THE AVAILABILITY OF LAW

This article explores the practical skills that agents in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection develop to accomplish their mandated objectives. In the situational structure and processes of discretionary decision making, we find a persistent surplus of enforcement capacity. Although the consumer protection law establishes a variety of sanctions and legal procedures to be used in enforcing the statute, agents frequently invoke infractions of other laws in the course of resolving consumer complaints. They have this flexibility only because laws, in general, are imperfectly enforced. This leaves scope in a particular situation for the invocation of a wide variety of potential violations of, for example, safety and building codes, zoning or license rules, and tax laws, all remotely if at all related to consumer protection. This article demonstrates the skill with which consumer protection officials exercise this discretion and argues that an adequate conception of the role of law ought to take account of the different ways in which law enforcement agents draw from this reservoir of un-enforced law.     

THE CHINESE MODEL OF THE RULE OF LAW

China’s project of the rule of law is destined to have its Chinese characteristics. China also needs to think about of the way of developing its own model of the rule of law so as to achieve a rule of law society that is universal in modern society. Many rule of law countries, such as England, Germany and France, started their rule of law project with their own model. China should learn from the merits of these different models. Nevertheless, China should also try to solve the key problem of the rule of law, which is the energizing of the enforcement of the Chinese Constitution.     

THE CONTAGIOUS NATURE OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Attention is called to several recently advanced lines of evidence underscoring the role of contagion in antisocial behavior. One line of evidence consists of findings that the onset of antisocial behavior in one sibling increases the risk to other siblings. A second line of evidence shows that the tendency of monozygotic twins to be more concordant for antisocial behavior than dizygotic twins can be explained by contagion as well as heredity. In addition, there are differences in prevalence between same-sexed and opposite-sexed twins that contagion can explain, but heredity cannot, at least not without numerous ad hoc auxiliary suppositions. Third, behavioral contagion is also able to explain, and very precisely, the temporal course of aggregate delinquency through adolescence. Fourth, evidence has been presented that antisocial behavior is an equilibrial phenomenon, that is, that it depends on a balance between antisocial and prosocial forces, a balance (or imbalance) that would explain the sudden leaps and falls that crime statistics sometimes take. Finally, programs to combat drug use are often modestly successful and almost all such programs presuppose that drug use is contagious. The paper closes with two sections on the implications of these findings, first for theory and research and then for policy and practice.     

THE AMENDMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE LAW OF CHINA

The amendment of the Administrative Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China should especially emphasize the principle of protecting citizens’ legitimate rights and interests. It should establish this principle of completing the system of the administrative procedure. Regulations that do not meet the requirement of this purpose should be revised, such as extending the scope of jurisdiction, removing the restriction of qualifications of plaintiffs, increasing certain types of litigation, encouraging flexible methods of adjudication, raising the level of jurisdiction, simplifying the procedure of litigation, and adopting more stringent enforcement measures.     

IMAGINING THE LAW: COMMON LAW AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM

Now Doniger paced, using Kramer as an audience of one, "We are all ruled by the past, although no on understands it. No one recognizes the power of the past" he said, with a sweep of his hand.
"But if you think about it, the past has always been more important than the present. The present is like a coral island that sticks above the water, but is built upon millions of dead corals under the surface, that no one sees. In the same way, our everyday world is built upon millions and millions of events and decisions that occurred in the past. And what we add in the present is trivial.     

THE MARRIAGE LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

This article describes the Chinese laws of marriage and divorce under the People's Republic of China and traces their historical antecedents. The actual laws are included at the end of the article in the appendixes. Fascinating changes are occurring in China and are documented in this article.     

THE POTENTIAL OF THE FAMILY LAW EDUCATION REFORM PROJECT FOR FAMILY LAWYERS1

Family lawyers are major beneficiaries of the reforms set out in the Family Law Education Reform Project (FLER) Report. This commentary from a veteran family law practitioner explores the needs of the family law bar for the training of law students in practical, interdisciplinary, client‐centered lawyering that goes beyond the traditional case method. I trace many of the current innovations evolving in family law practice and how FLER reforms will not only benefit law schools but also have a major impact in the courts and private practice sector.