The sinking of the Lusitania: reviewing the evidence.

On the afternoon of 7 May 1915 the Cunard Liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat whilst en route to Liverpool. Consequently in sank with the loss of 1,195 lives. A series of investigative and formal research exercises, undertaken in the light of eye-witness accounts of the events surrounding that tragedy, has given rise to a number of hypotheses concerning the loss of this vessel. In this paper all the available evidence concerning the attack, and the one or more explosions that occurred, is summarised. The conclusions regarding the torpedo effects and the most likely causes of the secondary events are reported.     

Shrinks vs. shysters

In 1976, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a new mental health law which was designed to give civil and due process rights to the mentally ill, as well as to speed up the deinstitutionalization process. The psychiatric profession voiced loud disapproval of the new law. The public interest bar entered the issue, opposing the psychiatrists. In 1978, the law was amended, and most of the hard-won patients' rights were lost. This paper analyzes the reasons behind the psychiatric demand and victory, as well as the reasons for the lawyer's unsuccessful opposition, using two similar battles, one fought in the British Parliament in the eighteenth century, and one in the California legislature in the early twentieth century. Conclusions are drawn concerning the reason for the legislative “turnabout,” and predictions concerning the course of future battles are made.     

Due process vs. crime control

Juries that exclude people who are unwilling to impose the death penalty (death-qualified juries) may be biased against capital defendants. To evaluate this possibility we compared the demographic characteristics and attitudes toward the criminal justice system of people who would or would not be excluded by theWitherspoon standard. A random sample of 811 eligible jurors in Alameda County, California were interviewed by telephone. Of the 717 respondents who stated that they could be fair and impartial in deciding on the guilt or innocence of a capital defendant, 17.2% said that they could never vote to impose the death penalty, and thus are excludable underWitherspoon. Significantly greater proportions of blacks than whites and of females than males are eliminated by the process of death qualification. On the attitudinal measures, the death-qualified respondents were consistently more prone to favor the point of view of the prosecution, to mistrust criminal defendants and their counsel, to take a punitive approach toward offenders, and to be more concerned with crime control than with due process. Eleven of the 13 items showed statistically significant differences.     

知识产权保护：“过度”与“不足”

在信息社会、知识经济时代背景下,中国政府已明确提出"以信息化带动工业化,发挥后发优势,实现社会生产力的跨越式发展。"这显然预示着针对各种信息的利益冲突将愈演愈烈,相应地,解决信息利益冲突的信息产权特别是保护创新性智力成果这种特定优化信息从而成为信息产权核心的知识     

证券投资基金制度若干法律问题思考--兼评《证券投资基金法(草案)》

证券投资基金作为证券市场的主要投资力量和融资工具,在我国已有了初步的发展,但仍存在诸多问题。为了保证证券投资基金的健康稳定发展,2002年8月我国起草了《证券投资基金法(草案)》,该草案虽对证券投资基金的法律性质、基金当事人的法律关系以及基金内部治理结构和运作机制作出了较为明确的规范,但仍存有一些问题值得探讨。在信托制基金中,信托基金契约的立法模式应以简化、单纯、明确为宜,同时不妨采取董事会制度。由于信托制基金内部治理结构的自有缺陷性,证券投资基金在具体运作过程中对实现基金的目的,维护基金份额持有人的利益带来一定的障碍,总体考察,采取公司型基金模式为宜。     

Employee attitude surveys: perception vs. reality

In order to correctly interpret employee perceptions, analysts must understand the organization's past, present, and future goals and policies, its performance and success, and its place in the business environment.     

Methadone toxicity causing death in ten subjects starting on a methadone maintenance program.

Methadone maintenance therapy is designed to reduce the need for addicts to use heroin or other illegal opiates. Death in patients starting on such a program has not previously been documented. We report the death of 10 persons who died within days of starting a methadone maintenance program administered by general practitioners. Their bodies were subject to a full autopsy by forensic pathologists, with a full toxicological examination. The mean starting dose had been 53 mg, which had been increased to a mean of 57 mg by the final dose. Death occurred after a mean of 3 days. The mean blood methadone concentration at death was 2.1 mumol/L. Complete toxicological analysis showed that six subjects had additional drugs present including two with alcohol, two with benzodiazepines and morphine, and one with benzodiazepines alone. Pathological examination revealed the presence of chronic persistent hepatitis in all subjects and bronchopneumonia in five. The causes of death were given as methadone toxicity or methadone toxicity in combination with bronchopneumonia. Our observations highlight the dangers of methadone in the first days of starting on a maintenance program, particularly when the starting doses are relatively high and subjects have no demonstrated tolerance to opiates.     

略论外资准入与投资自由化

国际投资法制中的外资准入制度 ,已成为南北国家矛盾和冲突的焦点与难点问题。外资准入作为国家经济主权的重要内容 ,受到双边和多边投资立法的重大冲击。发达国家推动投资自由化的目的在于进一步削弱东道国特别是发展中国家对外资的法律管制。因此 ,发展中国家应积极参与在多边贸易体制下国际投资规则的制定 ,并力求在制定和实施过程中体现发展中国家的利益和要求 ,以避免投资自由化对本国经济安全可能造成的消极影响。     

Legal vs. quantified definitions of standards of proof

Law and Human Behavior - Three laboratory experiments were conducted to compare legal (unquantified) definitions of three standards of proof (“preponderance of the evidence,”...     

China-ASEAN investment agreement negotiations

China and the ASEAN are negotiating to establish a free trade area and an investment agreement is an integral part of it. The ongoing investment agreement negotiations have achieved some basic consensus as to specific contents of the agreement. However, due to the procedural obstacles and substantive controversies, the negotiations have become stagnant. In order to reach a final and successful conclusion of the investment agreement, the procedural obstacles should be overcome and the substantive controversies be settled since the agreement has economic and political implications for both China and the ASEAN.     

Technology transfer vs. diffusion: A conceptual clarification

Technology transfer and diffusion are often used interchangeably and applied to diverse phenomena. Policy needs to distinguish between them. Transfer of knowledge and legal rights to produce a new product is constrained by the owner's concern for a return on innovation; diffusion of use is restricted by willingness and ability to adopt it. Speedy diffusion of use rewards the innovator; premature or inadequately rewarded transfer undermines incentives to innovate. The conflict occurs with product innovations, but may not arise with process innovations, whose diffusion is also contrary to the interests of the innovator unless compensated. Factors favoring and hindering technology transfer, and conditions affecting the rate of diffusion of use, are briefly considered.