The Hidden Legacy of Scott: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the UK Government Proposals to Control the Transfer of Technology by Intangible Means

One tangible legacy of the Scott Report was to focus concern on the control of the transfer of sensitive technology by electronic means. In response to recommendations made in the Report the Government established a Scott Inquiry Follow Up Unit within the Department of Trade and Industry and published a Consultation Green Paper and White Paper. A particular concern has focused on the transfer of military and dual use technology which can be controlled (arguably) in a tangible form but not if transmitted by intangible means, i.e. fax, internet, e-mail, orally. Consideration has been given to the relationship between export controls for military and dual use goods and a parallel control regime for associated intangible technology. The Government proposal is to introduce a general power to control the transfer of technology by intangible means - limited 'for the time being' to weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and delivery systems). On the 10 November 1998 the Trade and Industry Committee held a second inquiry into various aspects of strategic export controls. Having considered representations made by the arms industry, universities, arms control groups and government departments the Committee, agreeing with an observation in the White Paper, states that 'grave doubts' existed concerning the practicality of controlling the transfer of technology by intangible means. This paper considers the relationship between tangible and intangible technology as it relates to weapons of mass destruction and offers a critique of the Government's proposals. The arguments are placed into a wider debate concerned with technology, modern warfare and the arms trade.     

Obesity in Europe: the strategy of the European Union from a public health law perspective

In 2007 the European Commission published a White Paper on a "Strategy on nutrition, overweight and obesity", proposing measures to impede the current trend towards a steady gain in weight by Union citizens. In this article, these ideas are discussed critically in the light of the competences of the Union and from a public health law perspective, in order to scrutinise the effectiveness of the measures and to identify shortcomings in the White Paper. One focus of this article will be European food legislation, as food is one of the leading causes of people being overweight or obese.     

Regulatory Reform: Creating Gaps and Making Markets

This article argues that dispute processing reform, such as regulatory negotiation, plays a role in constructing a "crisis" in regulatory litigation and defining a new partnership between regulated interests and the state. Unlike traditional studies of regulatory reform, which tend to evaluate the behavioral impact of legal reform on policy, I argue that reforms themselves play a constitutive role in politics. The article examines the ideology of regulatory negotiation and presents empirical data on federal regulatory litigation in the U.S. Courts of Appeals (1940–1985), to demonstrate that this legal reform is part of a general drive toward a minimalist state.     

New Zealand: Public Registers Report

In September 2007, the Commonwealth Law Bulletin (Vol. 33, No. 3), published an article on the New Zealand Law Commission’s Issues Paper on Public Registers (IP 3, 2007), including the four options for reform that the Commission was putting forward for consideration by interested persons.

The Law Commission’s Public Registers Report ¹ 1 New Zealand Law Commission’s Public Registers Report, NZLC R 101 2008. (the Report) has now been published, completing stage 2 of the Law Commission’s four stage Privacy Review.

It is available on the Law Commission’s website at http://www.lawcom.govt.nz.     

Advancing Accountability: Moving Toward Victim Restoration

One of the goals of Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system is the “imposition of accountability” for offenses committed. This White Paper, originally published in 2006, takes the position that true accountability requires juvenile offenders to repair the harm caused by their offending behavior and to understand and acknowledge the wrongfulness of their actions, their responsibility for causing harm, and the impact of the crime on the crime victim and community. It identifies system responsibilities, restorative practices, and outcomes relative to accountability. This White Paper was the result of debate among focus group participants under the auspices of the State Advisory Group.     

Bullins and Me: A Remembrance of Past Times

This article develops a critical appraisal of the UNESCO Creative Economy Report (2013). It dis-cusses continuity and change in the focus and message of the UNCTAD Creative Economy Reports. The UNESCO Report aims at Widening Development Pathways and provides a balanced engagement with the relation between culture and development. It is a welcome addition to the creative economy debate that is now uncontestably global in scope. In spite of many perks, there is always room for improvement. First, there is a need for more critical engagement with examples, including bad ones. Second, mobility and visa issues among artists remain a concern. Third, the problematic opposition of developed and developing countries is no longer useful. Finally, the limited historical framing of (cultural) policy issues often leads to myopic thinking.     

Antitrust Enforcement: Abuse Control or Notification?

The European Union is currently revising its system of centralised authorisation for agreements between firms falling within the scope of Article 81 (1) of the EC Treaty but qualifying for exemption from the general prohibition. The proposed reform in the 1999 White Paper on Modernisation of the Rules Implementing Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty involves the abolition of the notification and exemption system and its replacement by a directly applicable exception system where restrictive practices qualifying for exemption are lawful per se and subject to abuse control. This paper compares both the current notification system and the proposed system of ex-post control in a game-theoretical framework. If precommitment to an enforcement probability by the antitrust authority is not possible and a mixed equilibrium exists for both systems, the notification system is superior to the system of abuse control in terms of social welfare.     

Business, State, and Community: 'Responsible Risk Takers', New Labour, and the Governance of Corporate Business

In December 1998, Peter Mandelson MP, one of the principal architects of the Labour Party's victory in the May 1997 general election, dramatically resigned as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Nevertheless, despite his relatively brief period in that office, Mr. Mandelson left his imprint on policy through the publication in November 1998 of a major White Paper, 'Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy'. The White Paper sets out the New Labour analysis of the national political economy in a globalized world economy and is very much influenced by Mr. Mandelson's experience of the entrepreneurial spirit during his fact-finding visit to the United States of America. This article seeks to chart the relationship between New Labour's desire to foster the development of the corporate sector within a vibrant entrepreneurial culture and the need to ensure that the integrity of the market is preserved in an arena which is seen as inimicable to strong regulatory intervention by the state. As well as mapping New Labour's political rhetoric onto contemporary debates in corporate governance, the analysis will involve an examination of the interface between business practice and morality. In particular, the article will focus upon the role of the conception of company directors as 'responsible risk takers' and the upon the use of name-and-shame sanctions in the development of an entrepreneurial culture in which all corporate enterprises are seen as having a legitimate societal 'licence to operate'.     

劳动争议处理几个疑难问题研究

随着经济体制改革和劳动制度改革的不断深入开展 ,目前我国各类劳动争议的数量急剧增加 ,且争议内容十分复杂 ,极易与民事争议、行政争议、人事争议相混淆。加之目前我国劳动争议相关立法不尽完善 ,劳动争议处理制度存在诸多缺憾 ,导致现实生活中劳动争议案件的解决困难重重 ,因此 ,完善劳动争议立法和改革现行劳动争议处理体制 ,已是迫在眉睫的焦点问题     

Advancing Competency Development: A White Paper for Pennsylvania

One of the fundamental purposes of Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system is to develop “competencies” in delinquent youth. But what does that mean? Why is it important? How is it done? The White Paper. originally published in 2005, attempted to answer those questions, articulating basic principles and identifying research‐supported practices for competency development, the least understood of the three balanced and restorative justice goals. Practitioners and policy makers in other states who are interested in helping juvenile offenders acquire the knowledge and skills they need to become productive, connected, and law‐abiding community members will find it directly relevant.     

Invisible hand or fatherly hand? Problems of paternalism in the New Perspective on health

This article examines the charge that the "New Perspective" on health (as exemplified by the Lalonde Report in Canada, by Prevention and Health in the United Kingdom) represents an abandonment of liberal principles in favor of a collectivist and paternalistic role for the state. It looks first at the problems confronting modern health policy, and at the reasoning behind the New Perspective's approach. It then explores whether and how the charge of paternalism applies to that approach, and just what such a charge implies. The article concludes with a discussion of the "liberal paternalist" viewpoint towards health policy, a viewpoint that combines respect for individual liberty with an interest in taking effective public action to improve the health status of modern populations.     

柬埔寨外国投资法律政策研究

柬埔寨是东盟比较落后的国家。近年来,柬埔寨已经意识到引进外资对落后国家经济发展的重要性,制定和完善了一批外国投资法律。目前,外国在柬埔寨投资的法律政策环境已经有很大改善,有较为系统的投资法律体系。外资在柬埔寨的优惠政策日益增多,投资手续日趋简化,保障措施和鼓励政策也不断优化,外国投资的纠纷解决机制也不断完善。外国在柬埔寨投资前景广阔。     

Global social media vs local values: Private international law should protect local consumer rights by using the public policy exception?

This article focuses on the relationship between forum selection clauses, choice of law clauses and data protection and privacy protection. In particular, it discusses the question whether and why jurisdiction and choice of law clauses used in the terms of social media providers should not be enforced against social media users located in a different jurisdiction. The article distinguishes between the contractual, private law analysis and the application of public policy as part of the private international law analysis. The contract law analysis is centred on doctrines such as unconscionability, which in turn examines issue such as fairness and overwhelming bargaining power of one party. By contrast, the public policy analysis in private international law focuses on fundamental rights, legality of contractual clauses according to the local law of the forum and the interests of justice. It is argued here that both aspects (contractual and public policy doctrines) are paramount for achieving not only justice between the parties of a dispute but also ensuring good administration of justice in the public interest.     

论我国司法体制改革的几个问题

进行司法体制改革是十六大对司法改革提出的新要求 ,如何进行司法体制改革 ,将关系到我国司法改革的成败乃至依法治国方略的实现。为此 ,本文对司法体制改革的目标、途径和方法进行了探讨     

我国特色的劳动争议仲裁终局化之理念和制度架构——《劳动争议调解仲裁法》第47条释正

《劳动争议调解仲裁法》第47条规定了一种有条件、有限制的终局裁决制度,它不仅引起了必要的条文上的规范分析,也带来了学术上的仲裁终局化畅想.从第47条出发来认识我国劳动争议仲裁的终局化,要认识该条文在实施中的制度性和技术性问题,要兼顾劳动仲裁制度的一般法理,更要把握住我国劳动争议仲裁终局化中给予劳动者倾斜性保护以及提升劳动争议解决效率的务实理念.在学理上,强拉硬拽的或裁或审、一裁终局观念只会弱化仲裁的作用,不符合我们强调调解、仲裁的国情.继续强调第47条背后仲裁和审判的平衡观念,有利于明晰独具我国特色的劳动争议仲裁终局化之理念和制度架构.     

The Continuing Value of Relief for Directors' Breach of Duty

The nature and scope of relief for directors in breach of their duties did not figure prominently in the Steering Group's fundamental review of company law. Little is proposed beyond removing one of the two pre-conditions for relief laid down in section 727 of the Companies Act 1985; the requirement of reasonableness. This article seeks to subject the relieving discretion to a more radical re-appraisal. Drawing upon the views expressed by its architects together with the current judicial approach adopted towards the provision, it is argued that its underlying rationale would be better met if the test for relief was based solely upon the court's determination of fairness. It will be demonstrated that such a model would better serve to bolster the fundamental tenets of transparency, simplicity and accessibility that underpin the approach of the Government's White Paper towards company law reform while also reinforcing the continuing value of relief.     

Post-‘Brexit’ Financial Governance: Which Dispute Settlement Framework Should Be Utilised?

This contribution to the ongoing Brexit discussions addresses topical legal and regulatory issues in the post-Brexit policy debate, especially the questions surrounding the important area of financial governance and dispute resolution. Specifically, a number of future UK/EU legal disputes with respect to financial services may emerge post-Brexit. The article examines the UK's track record at the Court of Justice of the European Union, and discusses some likely future challenges. It then considers which institutional framework should be used for resolving disagreements. The article assesses the strengths and weaknesses of three potential models (the proposed Swiss/EU institutional framework; the EFTA ‘docking’ option; and the WTO system) and provides an original cross-model evaluation. It also discusses the associated design challenges that EU and UK negotiators may encounter in the attempt to devise a post-Brexit dispute settlement system.     

Institutional and Political Sources of Legislative Change: Explaining How Private Organizations Influence the Form and Content of Consumer Protection Legislation

This article explores how private organizations influence the content and meaning of consumer protection legislation. I examine why California forced consumers to use a private dispute resolution system that affords consumers fewer rights, while Vermont adopted a state‐run disputing structure that affords consumers greater rights. Drawing from historical and new institutional theories, I analyze twenty‐five years of legislative history, as well as interviews with drafters of the California and Vermont laws, to show how automobile manufacturers weakened the impact of a powerful California consumer warranty law by creating dispute resolution venues. As these structures became institutionalized in the lemon law field, manufacturers reshaped the meaning of legislation. Unlike California, the political alliances in Vermont and a different developmental path led to a state‐run dispute resolution structure. I conclude that how social reform laws are designed and how businesses influence social reform legislation can increase or decrease the achievement of a statute's social reform goals.     

中国政策科学发展的历程与成就分析

中国政策科学走过了20多年的发展历程,大致分为两个阶段,即20世纪80年代的蕴育开创阶段和20世纪90年代后的快速发展阶段.取得了四大成就:围绕构建具有中国特色的政策科学理论体系发表了大量的学术论文,出版了许多学术著作;学科建设初具规模,研究队伍不断扩大;国内外学术交流日益频繁,学术气氛活跃;不少政策研究组织已经走向市场,产业化步伐加快,对推进决策科学化民主化起了重要的作用.     

试论我国法院调解制度的重构

现代社会为其成员提供多元化的纠纷解决机制,以此来满足社会成员的多层次的法律需求和多元化的价值追求.但是,建立机制本身只是手段,制度的完善和政策、法律的疏导来实现机制的顺畅运作并最终实现纠纷的合理分流和有效解决才是建立起多元化纠纷解决机制的最终目的.任何一项制度都是在改革中不断完善和发展的,法院调解制度也是如此.因此,我们现在要做的是不要盲目的摒弃,而是要深入地研究,努力使我们的优良传统发扬光大.