Law reform in small states†

Law reform can be a complex and challenging process in any jurisdiction. Small states face additional challenges, and some advantages, associated with a small population and land area. This article looks at how law reform agencies in small states adapt the law reform process, and the particular significance of comparative research in that context. It goes on to outline how, despite the challenges, small state and jurisdiction law reform agencies have made very considerable contributions to the law. Finally, the article assesses the particular utility of co-operation between law reform agencies, including through regional associations.     

论法律硕士专业学位教育的现状与改革

法律硕士教育是我国法学教育改革的一项重大举措。经过10余年的不断探索和试验,法律硕士教育改革已经取得如下成绩:法律硕士教育培养了大量高层次法律人才;法律硕士教育是我国法学教育改革的有益尝试;法律硕士教育规模逐渐扩大,且日趋规范化、科学化。法律硕士教育改革存在的问题包括:法律硕士教育与法律职业之间缺乏实质性的联系,培养目标难以得到充分的实现;法律硕士教育仍然沿袭传统的法学教育模式;在职与非在职法律硕士教育之间存在矛盾。我国法律硕士教育的出路在于:坚持法律硕士教育的法律职业教育定位;大幅度扩大法律硕士教育的规模,使我国硕士阶段的法学教育以法律硕士教育为主;修改法律硕士教育的报考条件,入学考试制度;强化法律职业教育;理顺法律硕士教育与司法考试之间的关系。     

联合国改革与现代国际法：挑战、影响和作用

联合国的改革进程涉及诸多国际法问题，它对国家主权平等原则、不干涉内政原则和禁止以武力相威胁或使用武力原则提出了挑战。联合国改革与集体安全制度、《联合国宪章》的修改也密切相关。在联合国的改革进程中，现代国际法将发挥重要作用。同时，联合国改革又将进一步推动现代国际法的发展。     

The Status of Criminal Libel in Grenada After Worme v. Commissioner of Police

In January 2004, the Privy Council, the final court of appeal for all British Caribbean states, held that a criminal libel statute providing for the two-year imprisonment of publishers libeling government officials was constitutional and consistent with a democratic society. Over the years, the constitutionality of criminal libel laws in the United States has been attacked with only marginally greater success than the Grenadian law. This article provides a background to the development of criminal libel laws in the two regions; traces the 2004 decision, the threats and actions brought against the media by the Grenadian government in its aftermath; and discusses the likely effect that it could have on the law of libel in the British Caribbean.     

The challenge of public law law reform: reflections on a failed Law Commission project

This article reviews the history of the Law Commission project on administrative law and the citizen from 2003, a project which the Law Commission essentially substantively ended in 2010. The project provides lessons both about the initiation and design of law reform projects and on the prospect of law reform being institutionally capable of contributing to the development of core areas of public law.     

Toward Reform of Defamation Law in the British Caribbean: Efforts at Reform in the United Kingdom and Jamaica

The ongoing review of defamation laws by the Jamaican government has sharpened the focus on the need to identify appropriate standards for public officials in libel actions in light of the growing recognition of a need for transparency. Conventional wisdom speaks to the indispensable role of the media to inform the public of government activities to facilitate the democratic process. Jamaica's unique history of colonialism, underdevelopment and poverty has led to a political system based on pork barrel economics – inimical to government transparency so necessary in a democracy. This article explores how British, Caribbean and U.S. jurisdictions have sought to manage the paradigm shift between the right to reputation and the need to ensure responsible and accountable governance. The aim is to identify a path of reform for Caribbean defamation law that ensures greater public official accountability and better incorporates twenty-first century notions of democracy.     

欧盟统一的法定审计制度:挑战与改革

欧盟公司法的统一是不断向前推进的,有关法定审计的第8号公司法指令是欧盟公司法的组成部分.本世纪初在美国及欧盟发生的财务丑闻加快了欧盟强化法定审计独立性及法定审计责任的改革.以公司治理为背景,主要分析了欧盟修订法定审计指令的考量因素、对法定审计独立性的强化措施、有关法定审计的形式选择以及尚未解决的问题,指出欧盟法定审计的改革受到美国《萨班斯法案》以及欧盟成员国内法的影响,而且,这一改革还将持续进行,并且也影响着包括中国在内的其他国家的相关立法.     

Review on the inefficiency and disorganization of judicial power

The reform of civil procedure has been taken as an important topic by both scholars and judges in the recent twenty years. Cases and judges’ practices offer materials and opportunities for scholars to carry out researches, which help judges find the direction of the reform on civil procedures. However, it is not advisable to reconstruct the absolute adversary system and pure due process in China to reduce the great power of the court. Therefore, it is essential to review on the basic theory of civil procedure and overcome the inefficiency and disorganization of the judicial power by regulating judges’ power and independence as well as their responsibilities. Xiao Jianhua, professor and doctoral tutor of China University of Politics and Law. He got a master degree in Southwest University of Politics and Law in 1995 and a doctor degree in China University of Politics and Law in 1998. He had been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar studying at Law School of Northwestern (USA) in 2003–2004. His research field covers civil procedural law and evidence law. His six books on civil procedural law and evidence law are published in China, his another book on bankruptcy will be published in England. Now his research is focused on comparative law.     

中国近现代继受西方民法的效果评述

自清末变法以来,随着政治、经济体制的巨大变迁,中国民法的形成与发展先后受到潘德克顿法学、前苏联法学和日本法学的深刻影响。适应发展市场经济的需要,中国民法自1995年以来虽呈现了正确认识和全面继受潘德克顿法学的可喜局面,但由物权法的制定可知,前苏联法学对中国民法仍具有很大的消极影响。为促进市场经济的快速发展,中国立法机关和民法学界亟待革新意识与鼓足勇气。     

Insurance Law Reform by Degrees: Late Payment and Insurable Interest

Over the last 11 years, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission have worked on a joint project to modernise the law of insurance contracts. Due to the size of the project, the Law Commissions proceeded in phases and separated out specific issues for legislative reform. Their proposals have already resulted in the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 and the Insurance Act 2015 which brought about significant changes for consumer and non‐consumer insureds and insurers alike. This paper examines two further areas of reform: the introduction of an implied term about payment of insurance claims by insurers within a reasonable time and a statutory restatement of the doctrine of insurable interest. It considers the old and new substantive law and provides an insight into the reform process.     

The law and the public's health: a study of infectious disease law in the United States

Law plays crucial roles in the field of public health, from defining the power and jurisdiction of health agencies, to influencing the social norms that shape individual behavior. Despite its importance, public health law has been neglected. Over a decade ago, the Institute of Medicine issued a report lamenting the state of public health administration, generally, and calling, in particular, for a revision of public health statutes. The Article examines the current state of public health law. To help create the conditions in which people can be healthy, public health law must reflect an understanding of how public health agencies work to promote health, as well as the political and social contexts in which these agencies operate. The authors first discuss three prevailing ways in which the determinants of health are conceptualized, and the political and social problems each model tends to create for public health efforts. The analysis then turns to the core functions of public health, emphasizing how law furthers public health work. The Article reports the results of a fifty-state survey of communicable disease control law, revealing that few states have systematically reformed their laws to reflect contemporary medical and legal developments. The Article concludes with specific guidelines for law reform.     

法律、投资者保护与金融发展--兼论中国证券法变革

法与金融学(LawAnd Finance)是从20世纪90年代中后期才在美国兴起的一门新兴交叉学科,本文对这门新兴交叉学科中经典理论作了介绍和评论,并用其中蕴含的金融发展的投资者保护理论和“路径依赖”理论揭示了中国证券法变革的制约因素,以及该制约条件对主流法与金融学理论的挑战,最后作者从交易成本节约的角度对中国证券法变革和制度移植问题作出了战略性思考。     

When (Some) Prostitution is Legal: The Impact of Law Reform on Sex Work in Australia

In Australia, prostitution regulation has taken a very different path from many other countries. Law reform has led to the opening of some significant new spaces for legal sex work, including the (very different) regulatory regimes established in two Australian states – Queensland (brothels legal if their owners are licensed) and New South Wales (most commercial sex businesses and some street prostitution decriminalized; no licensing regime). The main research question is: how has regulation impacted on the positive rights of sex workers? I argue that law reform has engaged a mix of neo-liberal and other approaches – not to increase personal or corporate freedom but as part of a practical strategy designed to control a range of social problems, such as police corruption and organized crime. Neo-liberal regulation of prostitution in Australia has always been deployed in tandem with other modes of regulation – including new criminal law and policing strategies, planning law, health regulations, and (of course) moral regulation.     

Unincorporated Treaties and Small States

For small, developing, common law dualist jurisdictions aspiring to good governance based on the rule of law, their written constitutions are normally expressed to be their supreme law which regulates the allocation of governmental powers and accords their citizens a measure of predictability in the evaluation of their civil rights and determining their civic responsibilities. Predictably, therefore, competent decision‐makers of such states are extremely wary of international developments in treaty‐making and judicial decision‐making which, unwittingly or by design, operate to subject the interpretation and application of their supreme law to external determinants hostile or indifferent to their indigenous value systems. In the premises, dualism as historically understood and practiced by small, weak, sovereignties is seen as a normative prophylactic device for safeguarding and sustaining their preferred values. Drawing on a wealth of case law and legal literature, this article undertakes an in‐depth evaluation of the legal ramifications of unincorporated treaties on dualist jurisdictions, with particular emphasis on small Caricom Member States. Reference is made to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which has been called upon to examine and pronounce on recent innovative determinations of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) and which have been expressed by competent regional decision‐makers to introduce unacceptable levels of uncertainty into the administration of criminal justice in the Caribbean Community. It is submitted that the determinations of the JCPC reached in Thomas v Baptiste and reaffirmed in Neville Lewis v Attorney‐General of Jamaica, which ratified unincorporated treaties concluded by the executive, appear to have far‐reaching negative implications for the Member States of the Caribbean Community.     

司法公正与海事诉讼程序的独立

我国现行的海事、海商案件是依照《民事诉讼法》为基础审理的,但《民事诉讼法》并不能完全保障具有特殊专业性和较强国际性的《海商法》的有效实施。而《海事诉讼特别程序法》又不具有独立的程序法地位。进行程序法的体制改革,制定独立的海事诉讼法,是实现海事司法公正的重要条件。     

英国有关海上保险法的最新修改议案及对中国的借鉴

为通过法律平衡被保险人和保险人之间的利益,反映现代保险实务的需要以及保证保险合同双方明确各自的权利和义务,英国法律委员会与苏格兰法律委员会自2006年起将保险合同法的审查和修改提上日程。法律委员会通过发布咨询文件的形式提出修改涉及英国《1906年海上保险法》多个重要条款的保险合同法的方案。整个法律修改项目预计于2012年完成,届时英国海上保险法会有很大程度的改变。通过介绍英国海上保险法的修改,为中国海商法相关问题的修改提供参考和借鉴。     

Health law and mental health law courses in US medical schools

Results of a recent survey of all 127 medical schools in the United States indicate that about two fifths of medical schools offer a separate course that focuses on topics in medicine and law and a number of medical schools integrate health law topics into other courses. Presumably reflecting concern over temporary medical malpractice litigation, most health law courses include informed consent, medical malpractice, privileged/confidential information, and patients' rights. In contrast, schools that offer a course on psychiatry and law are clearly in a minority. It is elective at all but two of the 13 schools with such a course. Although the hours allotted and the format of these courses vary greatly, courses typically cover most of the topics listed on the questionnaire. Most of the courses are led or co-led by a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Information from two additional surveys suggests two related factors that may influence a medical school to present a separate course on health law. Medical licensing boards were surveyed to determine which states require physicians to be examined on health law. In two states that require physicians to pass a separate medical jurisprudence examination for licensure, all four-year medical schools offer a course on health law for medical students. Medical malpractice companies providing coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia were surveyed to determine which states have the highest claim rates. The claim rate per 1,000 physicians insured per year was significantly greater in states with health law courses than was the rate in states without such courses.     

违法合同的效力判定路径之辨识

《合同法》第52条第5项及其司法解释对于纠正违法即无效的错误认识曾起到了历史性作用。但现有的学说及现行立法在就违法合同效力的判定路径上却存在着方向性的偏差,于司法实践并不具有真正的指导意义:区分民法内的强制规范与民法外的强制规范而异其效力,在我国并不可行;通过语义分析尚难以发现强制规范之所在;而将违法之法简单缩限为法律、行政法规上的效力性强制性规定,并不妥当,亦难以操作,且于价值及逻辑层面多有疑问;此外,将违法与损害社会公共利益予以并列,在逻辑上也有不合。故应将违法合同的效力判定纳入《合同法》第52条第4项,通过规范目的的发现及利益的衡量来最终确定违法合同的命运。     

The Modernization of Trustee's Fiduciary Duties in the Chinese Trust Law: A Perspective from the Uniform Trust Code in the United States

Trust is the greatest and most distinctive achievement of English law, grown and developed over the passage of time, to meet new demands towards providing new solutions to problems, resulting in its widespread and inventive use worldwide. Although the trust system was introduced by the enactment of a specialist Trust Law of the People’s Republic of China in 2001, there is no significant growth in the use of the trust system in civic life. The personal fiduciary relationship between the settlor and trustee is the foundation of a trust. The trustee has an affirmative equitable duty to act solely in the interest of the beneficiaries. Whether people can rely on the trust system and use it universally is highly dependent on a trustee’s fiduciary duty. In the United States, thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have adopted some substantive provisions of the very valuable Uniform Trust Code (UTC). To promote the development and appropriate application of Chinese Trust Law, this article examines the differences between trustee obligations under the American UTC and Chinese Trust Law, and then proposes the amendment suggestion for Chinese Trust Law. This article consists of five parts. In addition to the Introduction, Part I of this article overviews the provisions of a trustee’s fiduciary duties in Chinese Trust Law. Part II discusses and compares the differences and similarities on trustee’s fiduciary duties in Chinese Trust Law and the UTC. Part III explores the comparative consideration of a trustee’s fiduciary duties, and provides the proposals for legal reform. Finally, this article brings forward a brief conclusion.     

破产法的私法精神缺失及原因分析

我国现行破产法的主要缺陷体现在指导思想的错位,破产法包容了过多的公法职能。在破产还债的基础上,破产法还要实现国有企业改革、企业职工安置等社会职能,背离了破产法的本质,破产法自身的私法精神缺失。