Informal Institutions and Judicial Independence in Paraguay, 1954–2011

This article explains how informal institutions have prevented the emergence of autonomous judges in Paraguay between 1954 and 2011. The central argument is that co‐optation, clientelism, and judicial corruption considered as informal institutions, rooted during the dictatorship, have impeded the appearance of an independent judicial branch in the democratic regime. To test this hypothesis, the article relies on historical narratives, surveys, and semistructured interviews. The conclusions suggest that in countries that have experienced the consolidation of informal institutions oriented toward maintaining the ties of subordination of judges to politicians, constitutional reforms and fragmentation of political power are necessary but not sufficient conditions for improving judicial independence.     

‘Yeah but,no but’ – Pinnock and Powell in the Supreme Court

This note considers the Supreme Court decisions in Manchester CC v Pinnock and Hounslow LBC v Powell. It is argued that there are a number of remaining outstanding questions around proportionality, including: deference; section 89, Housing Act 1980; procedural issues; ‘publicness’; and the future landscape.     

The Impact of Supreme Court Activity on the Judicial Agenda

When the Supreme Court takes action, it establishes national policy within an issue area. A traditional, legal view holds that the decisions of the Court settle questions of law and thereby close the door on future litigation, reducing the need for future attention to that issue. Alternatively, an emerging interest group perspective suggests the Court, in deciding cases, provides signals that encourage additional attention to particular issues. I examine these competing perspectives of what happens in the federal courts after Supreme Court decisions. My results indicate that while Supreme Court decisions generally settle areas of law in terms of overall litigation rates, they also introduce new information that leads to increases in the attention of judges and interest groups to those particular issues.     

多数主义的法院:美国联邦最高法院司法审查的性质

长期以来,美国联邦最高法院的司法审查虽被视为法治和人权的捍卫者,却被作为民主的对立面.结果,它在理论上陷入难以自拔的合法性困境,或者说"反多数难题".本文结合法律和政治学者的讨论,考察美国司法审查的现实图景,指出它具有很强的"多数主义"性质.具体表现为,多数司法判决符合当下多数公众的意见,最高法院这一机构和司法审查这一制度获得多数民众的持久认同;不但如此,司法审查能够在一定程度上回应公众意见,从而在较长时段与主流意见的变迁保持一致.这种"多数主义"的性质,是由法官自身对公众意见的关注和尊重、其他部门和公众对宪法含义的争夺以及法官任命体制等外在制衡,共同促成和保障的.美国联邦最高法院在与其他机构的竞争合作中动态地表达民意,它受制于民主过程,也塑造民主过程.在此意义上,司法审查是美国民主体制的一部分,具有民主合法性.对于"反多数难题"的讨论而言,真正的问题不是司法审查是否符合"民主",而是现有的民主理论是否符合政治现实.     

最高人民法院裁判、司法解释的法律地位

本文结合审判实践详细分析了最高人民法院司法解释的各种类型及其相应的法律地位,并从对最高人民法院裁判的两种认识——“个案既判力说”和“解释义务说”出发,进一步提出了“习惯法说”,指出最高人民法院的裁判和司法解释中的“立法型”解释可以构成我国以裁判和司法解释为载体的习惯法,它们的普遍效力来源于习惯法并因具有习惯法的品格而成为法律的非正式渊源。基于此,本文主张最高人民法院“立法型”司法解释和值得刊登于公报上的裁判,应尽量以习惯法的构成要求为标准,具备“人们普遍认为它是正确的”品质。     

最高人民法院关于修改《最高人民法院关于仲裁司法审查案件报核问题的有关规定》的决定(法释[2021]21号)

根据审判实践需要,经最高人民法院审判委员会第1850次会议决定,对《最高人民法院关于仲裁司法审查案件报核问题的有关规定》作如下修改:一、将第三条修改为:“本规定第二条第二款规定的非涉外涉港澳台仲裁司法审查案件,高级人民法院经审查,拟同意中级人民法院或者专门人民法院以违背社会公共利益为由不予执行或者撤销我国内地仲裁机构的仲裁裁决的,应当向最高人民法院报核,待最高人民法院审核后,方可依最高人民法院的审核意见作出裁定。”     

最高人民法院关于人民法院司法拍卖房产竞买人资格若干问题的规定(法释[2021]18号)

为了进一步规范人民法院司法拍卖房产行为,保护当事人合法权益,维护社会和经济秩序,依照《中华人民共和国民法典》《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》等法律规定,结合司法实践,制定本规定。第一条人民法院组织的司法拍卖房产活动,受房产所在地限购政策约束的竞买人申请参与竞拍的,人民法院不予准许。     

Supreme Court of Canada's “Beautiful Mind” case

The Supreme Court of Canada's (SCC) first case involving capacity and the refusal of involuntary psychiatric treatment involved a self described “professor” who had been referred to as “Canada's Beautiful Mind”. He had been found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder for uttering death threats. While considered incapable of making a treatment decision by psychiatrists and a review board, three levels of court, including the SCC, found him to be capable. “Professor” Starson therefore continued to refuse treatment for his psychosis and spent over seven years detained because he refused the treatment required to become well enough to be released. This refusal of treatment is permitted under Ontario law, although it is not permitted in some other Canadian provinces, and in many other countries.This article describes Starson's situation, Ontario's law with respect to consent to treatment and relevant Canadian constitutional and criminal law. It provides an analysis of the Consent and Capacity Board decision and the court appeals. Implications from Starson's case are analyzed in relation to what happened to Starson, human rights and comparative law pertaining to involuntary patients' refusal of treatment, especially their relevance to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and laws in some other countries. Many Canadian and foreign jurisdictions where laws apparently accord with human rights codes do not allow a person to refuse the treatment required to restore their liberty. We conclude that a law that allows a person with a mental illness to be incarcerated indefinitely in a “hospital” because needed psychiatric treatment cannot, by law, be provided is not justifiable in a caring democratic jurisdiction.     

最高人民法院民商事司法解释溯及力问题探讨

司法解释作为人民法院的裁判依据,并不限于纯粹解释法律的层面,且通常对法律的溯及力问题予以规定。民商事类司法解释的制定与司法适用情况表明,有关溯及力问题的规定是混乱的,理解与适用也是混乱的。这有悖于统一司法尺度的宗旨,甚至影响法制的统一。最高人民法院应加强自律并形成系统完善的溯及力判断规则;全国人大常委会也应将司法解释的溯及力作为备案审查的重点,并且注重对民商事立法自身溯及力做专门规定。     

Starting Out on a Judicial Career: Gender Diversity and the Appointment of Recorders,Circuit Judges,and Deputy High Court Judges, 1996–2016

This article is a quantitative study of those who are appointed Recorders and Circuit Judges, and who are authorized or appointed as Deputy High Court Judges. It considers the period 1996–2016, being the twenty years that straddle either side of the creation of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). A key focus is the gender diversity of these appointments and how this has changed over time, including whether the transfer of appointments to the JAC has made a difference to gender diversity or whether increases in the proportions of female judges are attributable solely to a changing demographic among the pool of lawyers from which such judges tend to be appointed. Who are appointed to these positions is significant both because of the importance of the positions themselves, but also because they comprise the pool from which, as a practical reality, the Senior Judiciary is appointed.     

Judicial Decisionmaking and the Use of Panels in the Canadian Supreme Court and the South African Appellate Division

Research on the U.S. Supreme Court suggests that judges' decisions are influenced by their policy preferences. Moreover, judges behave strategically to facilitate outcomes that conform as close as possible to those preferences. We seek to generalize this assertion to judicial actors in two very diverse social systems: Canada in the post-Charter years and apartheid-era South Africa. Specifically, we analyze the use of panel assignments by the chief justices in both countries. We find that chief justices do behave strategically. Chief justices in both countries do not assign judges to panels randomly but rather are influenced by the tenure and ideology of the sitting judges and the issues presented in the case.     

Pulling Punches: Congressional Constraints on the Supreme Court's Constitutional Rulings, 1987–2000

To date, no study has found evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court is constrained by Congress in its constitutional decisions. We addressed the selection bias inherent in previous studies with a statute‐centered, rather than a case‐centered, analysis, following all congressional laws enacted between 1987 and 2000. We uncovered considerable congressional constraint in the Court's constitutional rulings. In particular, we found that the probability that the Rehnquist Court would strike a liberal congressional law rose between 47% and 288% as a result of the 1994 congressional elections, depending on the legislative model used.     

司法变奏的历史空间——从晚清大理院办公场所的建筑谈起

大理院的设立,是晚清推行预备立宪的初基,实行司法独立的肇端。与司法制度层面的无形变革相适应,作为司法设施的器物——大理院办公场所也在外观上发生着有形的嬗变。大理院办公场所的筹设经历了一个曲折而艰难的过程,与晚清大理院司法独立的实践相始终。而且,这座建筑此后还为中华民国北洋政府大理院和新中国建立初期中华人民共和国最高人民法院、最高人民检察院所继续使用,在某种意义上可以说一直是近代司法活动的历史空间,也是近代法制变迁的物化见证。回顾大理院办公场所的建筑过程、基本格局、建筑原因及历史命运,可以为透视晚清预备立宪背景下法律观念的变迁和近代司法独立的艰难开端提供一个新的视角。     

中华人民共和国最高人民法院、最高人民检察院颁布的司法解释

《最高人民法院關於辦理申請人民法院強制執行國有土地上房屋徵收補償決定案件若干問題的規定》(2012年2月27日最高人民法院審判委員會第1543次會議通過2012年3月26日公佈自2012年4月10日起施行法釋〔2012〕4號)