基础上,努力寻求地理标志的高水平保护。     

The War of the Booksellers: Natural Law,Equity, and Literary Property in Eighteenth-Century Scotland

This article analyses the case of Hinton v Donaldson (1773) in which the judges of the Scottish Court of Session refused to follow their English brethren in recognizing an author's right of property outside the Statute of Anne (1710). The decision must be understood against the background of distinct notions of common law and equity in Scots law, drawn from the Natural law tradition of the European jus commune. At the same time the decision reveals developing strands of Enlightenment thought and concepts of the judicial role in relation to legislation.     

论气候变化语境下的国际服务贸易法适用问题:以一般例外规则为视角

各国日益重视采用服务贸易措施应对气候变化,我国WTO服务承诺亦与气候变化相关。因措施通常视成员是否承担减排义务而给予不同待遇,容易违反非歧视原则,一般例外是判断措施合法性的关键。一般例外适用于气候变化时将面临措施性质认定、必要性测试、发展中成员可否利用引言获得特殊待遇等诸多难题。为确保一般例外适用的可预见性并妥善平衡贸易与气候变化,需强化贸易与气候变化的相互支持,解决一般例外法理的连贯性不足等缺陷,避免僵化解释,力争规则更新修改。     

Narratives of Feeling and Majesty: Mediated Emotions in the Eighteenth-Century Criminal Courtroom

This article considers the role of emotion in the eighteenth-century courtroom. It discusses the work of judges and magistrates in constituting and upholding a ‘grand narrative’, which legitimized English criminal law. This grand narrative was inherently emotional, activating patriotism and love of justice, but also fear of punishment through the performance of ‘emotional labour’ from the judgment seat. However, while performing the majesty of the law, judges attempted to balance a number of complicating factors, such as the rise of sensibility, the role of the press, and their own emotions about criminal justice. The growing presence of professional counsel from the end of the century also complicated the emotional tenor of criminal trials. Moreover, the majesty of the law was undermined and even corrupted by the representation of trials and executions in the popular press. Far from viewing displays of emotion as inappropriate, it appears that many contemporaries held emotion to be an integral part of trial process, and of the majesty of the law.     

当代中国语境下的法治思维

法治思维作为一个时兴概念在当下中国被不断提及,并成为社会治理领域的正当性话语,因此需立足于法治的基本要求,结合法治实践的个案场景,在发现当代中国法治建设薄弱环节的同时探讨法治思维的运用问题。而法治思维内涵的既有界定往往抽象而不具可操作性。因此,法治思维是以规则为中心,合法性判断为优先,限制权力保障权利,坚持正当程序的思维方式。要注意反思当代中国社会治理中与法治思维相左的四类主要问题:领导意志对法律执行的扭曲,法外利益与纠纷解决的乱象,公权力过于强势的现状,重结果轻程序的思维传统。     

全球化背景下的国家与公民

随着“人和公民的权利—国家权力”范式在启蒙时代的建立 ,民族国家与公民开始发生一种“直接面对面”的联系 ,民族国家循着“权利”和“形式法律”之名日渐深入到公民生活的方方面面。在全球化背景下 ,这一格局受到了挑战。国家与公民的直接联系为社会权力中介所隔断、全球精英游离于国家权力之外、公民依凭世界性力量反对国家等情况在一定程度上打破了民族国家与公民“直接面对面”的模式 ,同时 ,这些新变化和新趋势也为现代社会走出“日常生活的国家殖民化”提供了机遇和可能     

程序法视野中的诱惑侦查

诱惑侦查作为一种特殊的侦查手段,已为许多国家的立法认可.由于犯意诱发型的诱惑性侦查手段会导致本无犯意的公民犯罪,机会提供型的诱惑性侦查手段会影响被告人的量刑情节.因此,从立法上对前者应该禁止,对后者则应从程序上进行严格控制.诱惑侦查一旦被滥用,即构成警察圈套,赋予被告人无罪辩护权和非法证据排除规则是警察圈套成立后的救济措施.     

去道德化视角下的法正当性问题

德国学者哈贝马斯曾将实践理性的运用途径划分为道德、伦理和实用三种途径。法的正当性与道德的独特联系正源于,与伦理和实用角度的运用相比,实践理性道德角度的运用所产生的规范性资源具有某种特殊的说理性优势。在西方法律思想史中,历史主义与功利主义法哲学分别代表着从伦理与实用的角度看待法正当性问题的最典型学派,而其所面临的问题则从反面说明了,从实践理性的深层结构来看,法与道德的关系问题仍是现代社会法正当性问题的要害,道德话语是建构法正当性无法置换的规范性资源。     

和谐语境中法的宽和性研究

"和谐"-语在当代中国社会话语体系中处于核心地位,与和谐社会相适应的法律应该彰显其"宽和性"的特征.这既有其历史基础,法哲学基础、法经济学基础,又有其现实意义,促进法自身的发展、发展法学理论、是和谐社会的内在要求.在立法中法的宽和性主要表现为:立法的有限性,立法应体现人本主义法律观,公法、私法、社会法都应该体现和谐与宽和.     

和谐语境下的女性犯罪问题研究

十六届四中全会以来,我国提出构建社会主义和谐社会。“和谐社会”就是社会的发展符合人类社会发展的客观规律,是全面系统的和谐,其中包括人与人之间、不同性别的人之间关系的和谐,实现社会平等、有序、可持续发展等内容。然而,近些年来我国女性犯罪数量迅速增长,不仅影响着人与人之间关系的和谐,也严重阻碍了和谐社会建设的进程。