Partnership or Rivalry between the EU, China and India in Central Asia: The Normative Power of Regional Actors with Global Aspirations

Abstract:  This analysis undertakes a preliminary conceptual assessment of the international agency of the EU, India and China in Central Asia. The contention is that the strategies advanced by Brussels, New Delhi and Beijing in the region reflect not only their desire to introduce a framework of predictability allowing them to make feasible calculations about future intentions, but also the increasing complexity of international life. The claim is that the external agency of the EU, India and China attests to the normative power of their foreign policies. However, the values and norms of the international agency of Brussels, New Delhi and Beijing reflect their distinct experiences and suggest their clashing interests. The article concludes with a brief appraisal of the prospective trends in the interactions between the EU, India and China in Central Asia and contends that it is the patterns of rivalry rather than cooperation that are likely to structure their global agency.     

The Idea of Deliberative Democracy. A Critical Appraisal

The deliberative conception of politics seems to be necessary for the legitimation of state power through democratic will-formation and decision-making. However, the author maintains that a complex theory of democracy cannot merely consist in procedural prerequisites for organizing the concomitant institutional settings. In particular, such a theory must comprise some substantive presuppositions, such as social and economic rights, in order to diminish existing material inequalities, especially those connected with social exploitation and domination. The author argues that a contemporary theory of democracy should reflect on the autonomization of mechanisms of egoistic action challenging not only the democratic political order, but also the very reproduction preconditions of societies all over the world. In this perspective, the model of associative democracy, which is suggested nowadays as a sort of substantive correlative to the institutional proceduralism, could not significantly rejuvenate the traditional representative democracy. Instead, democracy could only be given a fresh impulse if democratic deliberation penetrates the currently forbidden field of capitalist production and social exploitation, the locus where social inequality and effective unfreedom are endlessly reproduced.     

A Critical Appraisal of 'Triple Divorce' in Islamic Law

The issue of the ‘triple divorce’ is regarded ashighly sensitive among the Muslims, not only in India but elsewhere.The Holy Qur’an is very cautious in matters of divorce.Three talaqs have to be spaced over a period of 3 months togive husband and wife time for reconciliation through the interventionof relatives and friends. Moreover, talaq can be pronouncedonly when the wife is in a state of tuhur, ie purity after menstruation.Yet, despite clear Qur’anic injunctions to the contrary,immediate triple divorce is permitted, destroying marital lifein one breath. The practice of immediate triple divorce is widespreadamong Sunni Muslims and has legal validity. Even then the juristscall it a talaq-e-Bidat (innovative form of divorce). The disputehas been highlighted by reports of some Muslims instantly divorcingtheir wives by mail, over the telephone, and even through mobilephone text messages. This article explains the different theoriesof divorce prevailing in the contemporary Muslim world and whatchecks and restraints have been imposed by Islam over the exerciseof husband's power of talaq. The article critically appraisesthe ‘innovative triple divorce’ by examining whetherit is sanctioned by the Holy Quran or the sunnah and if thereis a consensus of opinion (ijma) on the effectiveness of tripledivorce.     

WTO转基因农产品贸易争端与欧盟转基因产品管制立法评析

欧盟转基因产品管制体制经历了15年的历史演变,其间的关注重点可归结为“转基因生物向环境的有意释放”和“转基因食品”两个方面,目前的欧盟转基因产品管制立法则以核准程序、标签和可追踪性为中心。虽然WTO专家组“中期报告”认为欧盟及其成员国对转基因产品的“事实上的禁止”没有符合《SPS协定》的有关要求,也否认了相关的多边环境协定与本案的关联性,但专家组并未对生物技术产品在总体上安全与否做出结论,也没有认定欧盟转基因产品管制体制在总体上与WTO规则相冲突。     

特殊普通合伙企业:游走于无限与有限责任之间

特殊普通合伙企业制度设计虽然对无辜的合伙人以提供有限责任保护方式,使之具有了促进专业服务业发展的优势,但是,同时也加大了交易相对人的风险和司法成本。它的责任二元化构造中,所确立的二元责任在合伙人之间具有不确定性、交替互换性。二元责任既有纵向又有横向配置,其立足点是执业合伙人有无过错。     

Personality under EU Law: A Conceptual Answer towards the Pluralisation of the EU

Although the trend towards pluralisation within the institutional framework of the EU is somewhat reflected in theoretical efforts, legal scholarship's answer remains incomplete. Acknowledging that legal personality is always relative—ie related to a particular legal system—personality under EU Law should be recognised and developed as a distinct category. This allows for reconsideration and rearrangement of inter‐ and intrapersonal relations in EU Law: inter‐institutional agreements can gain firmer legal ground, the recognition of hierarchical structures within the EU executive branch can advance the maintenance of the rule of law, legal protection of the Union's citizens shall be advanced, and options as well as limits to privatising organisation at the EU level shall be formulated. On the whole, methodological self‐reflection along these lines is bound to lead to a valuable contribution of legal research in times of EU crisis.     

Regulating the invisible: interaction between the EU and Norway in managing nano-risks

Over the last decade, the need for governance of human health and environmental safety risks of nanotechnology (NT) has received increased attention at international, national and EU levels. There were early calls for increased funding of independent research, risk analysis and voluntary or mandatory regulation, but currently overall regulatory efforts have not materialised. One possible explanation is that research has revealed little need to regulate environmental and health safety risks of NT. Alternatively, there is a gap between politics and governance and the evolving state of knowledge. Such a gap can be caused by various factors including change in interests, saliency and organisation. Organisational challenges related to the science–policy interface at national, international and the EU can affect how new knowledge is channelled into decision-making processes. Decrease in public saliency is another possibility. Finally, opposition to regulation among affected producers may have increased and in turn stalled regulation through lobbying. The two explanations are analysed in a multi-level governance context. Norway is chosen as an interesting case: Highly profiled as a frontrunner i.a. in regulating gene technology, but currently awaiting regulations in the EU due to the European Economic Area agreement.     

住宅渗漏引发纠纷的司法鉴定

某住宅楼中,501室住户(原告)近期发现其东南卧室东南角墙面及天棚处和南阳台近墙处顶部天棚,以及厨房东面墙上方及天棚(含北阳台)等多处渗漏发霉,认为与其楼上601室(被告)前阶段进行了装修改动有关.为查明501室(原告)住宅相关部位的渗漏原因,在现场对该上下楼相邻两套住宅有关情况进行调查,并采用了淋水、红外成像、湿度分析等一系例检测手段,确定了501室(原告)住宅渗漏真正原因,从而为法院判决提供了科学依据.     

从欧盟经验看地理标志与商标的冲突及解决

尽管地理标志与商标均是在市场中使用的商业标识,但是地理标志强调产品特征与其来源地在自然、人文因素或声誉上的联系,而商标法对此不予以保护。欧盟以专门立法模式强化地理标志的保护,从制止不正当竞争及避免误导消费者的双重视角处理在先地理标志与商标之间的关系。当地理标志与在先商标存在冲突时,欧盟除了遵循“时间在先,权利在先”基本原则外,综合考虑在先商标的声誉和知名度,以及已经使用的时间等因素,以不使消费者混淆为前提,允许地理标志与合法有效的在先商标有限共存,TRIPS协议规定的商标权例外之描述性合理使用为共存方案提供了正当性基础。欧盟正在通过签订双边贸易协定的策略将其内部地理标志与商标冲突处理规范融入国际贸易法领域。欧盟相关经验为我国解决地理标志与商标冲突关系在立法模式的选择、具体规则的细化和符合国际贸易协定要求方面有一定的借鉴意义。     

The Triangular Relationship Between Nationality,EU Citizenship and Migration in EU Law: A Tale of Competing Competences

Within the legal framework of the EU, the Member States have remained competent to regulate who qualifies as a national. As nationals of a Member State are simultaneously EU citizens and enjoy the right to intra-EU mobility, it is the Member States who, through their Nationality Laws, determine who is to be classed as an EU citizen and who enjoys the right to intra-EU mobility. This article explores whether Member State competence to regulate nationality matters has been affected by the introduction of EU citizenship and/or developments in intra-EU mobility rights, the contents of which are determined primarily by the EU.

     

欧盟和WTO处理贸易与环境案件法律之比较——以欧洲法院和WTO争端解决机构的实践为例

<正>欧洲法院(European Coun of Justice)和世界贸易组织争端解决机构(Dispute Settlement Body)都处理了为数不少的国际贸易与环境案件,两者处理此类案件的法律原则、政策和程序既有相似之处,亦存在明显差异。世界贸易组织以"提高生活水平、保证充分就业、保证实际收入和有效需求的大幅稳定增长以及扩大货物和服务的生产和贸易为     

Interaction between EU carbon trading and the international climate regime: synergies and learning

This article discusses the developing interaction and cross-scale effects between the company-focused EU emissions trading (ETS) and the country-focused international climate regime, in particular the Kyoto Protocol. Key questions discussed are first, what has been the character of selected interactions so far—synergistic or disruptive? Second, what kinds of interaction mechanisms have been driving the interactions; normative, cognitive, or utilitarian? Third, with regard to cross-scale effects, has significant learning taken place between institutions at different levels? Four sub-cases of interaction are analysed: first, the interaction between the Kyoto Protocol as source and the ETS as target which started after the adoption of the Protocol in late 1997. Second, a next phase of interaction started in 2004 when the EU states started to develop national allocation plans (NAPs) where bringing in credits/allowances developed under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) became one compliance strategy. Third, the opposite relationship is examined, i.e., with the ETS as the source and the Kyoto Protocol institutions as targets. The first phase started after the adoption of the 2003 ET Directive and with the developing ETS possibly leading to a more rapid and extensive CDM development than would otherwise have been the case. Fourth and finally, a separate case of interaction deals with the possible role the ETS plays and could play for an emerging global carbon market. Key findings are that these cases are mainly of a synergistic nature. Furthermore, in order to understand the driving forces, it is necessary to draw upon several interaction mechanisms, particularly cognitive and utilitarian ones. Finally, as to cross-scale learning, the post-2012 global regime may avoid pitfalls related to the allocation process experienced by the ETS. But the learning and diffusion potential should not be exaggerated.     

The Hate Crime Canon and Beyond: A Critical Assessment

Although it remains an empirical question whether the U.S. is experiencing greater levels of hate-motivated-conduct than in the past, it is beyond dispute that the concept of ‘hate crime’ has been institutionalized in social, political, and legal discourse in the U.S. From the introduction and politicization of the term hate crime in the late 1970s to the continued enforcement of hate crime law at the beginning of the twenty-first century, social movements have constructed the problem of bias-motivated violence in particular ways, while politicians at both the federal and state level have made legislation that defines the parameters of hate crime. Accordingly, this article identifies and examines the parameters of a hate crime canon in the U.S., which can first and foremost be described as a body of law that 1) provides anew state policy action, by either creating anew criminal category, altering an existing law, or enhancing penalties for select extant crimes when they are committed for bias reasons; 2) contains an intent standard, which refers to the subjective intention of the perpetrator rather than relying solely on the basis of objective behavior; and 3) specifies a list of protected social statuses, such as race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disabilities, etc. Arguing that these features constitute the core parameters of the hate crime canon and attendant discourse in the U.S., this article offers a critical assessment of the emergence, institutionalization, and arguable consequences of ‘hate crime’ as a recently developed social fact - in the Durkheimian sense of the word - that is consequential for the politics of victimization in the modern era and the social control of violence against minorities more particularly. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

从宪法条约看欧盟与成员国之间的权力分配——兼评法、荷对宪法条约的否决以及欧盟的意义

为了解《建立欧洲宪法的条约》中对于成员国与欧盟机构之间的权力分配,本文从:欧盟权限的范围、欧盟如何在其授权范围内进行立法决策、欧盟法的效力等三个角度对该条约进行了分析。可以看出,宪法在对欧盟进行广泛授权的同时,仍然从根本上维护了成员国的主权,宪法条约并没有从根本上推进原有的条约体系已经达到的一体化的程度。但兼顾了一体化和各民族特征的欧盟本身正是二十世纪政治文明最重要的创新性成果,是其他国家和地区学习的典范。