2001年外国法制史研究的回顾与展望

在21世纪的第一年,全国外国法制史的研究即呈现出一派欣欣向荣的景象.与过去的几年相比,不仅学术交流活动更加活跃,而且学术成果也显著增加.据不完全统计,2000年11月至2001年12月,本学科共出版各类专(译)著、教材20余部,公开发表论文50余篇,收到年会论文30余篇.     

2001年中国法律史研究的回顾与展望

2001年8月,"中国法律史学会2001年学术研讨会"在福建厦门大学召开.本次会议主要议题是探讨新世纪中国法律史学研究的发展方向,并对未来法律史研究进行展望.来自全国各地的近百名法律史学者就法律史研究的方法、目前面临的问题进行了广泛深入的交流与讨论,会议受到论文几十篇,并对上一届学会的论文评选活动进行了颁奖表彰.     

西方法律思想史的回顾与改革

西方法律思想史是一门法学基础学科,属于理论法学的范畴.该学科是在实行改革开放政策以后,以发展社会主义民主,健全社会主义法制这一基本方针的指引下创设的.二十多年来,经过学者们的辛勤耕耘,该学科已初具规模,为繁荣法学、发扬民主、健全法制、建设社会主义法治国家,发挥了重要作用.在新世纪开始之际,很有必要对其二十多年的发展作一简单的回顾,并对其二十一世纪的发展提出展望和设想.     

从人治到法治中国法制道路上的历史性飞跃

依法治国是当今世界各国几乎普遍选择的一种治国形式,这是因为现代法治对人治和专制的否定,体现了一种高层次的政治文明,是一种进步的治国方式.虽然由于社会制度的不同,各个时代各个国家法治的内容不同,但作为人类共同创造的文明成果,如同市场经济一样,它既不姓"资",也不姓"社",既可以服务于资本主义,也可以服务于社会主义.建国后相当长一段时间内,主要靠的也是人治.党的十一届三中全会第一次确定了法制在我国政治生活中的地位,使我国在法制建设的道路上跨出了重要的一步.党的十五大又提出"依法治国"的建国方略,从而在指导思想上实现了由人治到法治的根本转变.依法治国不仅是发展社会主义市场经济的需要,也是实行"一国两制"保持香港长期繁荣稳定和加强社会主义精神文明建设的需要.它是一项宏大而系统的政治工程,既要不断提高立法质量,推进司法改革,做到依法行政,又要加强执法司法队伍建设,强化全民法制意识.只有从我国的实际情况出发,在党的领导下有计划、有步骤地进行,才能实现依法治国的宏伟目标.     

Games, information, and evidence production: with application to English legal history

This paper studies the problem of how the legal system regulatesactivity outside the courtroom based on information suppliedin court by interested and potentially dishonest parties. Thesupply of information is analyzed along a game-theoretic dimension:the extent to which the supplier has an interest in how theinformation will be used. Such analysis uncovers a basic trade-offin system design between the 'fixed costs' of hearings (e.g.,the productive activity forsaken by participation) and the costof the evidence produced therein. This trade-off helps to explainand connect several trends in the historical evolution of Englishcivil process.     

Abstracts of papers given at the 25th annual conference of the Scottish legal history group

Modern Legal History. A. H. Manchester. London. 1980. Butterworths. xxv and 419 pp (incl. Index). £14.50 cased, £9.75 limp.

Introduction historique au droit. John Gilissen. Brussels. 1979. Emile Bruylant. 756 pp. 2200 Bfr. (2075 Bfr. abroad).

Legal Evolution: The Story of an Idea. Peter Stein. Cambridge. 1980. Cambridge University Press. xi and 131 pp (incl. Index). £15.00 cased.

Judecata Domneasca în Tara Româneasca ?i Moldova (1611–1831) (Princely Justice in Wallachia and Moldavia, 1611–1831) Part I. Judicial Organisation, 1611–1740 by V. A. Georgescu and P. Strihan. Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, Bucharest, 1979, 218 pp. Lei 17.

Bizantul ?i Institutiile Române?ti pîna la Mijlocul Secolului al XVIII lea (Byzantium and Romanian Institutions until the mid‐18th century) by V. A. Georgescu. Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste Romania, Bucharest, 1979, 296 pp. Lei 22.50.

TUC: The Growth of a Pressure Group 1868–1976. Ross M. Martin. Oxford. 1980. Clarendon Press. xiii and 394 pp (incl. Index). £14.00 cased.     

Building sustainable free legal advisory systems: Experiences from the history of AI & law

The enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) as a source of solutions to problems is not new. In law, from the early 1980s until at least the early 2000s, considerable work was done on developing ‘legal expert systems.’ As the DataLex project, we participated in those developments, through research and publications, commercial and non-commercial systems, and teaching students application development. This paper commences with a brief account of that work to situate our perspective.The main aim of this paper is an assessment of what might be of value from the experience of the DataLex Project to contemporary use of ‘AI and law’ by free legal advice services, who must necessarily work within funding and other constraints in developing and sustaining such systems. We draw fifteen conclusions from this experience, which we consider are relevant to development of systems for free legal advice services. The desired result, we argue, is the development of integrated legal decision-support systems, not ‘expert systems’ or ‘robot lawyers’. We compare our insights with the approach of the leading recent text in the field, and with a critical review of the field over twenty-five years. We conclude that the approach taken by the DataLex Project, and now applied to free legal advice services, remains consistent with leading work in field of AI and law.The paper concludes with brief suggestions of what are the most desirable improvements to tools and platforms to enable development of free legal advice systems. The objectives of free access to legal information services have much in common with those of free legal advice services. The information resources that free access to law providers (including LIIs) can provide will often be those that free legal advice services will need to use to develop and sustain free legal advisory systems. There is therefore strong potential for valuable collaborations between these two types of services providers.     

临床法学教育与新世纪法学人才的培养--平等式对话教学方式的魅力

高等法律教育是我国教育事业的一个重要组成部分,担负着为市场经济建设与民主法制建设培养高层次专业人才的重要任务.在更新教育观念,转变培养模式,强化能力培养的教育改革的形势下,作为大学法学院应该教给学生什么?我们不可能在有限的四年时间内教给学生今后一辈子所需的各种法律知识.况且法律变化频繁,知识更新快捷.学校教师传授知识固然重要,但更重要的是教给学生分析、辨别、创造知识的能力.     

Recent legal developments

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW OF TRUSTS. By Simon Gardner. [Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1990. First Edition. 250 pp. £25.00 (hardback), £11.95 (paperback).]

EXPLAINING CONSTRUCTIVE TRUSTS. By Gbolahan Elias. [Clarendon Press. Oxford. 1990. First Edition. 177 pp. £25.00 (hardback).]

CHARLESWORTH &; PERCY ON NEGLIGENCE. By R. A. Percy. [Sweet &; Maxwell. Eighth Edition. 1,232 pp. incl. index. £135.00 (hardback).]

CLARITY FOR LAWYERS. By Mark Adler. [The Law Society. 1990. First edition. 128 pp. £10.00 (paperback).]

PLANNING LAW AND PROCEDURE. By A. E. Telling. [Butterworths. Eighth edition. 385 pp. incl. index. £16.95 (paperback).]

PRACTICAL APPROACH TO PLANNING LAW. By V. Moore. [Blackstone Press Ltd. Second edition. 401 pp. incl. index &; appendices. £19.95 (paperback).]

THE EVIDENCE OF CHILDREN. By J. R. Spencer and R. Fun. [Blackstone Press. 1990. 362 pp. £19.50 (paperback).]

CROSS ON EVIDENCE. By C. Tapper. [Butterworths. 1990. Seventh edition. 757 pp. £22.95 (paperback).]

EMPLOYMENT LAW. By C. J. Carr and P. J. Kay. [M. &; E. Handbook. Pitman Publishing. 1990. Fifth edition, xxiv &; 232 pp. (inc. index). £7.99 (paperback).]

REVISION WORKBOOK: LAND LAW. By Gordon Henry.

A PARENTS’ GUIDE TO THE LAW. By Jeannie Mackie and Lesley Taylor [Penguin Books. 1990. 419 pp. (inc. index). £7.99 (paperback).]

A GUIDE TO INHERITANCE CLAIMS. By Nasreen Pearce. [Fourmat Publishing. 1989. 162 pp. £12.95 (paperback).]     

Recent legal developments

Abstract

THE CASE of R (Pretty) v. Director of Public Prosecutions, gave the House of Lords the opportunity to comment on the issues surrounding the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to the crime of assisted suicide in the case of the terminally ill. A conservative approach was taken in relation to both this issue and indeed in relation to the possibilities of judicial control of the Law Officers of the Crown.