A New Context for the Ramsar Convention: Wetlands in a Changing World

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) has had a considerable influence on the work under multilateral environmental agreements dealing with biological diversity, including the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The MA developed a strong conceptual framework which brought together the natural and social sciences, and through that synergy promoted what it means to be sustainable. The MA provided a means to redefine the Ramsar Convention's wise use concept in terms of sustainability, especially the capacity of the ecosystem to continue to deliver the services on which other ecosystems and people depend. The messages from the MA impact also on the Ramsar Convention's concept of maintenance of ecological character; and thus the list of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar sites). 'Change in ecological character', which is a concept that is important in measuring Ramsar site effectiveness, can also be resolved in terms of ecosystem services – and thus the criterion for being and continuing to be a Wetland of International Importance essentially becomes an issue of capacity to deliver ecosystem services.     

Promotion and implementation of international humanitarian law: a Commonwealth perspective

This paper provides an update on some important developments and initiatives relating to international humanitarian law (IHL), with specific reference to the Commonwealth. In particular, the paper considers the promotion and implementation of IHL and highlights the importance of preventing and punishing violations of IHL. It also outlines key humanitarian themes and legal concepts.     

The Council of Europe Laundering Convention: A recent example of a developing international criminal law

Conclusion With the Laundering Convention, the Council of Europe has contributed once again to the development of the international criminal law and to the promotion of international criminal law cooperation. The Council has shown that it is possible to elaborate a complex, highly technical convention within a period of less than a year so long as the political will exists. It is now a matter for the individual member states and other states to sign, if they have not done so, or to ratify, if they have already signed the convention. The future of the Laundering Convention lies in the hands of those states that have responsibility for its application. An efficient tool for international criminal law cooperation has been created-it must now be used.This is a revised version of a paper presented at an international workshop on Principles and Procedures for a New Transnational Criminal Law, organized jointly by the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law and the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany, May 21–25, 1991. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Council of Europe.Juris kandidat, Uppsala University 1979. The author was Secretary to the Council of Europe expert committee that elaborated the Laundering Convention.     

国际人权条约缔约国义务与实施机制

国际人权条约中缔约国义务与实施机制有着密切的联系，实施机制中包含了缔约国义务。故本文将此二者放在一起阐述。现行有效人权条约几十项，本文只就有独立实施机构的几项条约来作分析。…….     

加入联合国人权公约与中国法制建设

经过十多年艰苦卓绝的谈判与斗争，中国即将加入世界贸易组织(WTO)，融入国际经济大家庭。新闻媒体对此连篇累牍，全国上下已是家喻户晓，国人既为加入WTO所鼓舞，也因此深感压力，所谓“难得机遇和空前挑战并存”。但对于加入《公民权利和政治权利国际公约》，却是另一种情景，新闻媒体羞于报道宣传，国人亦知之甚少。…….     

Party autonomy in the choice of law under Indian and Australian private international law: some reciprocal lessons

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the performance of several contracts and is likely to increase the number of disputes before the courts. In agreements with a foreign element, the adjudication of the rights and liabilities will depend on the applicable law. Most legal systems have embraced the doctrine of party autonomy and, accordingly, permit the parties to expressly select the law to govern the disputes that arise from international contracts. India and Australia are no exception to this trend. In general, the courts in both the commonwealth countries have reported having been influenced by judicial practices of one another to develop their own law. Despite their common law roots, the interpretations attached to the doctrine of party autonomy in the choice of law have varied in some respects in these countries. The paper analyses the judicial trends on the subject and demonstrates the role that party autonomy will play in resolving international disputes where the performance has been affected by the eventualities such as the COVID-19 pandemic in India and Australia. The paper delves into the manner in which the courts in India and Australia may offer reciprocal lessons to each another to revolutionise to interpret the doctrine of party autonomy in the choice of law.     

论海商法中国际惯例的性质与地位——兼论对《海商法》第268条和269条的修改

通过对国际惯例的性质分析,认为海商法中的国际惯例是一种任意性规范,不包括强制性规范;是一种实体法意义上的惯例,不包括冲突法上的惯例;是中国海商法的渊源之一。在此基础上,对中国《海商法》的修改与完善提出了建议。     

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.     

对新破产法实施状态下的职工权益保护

新破产法否定了既往我国破产实践中广泛存在的，将破产国有企业劳动债权优先于担保债权清偿的政策性做法，而规定劳动债权作为一般债权受偿。此一规定的改变，理顺了一般劳动债权与担保债权的关系，符合一般法治理念，但也给政府的破产企业职工劳动者权益保护政策带来挑战。政府应未雨绸缪，采取多种措施保护企业劳动者权益。     

Assisted suicide under the European Convention on Human Rights: a critique

In a high profile case, a terminally ill woman, Diane Pretty, challenged the United Kingdom prohibition on assisted suicide as incompatible with certain fundamental rights which are guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights. Mrs Pretty's battle was ultimately unsuccessful, with a total of three courts and 15 judges ruling against her. Such unanimity of opinion might well be thought to represent the coup de grace for arguments about the right to assistance in death under European human rights law. However, in this article it is suggested that, in limited circumstances, such assistance might yet still be possible under the Constitution.     

Meeting the enemy: American exceptionalism and international law

Howard Zinn has been classified in a number of ways for his many social contributions. However, despite the breadth of his work, he has never been considered a criminologist. It is likely that this is the result of the inaccurate perceptions many Americans have about crime being a predominantly street‐level social problem. Zinn maintains that the social harms caused by those in positions of political and economic power are in fact crimes against humanity that are far more destructive and violent than the actions our legal system has historically deemed criminal. He also points to the ways our criminal justice system is unjust and ineffective, and has demonstrated how social inequality ensures that the disadvantaged will be further subordinated by the criminal justice system. Zinn’s critical contributions about the most significant sources of social harm, the unjust nature of the American justice system, and the influence of social inequality offer an unorthodox criminological perspective that deserves special consideration. His unconventional criminology calls for increasing social justice by means of political dissent, social resistance, and civil disobedience.