Open and distance learning in a New Europe*

Legal education is gradually moving away from the teaching of national law towards a more European, transnational, or even “global” way of teaching. This paper seeks to explain why an international legal education is to be preferred to a national curriculum and what this means for how law is taught and how law schools are ideally organised. The arguments for an international legal education lie in the increasing plurality of legal sources, the desire to attract students from a larger pool, and the need not only to give students a specialised professional training but also to prepare them for global citizenship. It is claimed students should be exposed to alternative ways of achieving justice, thus creating a dialogue with otherness. This can be done by a focus on the arguments behind the choices made by the relevant authorities and not on the doctrinal intricacies of national legal systems. This type of international curriculum, in which competing conceptions of justice are at the centre of attention, requires a specific teaching method. Two methods seem best suited to allow students to construct their own understanding of legal problems: problem-based learning (PBL) and the Socratic method. In addition, teaching law in an international setting forces us to think through the sequence in which the various jurisdictions come to the fore, the assessment of students and the use of teaching materials and language of instruction. Also discussed are the challenges for the law school as a whole, such as the relationship between teaching and research, the recruitment of faculty and the decreasing relevance of the traditional departmental structure.     

Child,early, and forced marriages (CEFM) in the Commonwealth: the role of the judiciary

Forced marriage, especially that involving children, is one of the greatest challenges facing individuals around the world and is integral to the full realization of universal human rights, women’s rights, and the rights of the child. This paper examines the effects of child, early and forced marriages (CEFM) within the Commonwealth, with a specific focus on East Africa, and highlights how to best address the issue using international, regional, and national legal norms and judicial processes currently in place. The East African countries examined are Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. The paper begins with a general introduction of why combating CEFM is an important topic for consideration by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the efforts being made to address it. The introduction is then followed by the background section which gives a historical overview of CEFM at the global level. The paper defines ‘CEFM’, which is crucial since the definitions often vary depending on how CEFM is worded in respective jurisdictions, followed by CEFM’s manifestation within East Africa. Discussing the history of CEFM often helps one understand the hidden challenges that hinder effective implementation of efforts to counter it. The discussion on hidden challenges illustrates how culture and customs play an important role in the prevalence and acceptance of CEFM, as well its damaging effects on education and health. The rest of the paper examines the legal frameworks in place to address CEFM within the four jurisdictions. This includes examination of international instruments such as the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriage to regional instruments such as the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in an attempt to analyze the legal obligations that arise from these conventions. Considering that the main target audience of this paper are those within the judiciary (most specifically East Africa), it is important also to take a closer look at the national legal frameworks in place, comprising of national constitutions and statutory laws. The paper then concludes with a section on recommendations and finally and most importantly relevant case law in Appendix 1.     

为什么公正的判决会被公众指责为不公

之所以会出现公正的判决被公众指责为不公的情况,其根本原因在于法律世界与生活世界认知模式迥然有异。这种差异表现在事实认知、法律认知和法律判断形成上。大众传媒出于某种认知偏好,往往会对司法裁判的信息进行选择和重构,此后再公之于众。这种选择和重构在某种程度上妨碍了全面客观地反映司法裁判,加剧了公正的判决被公众指责为不公的情况。要减少此类现象,必须引导公众以正确的方式理解司法裁判。而这种引导既是法院的责任,也是大众传媒的责任。     

美国错案透视及其对我国司法防范的启示

有监狱的地方就有冤魂,近年来美国无罪案件数量增多,错案数激增的形势严峻、不容乐观,拉响了美国司法界的警报。美国错案的形成是多个方面原因综合而成的结果,细致梳理这些原因成为有效防范错案的关键。基于错案的不可避免性,美国颁布DNA法案、成立"无辜者计划",从政府到民间拥有诸多适应美国国情的相关救济机制。刑事错案是全球司法界共同面对的难题,中国司法界需要积极了解美国司法错案形成及其救济的现状,从中汲取有益成分与合理内核,科学全面地采取有效措施防止国内冤假错案的发生。     

论国家统一司法考试对法学本科教育的影响

司法考试是律师、法官和检察官的资格考试,是职业教育的一个组成部分。在我国法学院校,司法考试已经成为影响本科教学的一个十分重要的因素。本科阶段的法学教育有"应试教育"的趋势,课堂教学慢慢演变成"司法考试培训班",这背离了法学本科阶段的教育宗旨。法学本科阶段的教育宗旨是通识教育,职业教育应当在后本科阶段进行。因此,在本科阶段的教育中,应当尽可能减少司法考试的影响。     

Changes in the Sources of Law in Information Society

The purpose of the paper is to indicate in which way modern digital information systems influence the range of legal sources and to assess whether such changes improve the quality of judgements and other legal decisions. The paper uses examples from Danish law but does not in any detail describe specific information systems. It takes a more general approach. At the beginning the concept of a legal source is briefly discussed and it is considered why these sources are used. Preconditions for their usage are mainly availability and comprehensibility. With this background changes with respect to general legal rules, judicial and administrative decisions in national law are discussed with emphasis on the general considerations that are made in connection with developing information systems. Next developments in connection with EU law, international law and foreign law are considered and the importance of the Internet is emphasized. At the end it is briefly considered whether the different changes will lead to an improved legal system, to better decisions. This is a possibility but only if the potential of the information society is utilized.     

Banking Union's accountability system in practice: A health check-up to Europe's financial heart

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) form the Banking Union, which comprises EU authorities (ECB and SRB) and national authorities (NCAs and NRAs) with vast powers. Although crucial for its legitimacy, the Banking Union’s accountability is flawed, and not for the (stereo)typical reasons: accountability is a visible concept in SSM and SRM regulations, and political, administrative and judicial bodies are knowledgeable, engaged and thorough. Rather, this article posits that the SSM and SRM work very well because the legislature focused on practical details such as information flows, planning and continuity and coordination, while there has been no comparable effort to ensure the functioning of accountability tools. The result is a “system” characterised by limited access to crucial information, lack of continuity, and uncoordinated functioning. Changing this should not be hard but requires replacing blanket criticism and stereotypical views with greater attention to detail.     

Perceived Legitimacy of Judicial Authorities in Relation to Degree of Value Discrepancy with Public Citizens

In this study of perceived legitimacy, Australian citizens from a randomly selected national sample first responded to information about how judicial authorities responded to two crimes (green protest, date rape) in terms of seriousness and recommended punishment. They also provided ratings of the importance of a set of values for judicial authorities compared with self, and measures of global value discrepancy, procedural fairness, expertise, and legitimacy. Results showed that perceived legitimacy was negatively related to global value discrepancy and that the information provided to participants about judge’s position primed differences in value discrepancy only for the date rape crime. Other findings also implied that the nature of the offense moderated legitimacy/value discrepancy relations. Perceived legitimacy was also positively related to procedural fairness and the expertise of the authority, and higher when the judicial authority was perceived to assign specific values as even more important than participants did themselves.     

BEHIND MORE LITIGATION: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS

Since the reform and the opening up to the world of China, there has been increasingly more litigation in China, which has stimulated further development of the legal profession and greater public and private expenditure on the legal practice. Accordingly, legal reform has become an important component of the national scheme of social transformation. On the other hand, the rapid increase in litigation has unexpectedly eroded the traditional means to resolve disputes of both mediation and judicial mediation. More alarming is that judicial credibility is seriously challenged by judicial corruption and poor enforcement of judicial decisions. The increasing number of litigation-related complaints by the public, and the large number of vetoes against the working reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate by the National People’s Congress, are two indicators of the crisis of judicial credibility. This paper is to analyze the data of litigation, legal profession, mediation, and the phenomena of judicial corruption. Based on this analysis, it suggests that, to overcome the current quandary of judicial development, further reform should not only focus on courts, but also on all functional departments that could collaborate one way or another with the judiciary, should not depend only on governmental organizations but also on NGOs in resolving disputes and social issues, and should explore and develop innovative ways of social management.     

Judges as Readers,Authors and Dialecticians: Legal Interpretation in the EC<Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>HR Cases on Mental Disability

The wording of major human rights texts—constitutions and international treaties—is very similar in those provisions, which guarantee everyone the right to family, privacy, protection against discrimination and arbitrary detention, and the right to access the court. However, judges of lower national courts, constitutional judges and judges of the European Court of Human Rights often read the same or seemingly the same texts differently. This difference in interpretation gives rise not only to disputes about the hierarchy of interpretative authorities, but to more general disputes about limits of judicial construction and validity of legal arguments. How it may happen, that the national courts, which apply constitutional provisions or provisions of national legislative acts, which are seemingly in compliance with the international human rights standards, come to different results with the international judges? Do they employ different interpretative techniques, share different values or develop different legal concepts? Do international judges ‘write’ rather than ‘read’ the text of the Convention? Who is, in Plato’s terms, a name-giver and who has a power to define the ‘correctness’ of names? The answers to these questions from the rhetorical and semiotic perspectives are exemplified by the texts of the judicial decisions on the rights of persons with mental disabilities.     

Gacaca Courts: Between Fantasy and Reality

Faced with an overflowing caseload and imperatives of nationalreconciliation, Rwandan authorities have established a systemof justice, meted out through gacaca courts under the legalframework created by organic laws. The following contributionanalyses this framework, within the context of national andinternational legal systems, and pinpoints the shortcomingsof the proposed form of justice. These include legal issuessuch as the problem of retroactivity, as well as the definitionof crimes and concerns over due process and the right to a fairtrial for defendants. Practical and material obstacles arisein implementing the organic laws, alongside broader implicationsowing to the traditional nature of such courts and possibleinterference by political authorities. In this respect, thegacaca courts may be victims of their own ambitions, by seekingto respond to judicial, societal and philosophical concernsalike.     

政府横向权力配置新论——从结构功能主义角度的分析

在＂结构功能主义＂权力分立观看来,政府的立法权、司法权和行政权分别是一种政治性、法律技术性和兼具政治性与行政技术性的权力;为了实现相应的政府职能,这些权力应当由相应的政治性的机关（立法机关）、法律技术性机关（司法机关）和兼具政治性与行政技术性的机关（行政机关）来行使;为了保证各政府机关能够＂称职＂地行使相应的权力,各政府机关的组成人员、运作规则应当具备不同于其他机关和人员的制度设计。尽管当今世界各国存在国家性质和政权体制的不同,但是三种权力的性质却是永恒不变、超越国家界限和超越意识形态的。我国当前权力机关（民意机关）和司法机关（法院）的行政化倾向不利于国家职能的有效实现。     

司法考试与法学本科教学探究

司法考试自实行以来对高校法学教育特别是对地方高校的法学本科教育,在带来严峻挑战的同时,也为推动法学本科教育改革提供了契机,建立以司法考试为导向的法学人才培养机制已迫在眉睫.本文结合地方高校法学教学实际,联系省情校情,利用实证分析,为在教学中如何以司法考试为导向进行教学模式、教学内容改革,以及如何加强与司法实务部门的联系...     

刑事诉讼领域司法鉴定争议探讨

司法鉴定在刑事诉讼活动中具有重要作用,是刑事案件有效侦破和公正审理的技术保障。但在实践中,刑事诉讼领域一直存在的司法鉴定争议日益突出。产生很多相关问题,既影响司法公正、司法效率,也不利于公民合法权益的维护。成为各方关注的焦点。从体制机制、制度设计的宏观层面对刑事诉讼领域出现司法鉴定争议问题的原因进行分析,就如何有效解决该问题进行了一些理性思考。     

Brazilian Adolescents’ Just World Beliefs and Its Relationships with School Fairness,Student Conduct,and Legal Authorities

Prior research has demonstrated that adolescence is a sensitive period to develop their belief in a just world (BJW), both general and personal. Research has found significant relationships between BJW, perceptions of school fairness, student conduct, and perceptions of legal authorities. However, no research has combined these constructs in one model to get a broader picture of how adolescents construct their worldview of fairness and how this influences their compliance with authorities. This study analyzed 475 Brazilian adolescents across three schools. A partially mediated and a mediated model were tested to determine if students’ BJW relate directly or indirectly to student conduct and perceptions of legal authorities through school fairness. The partially mediated model best fit the data. Personal BJW predicted students’ perceptions of the school fairness, which predicted student conduct. General BJW and school fairness predicted adolescents’ perceptions of legal authorities. Perceptions of school fairness are influenced by Personal BJW and are predictive of students’ conduct and opinions of legal authorities. By analyzing multiple constructs simultaneously, this study provides a picture of how these overlapping conceptualizations of justice interact. Students who do not believe their school is fair are less likely to respect and abide by the rules and are more likely to also expect unfair treatment from law enforcement and judicial officials. This study points to the importance of students’ perceptions of justice at school and highlights the far-reaching implications of students who do not perceive or expect justice in their lives.     

Sentencing Transparency in the Information Age

How unrestricted or restricted should judges be when deciding a sentence? To what extent should sentences be predetermined, or to what extent should judges be left with the right to decide a sentence in each individual case? Some legal systems, most notably in the United States, have chosen sentencing guidelines to control judicial discretion. However, another approach has been to use computer technology in the form of so‐called sentencing information systems (SIS). This article examines these developments and what possible influence they have had and could have in the Scandinavian, particularly in the Norwegian, context. Penal institutions today are adjusting to the demands of the information society. Does and could the fact that we are living in an increasingly technologically mediated world influence judicial decision‐making? The article argues that the use of technology is not simply a question of technological change, but is first and foremost a social and political phenomenon, related to the relations of trust in a society.     

"Constrained" Constitutional Courts as Conduits for Democratic Consolidation

Many constitutional courts, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, have more power than the "constrained court" model of judicial decisionmaking suggests because they operate in an increasingly international environment. By analyzing the Estonian Supreme Court's adjudication of minority linguistic rights, we show how even a new court can act as a "conduit" for democratic reform by identifying for legislators national constitutional paths along which domestically disliked but internationally defined democratic reforms can be pursued, preserving national integrity while acknowledging international reality. International pressures, while constraining courts, thus can free them from national constraints while allowing them to imprint their own vision.     

列宁的司法权思想及其时代价值

列宁的司法权思想是他在领导俄国无产阶级革命和苏维埃社会主义法制建设的长期斗争实践中逐步形成和发展起来的。人民主权理论构成列宁司法权思想的理论基点，议会制与民主制相结合的制度形成了司法权的制度基础，党的领导与司法权独立是社会主义司法权的权属与基本性质。列宁认为，社会主义国家的司法权来源于国家权力机关，从性质上讲属于国家权力；基于司法权的阶级性和人民性，强调人民直接行使司法权；司法权应当受到严格监督，以防范司法权的滥用。列宁司法权思想不仅对前苏联司法理论和司法制度的形成产生重要作用，而且深刻、全面地影响着我国建国初期法学理论和司法制度的构建，乃至我国当前司法体制的完善和司法改革。     

美国司法ADR之考察

美国是现代ADR发展最快的国家。美国的司法ADR对于分流起诉到法院的案件,减轻诉讼机制的压力起到了积极的作用,并在国际上产生了重大的影响。本文对司法ADR的性质,美国司法ADR的利用状况和立法发展,以及美国联邦法院引人ADR的合理性和司法ADR的程序保障等问题进行了研讨。     

Integración de las autoridades electorales: (re)construcción jurisdiccional de un derecho por el tepjf

This article offers a diagnosis about the jurisdictional protection of the right to be a member of the local electoral authorities, which was included on the law since the 2008’s electoral reform. It presents also, an explanation of the different judicial mechanisms to control the processes of renovation of the electoral authorities that exist in the states. The objective of this essay is reconstruct the content of this right, throughout the sentences of the Electoral Court, but also, question the argumentations that the electoral judges have used to solve those cases. Practically, no work in the mexican literature has been written about the right to be a member of the electoral authorities, and that´s why this article represents a first outline to understand this topic.