价值视角的转变与正义模式的演绎——评美国1998年《ADR 法》

经过联邦法院对 ADR 的十几年的探索实验,美国国会最终通过了1998年《ADR 法》,为 ADR 措施的开展发放了“绿卡”。该法要求所有的美国联邦法院实施“当事人服务型”的 ADR 措施,并允许法院强制当事人参加 ADR 程序。联邦法院 ADR 部门要想成功有效的实施该法,对各种 ADR 措施进行选择,以使其与现有的法院体系相兼容,同时为当事人提供便利,首先要协调好 ADR 措施所内涵的正义模式与一直引导着法院的传统的判决型的正义模式的关系。     

二审全面审查制度应当废除

我国《刑事诉讼法》明确规定了二审全面审查原则。这个原则作为一种制度,使二审法院必须要对当事人没有上诉、检察机关也没有抗诉的一审判决中认定的事实部分或法律适用部分进行全面的审理。这个制度,既不符合刑事诉讼中控审分离的基本原理,违背了现代司法制度中审判中立的基本原则,也不符合诉讼经济原则和世界各国的普遍做法。因此,应当在修改《刑事诉讼法》时废除这一制度。     

浅谈医学会医疗损害鉴定专家出庭作证

《侵权责任法》统一了＂医疗事故＂和＂医疗过错＂在民事赔偿标准上二元化和医疗诉讼的诉讼案由及法律适用。然而,医疗损害鉴定的模式应如何走向,《侵权责任法》却没有提及。江苏省医学会大胆革新,开展医疗损害鉴定,在新修订的《民事诉讼法》进一步强调鉴定人出庭作证的背景下,江苏省医学会适应新形势组织医疗损害鉴定专家出庭作证,改变了以往医学会鉴定专家不署名、不出庭的历史,提高了鉴定公信力。     

INVISIBLE PARTIES: LISTENING TO CHILDREN

This article discusses how children are involved in family court proceedings in New Zealand. On July 1, 2005, the Care of Children Act 2004 came into force. One of the changes brought about by this Act is an increased expectation that children will participate in proceedings involving them, by the court giving the child a reasonable opportunity to express his or her view. Children may participate in three ways, the primary mechanism being through the lawyer for the child. Children's views can also be elucidated through a specialist report, and direct participation can be achieved through judicial interviews. As each child is different, it is important that the unique circumstances of the case are accounted for. This article will discuss how each of the three methods can be combined to tailor an approach that gives every individual child a reasonable opportunity to express his or her view. There are a number of examples given of this approach in practice, showing how the court has adapted the process to accommodate the child's situation and personality.     

Bioterrorism meets privacy: an analysis of the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and the HIPAA privacy rule

Ms. Bruce's paper analyzes the interplay between the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The article begins by examining specific relevant provisions of the Act and Rule. Next, it traces the history of public health law through the court system and then uses this foundation to discuss how the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and the HIPAA Privacy Rule could co-exist, protecting Americans in the case of a bioterror attack, while being appropriately sensitive to the confidentiality of private health information.     

南非法院对涉外离婚案件管辖权的确定

在1979年的《离婚法》实施前,南非法院主要根据普通法规则来确定对涉外离婚案件的管辖权,即由当事人的住所地法院对离婚诉讼行使管辖。在《离婚法》实施后,根据该法,南非法院可以根据任一方当事人的住所地或通常居所地为由来对涉外离婚诉讼行使管辖。     

澳大利亚行政说明理由制度及其对我国的启发

澳大利亚行政说明理由制度包括普通法和制定法两类。在普通法上,行政说明理由制度还未成为一项普遍承认的原则,但是法院也有条件地承认其存在。在制定法上,澳大利亚的《司法审查法》和《裁判所法》对行政说明理由制度作了比较详细的规定。内容主要涉及两类:第一,提出行政说明理由申请需要具备三个实质性要件;第二,申请人必须遵守的程序要求。我国可以从立法和司法实践两方面借鉴澳大利亚的经验。     

NEPA: Not as Much as Many Wanted; More than Many Bargained for.… All We're Likely to Get

This article is an elaboration of remarks made at the American Society of Planning Officials annual conference workshop on the National Environmental Policy Act, April 9, 1973. It is also part of a more extensive analysis of impact statements and the National Environmental Policy Act being undertaken by the author during 1973–74, as a joint project of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the Fund for Environmental Studies, in Bonn, Germany. It is not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of the Act, its historical background or potential administrative problems posed either by the Act itself, or by CEQ guidelines or court decisions implementing the Act. Most of these issues have been explored at some length by others. If anything, this article is an early, perhaps too early, favorable appraisal of the Act, along with some cautions and the author's biases as to what practical and political reality is likely to produce vis-a-vis NEPA in the near future.     

Video-sharing website finds safe harbour from copyright infringement

A California federal district court ruled that a video-sharingwebsite was not liable for copyright infringement because itfell within a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (‘DMCA’)safe harbour.     

Keeping the Family Together: Why New York Must Amend Evidence Rules to Protect a Parent's Right to be a Parent

In New York, hearsay statements made by children may be admissible in a child protective proceeding. Under Article 10 of the Family Court Act, an out‐of‐court statement only requires corroboration to support the statement's reliability. The Family Court has the choice to determine what evidence will be sufficient for corroboration. In comparison to other statutes from different states, New York's statute is very broad. This Note proposes amending the current evidence statute under Article 10 of the Family Court Act to strengthen the standard for admitting hearsay statements in child protective proceedings.     

Academic judgement,the university Visitor and the Human Rights Act 1998

Students have proved increasingly willing to challenge academic judgements in court, and the passage into law of the Human Rights Act 1998 is likely to have a major bearing on future challenges. The Act will make it unlawful for a public authority (including both a university and the courts) to act in a way which is incompatible with many of the provisions in the European Convention on Human Rights (and the Protocols attaching thereto). It will also permit a victim of such unlawfulness to bring proceedings in an appropriate court or tribunal, whether in the High Court as part of an application for judicial review or as an ordinary civil action for negligence or breach of contract. The court will have the power to grant whatever remedy it considers to be just and equitable, including an award of damages where it feels such an award to be appropriate. This could have significant consequences for the use of the Visitor in chartered universities as the final arbiter in disputes over academic judgements. For the Visitor does not conduct hearings in public and often fails to follow any recognised procedure. It may even be doubted whether the Visitor can be said to be truly independent of the institution against whose decision the student is appealing. In future, therefore, universities may have to be prepared to justify any marks awarded in the public forum of the courtroom.     

JUVENILE COURT FOR YOUNG ADULTS? HOW ONGOING COURT INVOLVEMENT CAN ENHANCE FOSTER YOUTHS' CHANCES FOR SUCCESS

States wishing to extend foster care supports to young adults under the Fostering Connections to Success Act are required to meet all the requirements of Title IV‐E, which include regular reviews that have traditionally been conducted in juvenile courts. For some, this requirement of ongoing judicial involvement is a reason to forgo this significant source of new federal dollars. Others are seeking ways to minimize ongoing court involvement while still complying with federal requirements. This article argues that these views are misguided. Designed properly, juvenile court reviews can play a unique and important role in helping young adults begin to take responsibility for their own futures.     

US: Supreme Court adopts narrow definition of "disability" under anti-discrimination law

In January 2002, the US Supreme Court issued the latest in a series of court judgments adopting a narrow interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The unanimous decision is fundamentally flawed in several important respects. It does not bode well for people with disabilities seeking protection from discrimination in employment.     

Release of information from Department of Veterans Affairs records--VA. Proposed rule

This document proposes to amend Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing the confidentiality and release of VA records subject to the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (including the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996), and the veterans' records confidentiality statute. The proposed rule sets forth a mechanism for the public to obtain information from the VA. The proposed rule is intended to maximize public availability of VA records to the extent permitted by law and considerations such a personal privacy or law enforcement. Essentially these provisions consist of restatements of statute, interpretations of statute, interpretations of case law, interpretations of Executive Orders, and clarification. The proposed amendments also would implement the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, court decisions and Executive Branch guidance issued since the regulations were originally published. Further, this document proposes to delegate authority to the Assistant General Counsel for Professional Staff Group IV for making final Departmental decisions on appeals under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and 38 U.S.C. 5701 and 5705. This would simplify decision making by allowing the highest level individual with direct responsibility for decision making to issue decisions.     

The proposed model surrogate parenthood act: a legislative response to the challenges of reproductive technology

In this Article, Manus proposes a Model Surrogate Parenthood Act. He examines the medical and scientific history of surrogacy and reviews the jurisprudence in the area, specifically the constitutional relationship between procreation rights and surrogacy. The author asserts that surrogate motherhood cannot be, and indeed, should not be, eradicated through legislation criminalizing it. The proposed Model Act, presented here in its entirety, attempts to reduce the problems inherent in the concept of surrogate parenthood by putting the process under strict court supervision and by zealously protecting the rights of the surrogate mother and the child to be conceived.     

CERCLA Arranger Liability: Town of Islip v. Datre: What Intent is Required?

In Town of Islip v. Datre, the court dismissed a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) claim based on failure to allege that the defendant knew that the waste it disposed of was hazardous. The court based its decision on language in the Supreme Court's decision in Burlington Northern that indicated that to be liable under CERCLA as one who arranged for disposal, there is a knowledge or intent element. This article questions the Datre decision and argues that the “knowledge” required by the Burlington Northern Court is knowledge that the transaction is a disposal, not knowledge that the waste disposed of is hazardous.     

谁来解释法律--关于我国法律解释权配置的思考

在我国当前的法律解释体制中,立法机关、行政机关和司法机关都可以解释法律,带来了法律解释的混乱,引发了一系列的矛盾。无论是英美法系国家还是大陆法系国家,其法律解释权最终都掌握在司法机关和法官手中。我们可以借鉴它们的体制,结合我国国情,制定一部法律解释法来规范法律解释活动,明确赋予司法机关法律解释权,实现最高人民法院被动统一的法律解释与法官在个案中的法律解释的结合。     

The “strange power of speech”: The unprecedented but limited success of telephone company First Amendment arguments

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 rendered moot recent successful telephone company constitutional challenges to the Cable Act ban on telephone company provision of video. The cases, however, suggest the “strange power”; of the First Amendment to shatter well‐established structural regulations and present evidence that well‐heeled actors can gain through the courts regulatory concessions not readily attainable from Congress or the FCC.

Neither precedent nor logic supports these court rulings, which eliminated economic regulation based upon speculative First Amendment gains rather than upon demonstrated abridgments of speech or changes in the video market     

Bonnieview v. Woodmont: Court Sorts out Environmental Liability between Homeowners and Developers

Bonnieview Homeowners Ass’n v. Woodmont Builders, LLC,—F. Supp. 2d—, No. Civ. A. 03CV4317(DRD), 2009 WL 2999355 (D.N.J. Sept. 22, 2009), was a suit brought by a homeowners’ association and its individual members against the developers of the property where their homes were located and the municipality. In a recent opinion, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey made several important rulings applying federal and state environmental statutes and common law. First, the developers were potentially liable to plaintiffs under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), where their soil grading and stockpiling activities distributed previously contaminated soil around the site, which had been used as a fruit orchard. Second, however, the court prohibited plaintiffs from recovering under CERCLA or New Jersey's Spill Compensation and Control Act (Spill Act) because they had not incurred any environmental cleanup costs compensable under the two statutes. Third, plaintiffs were innocent purchasers not subject to CERCLA liability under a 2002 amendment to the statute. A negligence claim against the municipality failed, however, because the municipality owed no duty of care to plaintiffs. The court also assessed plaintiffs' other federal and state statutory and common law claims.