Cosmopolitan Law

The European Union need not choose between the two options of a federalist constitution or a loose intergovernmental association of states. There is a third possibility. This is described by Kant as an order of perpetual peace, whereby states undertake to one another to be good republics, to join in a federation of peace, and to respect the rights of each other's citizens. For Kant this corresponds to a combination of principles of constitutional law, international law and, a new category, 'cosmopolitan law'. If we adopt Kant's concepts we can see, first, that the international law of human rights has become some kind of cosmopolitan law of the international community and that, second, parts of European Community law can also be seen as cosmopolitan law for its member states. The features of cosmopolitan law are that it does not follow a conventional theory of sources of law, it does not respect traditional state sovereignty and does not require a hierarchy of institutions for its interpretation and application.     

Cosmopolitan Duty and Legitimate State Authority

In this paper I apply a suitably developed version of Joseph Raz’s service conception of authority to the debate over the legitimacy of state action aiming to fulfill cosmopolitan moral obligations. I aim to advance two interrelated theses. First, viewed from the perspective of Raz’s service conception of authority, citizens’ moral duties to non-compatriots are an appropriate ground for authoritative intervention by agents of the state. Second, international law based on these duties can also enjoy moral authority over government decision makers. An important source of the moral force of international law is derived from the power of international law to improve officials’ ability to recognize and conform to the totality of their reasons, which contributes to their states’ legitimacy.     

The council for national academic awards and legal studies

This is part one of a two-part paper. The papers outline the research for designing an m-learning (mobile phone) financial education game to counter financial exclusion. The paper will explain what led the researchers to use an m-learning game and what is unique about the design of the game compared to other serious games. The researchers will present the results of their 18-month project called “Innovation in Inclusion”, which teaches financial education to secondary school children aged between 13 and 15 years old, but which can be extrapolated into any type of interactive or m-learning method of teaching at any age. This game tested the hypothesis that if you increase financial education you can decrease the chances of being financially excluded in the future, by ensuring the people undertaking the learning aims can make effective financial decisions.     

Europe: Political,Not Cosmopolitan

The article challenges the established view according to which the authority of the EU is inexplicable in terms of collective civic self‐determination. Contrary to this widely held belief, it explains the condition under which it is plausible to impute the current shape of the Union to the collective self‐determination of European citizens. This condition is met if citizens approach the Union with a cosmopolitan attitude. The article then goes on to explain that while the Union may not appear optimal under this condition, it looks quite disastrous when approached from the perspective of political self‐determination. The argument makes an appeal to European citizens. They have to come to grips with their own self‐understanding. Should European citizens come to realise that they are, after all, political beings because they care about sustaining a form of life at specific place of the world, they will have to re‐appropriate Europe for themselves.     

以理论创新提升法学研究的话语权

《中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议》(以下简称《决议》)对党领导人民进行法治建设的历程进行了重要总结。《决议》指出,改革开放以后,党坚持依法治国,不断推进社会主义法治建设;强调全面依法治国作为“开创中国特色社会主义新时代”的一项重要历史性成就,是新时代的中国共产党在新征程上展现新气象、新作为的一个重要方面。     

Cosmopolitan Democracy and the Rule of Law

The ongoing process of globalization calls out for novel forms of transnational liberal–democratic decision–making. In this spirit, David Held and a group of interlocutors (especially Daniele Archibugi) propose an ambitious model of "cosmopolitan democracy." Although the proponents of cosmopolitan democracy are right to insist that transnational liberal democracy must avoid the dangers of an excessively centralized world–state, their own efforts to do so ultimately fail. The weaknesses of their ideas about the notion of the "rule of law" generate unforeseen theoretical difficulties for their account. Any transnational network of liberal–democratic governance worth defending will need to do a better job preserving a substantial quotient of traditional rule of law virtues.     

Convergence and conflict perspectives in Scandinavian studies of the legal profession

This article focuses on classic Scandinavian studies of the legal profession. These classic studies, which followed World War II and the development of the Scandinavian welfare states, focused on national developments in the legal profession and its relevance to the development of the states and the markets. The studies are divided into convergence perspectives with Aubert's studies dominating on the one hand, and conflict perspectives with Mathiesen's studies dominating on the other. This article examines their similarities and differences in theoretical backgrounds, methodology and empirical data. It demonstrates how the two research traditions, despite their different theoretical perspectives, build their research on comparatively the same kind of empirical data and methodology and how they reach some of the same conclusions.     

Clinical studies in the intensive care unit: ethical and legal aspects

This article draws on international experience to explore the ethical and legal aspects of performing clinical studies on patients in intensive care units. It discusses aspects of consent relevant to clinical studies in this medical environment, it considers the involvement of ethical committees, and the role and appropriate level of intensive cover.     

Authority,Self-Determination,and Community in Cosmopolitan War

This paper examines Cécile Fabre’s cosmopolitan reductionist approach to war. It makes three main points. First, I show that Fabre must ‘thin down’ justice’s content in order to justify the cosmopolitan claim that the same rights and duties bind people everywhere. Second, I investigate Fabre’s account of the values at stake in national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Can cosmopolitanism explain why it is permissible to fight in defense of one’s political community? I doubt it. I argue that Fabre’s reductionist approach cannot justify national self-defense in many cases. Finally, I explore the role that authoritative institutions play in specifying the rights and duties we have under cosmopolitan justice. I believe Fabre takes an overly simple view of the relationship between rights, duties, and authoritative institutions. A more complex account may leave less space for private war on the part of individuals than she does.     

临床法学教育与新世纪法学人才的培养--平等式对话教学方式的魅力

高等法律教育是我国教育事业的一个重要组成部分,担负着为市场经济建设与民主法制建设培养高层次专业人才的重要任务.在更新教育观念,转变培养模式,强化能力培养的教育改革的形势下,作为大学法学院应该教给学生什么?我们不可能在有限的四年时间内教给学生今后一辈子所需的各种法律知识.况且法律变化频繁,知识更新快捷.学校教师传授知识固然重要,但更重要的是教给学生分析、辨别、创造知识的能力.     

Human-centered legal tech: integrating design in legal education

As the legal profession begins in earnest to deploy digital technology in service and information delivery, greater numbers of law schools are including technology instruction in their curricula. The prospect of more lawyers with digital expertise, while a welcome development, amplifies a parallel imperative that new technology tools be designed to be responsive to evolving human needs. This paper argues that coupling technology instruction with training in human-centered design approaches offers legal educators a means of preparing lawyers not only able to generate novel technology solutions, but able to fundamentally improve legal institutions and programs through those results. The use of design pedagogies within legal education also provides educators and students with the opportunity to reimagine the law as a creative pursuit by exploring structured methods like empathy via observation, prototyping, and the embrace of failure, with learning outcomes that hold the potential to transform how lawyers approach their role. This paper concludes by detailing the insights the NuLawLab has gained in the application of design methodologies in the creation of digital legal resources, and the modifications we are adopting to the approach to produce better results for the legal sector.     

海峡西岸新农村建设中村民自治法律问题研究——关于村委会选举制度法律问题的调查与思考

村民自治是海峡西岸新农村建设的制度基础和重要保障。村委会选举制度是新农村建设中村民自治运行机制的基本制度,也是学界关注的焦点。尽管村委会换届选举一届比一届成功,但在选举过程中,仍存在着许多尚待解决的法律问题。为此,必须完善与村委会选举有关的实体法律;修改和完善村委会选举制度的有关程序;建立和完善村委会选举的保障救济机制。     

再论法律解释学

本文通过对法律解释学与概念法学、法社会学、价值法学、解释学法学、立法学关系的揭示,旨在厘清法律解释学的概念及其范围。法律解释学是一个偏重方法论的学科,属于实用法学的范畴,是一种能够在一定程度上体现实践理性的法学。法律解释学把司法作为思考问题的出发点,以建构裁判规范为己任,强调根据法律进行解释是其基本方法,但它并不否认其他法学方法融入裁判规范。当代法律解释学承认制定法、法律价值、事物的本质、公共政策、良善风俗等都可以通过发现、论证、解释、衡量进入作为裁判规范的法律,都可以作为法官法源。法律解释学是以司法方法论为核心内容的实用法学。     

Recent legal developments

Abstract

THE CASE of R (Pretty) v. Director of Public Prosecutions, gave the House of Lords the opportunity to comment on the issues surrounding the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to the crime of assisted suicide in the case of the terminally ill. A conservative approach was taken in relation to both this issue and indeed in relation to the possibilities of judicial control of the Law Officers of the Crown.     

Recent legal developments

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