Costly Misconceptions of Law and Legal Services: The Small Business Owner vs. the Chicago Personal Property Tax

Inaccurate perceptions of the law by ordinary citizens, especially when resolution of conflicts caused by such perceptions is usually handled by lawyers, can lead to cynicism and distrust of government, the legal system, and the lawyers who participate in the system. The authors present some results of research into the functioning of a particular part of the system in a particular place to show how all participants keep the situation from being changed.     

国际税收协定中的受益所有人概念与认定问题

关于国际税收协定中的受益所有人概念和认定标准,国际税法理论和实践中存在诸多认识分歧。经合组织财税事务委员会晚近公布的《OECD税收协定范本中受益所有人概念的说明(讨论稿)》,对受益所有人概念和认定标准作出了相对明确的界定说明,并获得国际社会各界的广泛认同,这预示着未来的国际共识标准的形成。中国目前建立在国税函[2009]601号文基础上的受益所有人概念和认定标准,与上述国际共识标准存在明显差异和适用问题,有必要进行修改调整以与国际共识标准接轨。     

房地产交易:如何从营业税纳入到增值税

2012年1月1日,我国正式启动了增值税试点改革。期望在2015年之前,将营业税全部纳入到增值税。房地产交易在现行税制下征收营业税,未来将纳入到增值税。房地产交易的增值税处理是增值税改革中最大的难题之一。国际实践显示,房地产交易要纳入增值税处理,仍然存在诸多困难,因而就房地产增值税处理问题进行理论探讨,在中国显得非常迫切。     

The Reliability of Visually Comparing Small Frontal Sinuses*

Abstract: Several studies have investigated frontal sinus comparison for personal identification. One study addressed the statistical reliability of correct identification using automated digital methods and resulted in a 96% accuracy rate. Missed matches with the digital methods generally involved small, less featured sinuses. This study investigates the hypothesis that human examiners may be able to more accurately identify correct matches than digital methods, even when the comparisons involve small frontal sinuses. Participants were provided two sets of 28 radiographs and were instructed to identify matching radiographs and list the radiographs that did not have a corresponding match. Overall, error rates were low, with correct associations identified at a rate of 0.983. No incorrect associations (“false positives”) were made. Correct association rates were highest among participants “experienced” examining radiographs. Results support previous assertions that frontal sinus radiographs are a reliable means of personal identification even when the frontal sinuses are small.     

业主及其自治团体的法律地位确立问题探讨

近年来,随着中国房地产的快速发展,物业服务企业与业主之间的纠纷也随之产生。其中,业主不交物业管理费和物业服务公司挪用业主共有收益的纠纷较为常见。本文通过界定业主在物业管理中的法律地位,认为纠纷产生主要原因在于业主自治团体的缺位所导致的业主的权利受到侵害;因此,应当通过确立业主自治团体的法律地位来理顺物业管理中的法律关系,维护业主的合法权利,为业主营造良好的居住环境。     

出口退税法律政策演进与改革效应分析

我国的出口退税制度,是改革开放的产物,并随着社会主义市场经济建设的发展而不断得到完善。出口退税政策制定依据主要包括:国际条约惯例、避免双重征税协定、属地税收管辖权规定和国家税收法律。出口退税的基本形式主要有出口免税并退税、出口免税但不退税和出口不免税也不退税。出口退税政策改革应遵循国际惯例,结合增值税转型推进中性目标模式之确立,建立负担与收入一致的出口退税负担机制,建立弹性出口退税率制度,完善出口退税宏观调控与微观管理机制。我国出口退税政策调整的政策效应在于:统筹内外经济平衡、协调发展;优化产业结构,促进产业技术升级;强化税收促进资源节约、节能减排和环境保护的作用,推进经济发展方式转变。     

The Influence of Personal Values on Legal Judgments

The non‐legal factors that influence judicial decisions have been the subject of extensive debate. Theoretical and empirical work has focused on factors including political ideology, activism, attitudes, and demographics. Personal values are related to these factors and are central to decision making. The study described in this article translated theories and techniques from psychological research to examine the role of personal values in judicial decision making. A novel method of assessment of value expression in legal opinions revealed a different pattern of values expressed in the majority and minority opinions of a case that divided the Supreme Court. An empirical study of legal academics extended this analysis and highlighted the significant influence of personal values on legal decisions. The value:decision paradigm provides a new framework to analyse judicial decision making, judicial division, and judicial discretion and has significant implications for judicial diversity.     

The Influence of Self-Threats on Fairness Judgments and Affective Measures

This paper focuses on the question of why fairness matters to people. Extending on terror and uncertainty management theories and the literature on the self, it is proposed here that fairness can be a means of self-defense. Thinking of a situation that is threatening to the self therefore should make fairness a more important issue to people. The findings of two experiments support this line of reasoning: Asking participants to think about things that are threatening to themselves led to stronger reactions to manipulations of both procedural and distributive fairness. In the discussion it is argued that these findings suggest that fairness especially matters to people when they are trying to deal with threats to their selves.     

The Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments: The Way Forward

This article analyses the proposed Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Judgments, which has been the subject of lengthy and ongoing negotiations. The issues that continue to divide the parties centre on differences between approaches to jurisdiction broadly similar to those used in Europe, and the approach used in the United States. The most comprehensive draft of the Hague Convention starts from a European approach, but makes a number of concessions to the US approach. The United States has rejected this draft, and the parties appear to have accepted this rejection and are now discussing whether a narrower convention can be drafted upon which the parties can reach consensus.
The article argues that the broad draft convention was a sound one, that it made all of the concessions to the US approach that were warranted, and that the goal of harmonising world approaches to jurisdiction in civil cases would be better promoted by adopting the broader convention, if necessary without the participation of the United States.     

“营改增”效用的税法评判:以税收正义为中心

税收正义是税收立法、执行和司法的基本原则和价值追求,同时也是一种判定税制设计及运行是否合理与正当的价值基准抑或分析工具。营改增作为税制改革的重要一环,不仅具有避免重复征税、完善抵扣链条、实现企业税负降低的积极功效,其践行增值税税收中性的品格更是有助于匡税收之本原,正税收正义之名。截止目前,营改增既有显著成绩的取得,亦有诸如税负不公等有违税收正义之处。以税收正义审视和省思改革有利于保障改革的合理化与正当化。财税法治、国家治理与税收正义高度耦合,营改增改革应以财税法治进行制度保障,以国家治理思维改进社会管理方式,通过完善税率设计、税收比例和税收优惠措施来寻求税制改革的正义解,实现并保障税收的正义性。     

试论小企业的存在原因与产业分布规律

规模报酬递增与竞争性市场结构之间的矛盾激发着经济学家们对企业规模决定因素的持续探索。在长期的研究过程中，经济学家们相继揭示了诸如生产要素的不可分性、沉没成本、外部经济、企业内部交易成本、运输成本、关税与行政壁垒、产品差别等决定因素，这些因素最终可以归入规模经济和市场容量两个范畴。因此，规模经济程度低和市场容量小共同决定看小企业的存在与发展，而不同产业的特性则通过规模经济和市场容量两个方面决定看小企业的产业分布规律。     

“营改增”之房地产业相关问题研究

全面推进“营改增”,房地产业是难点和重点问题,解决好相关问题,是构建现代增值税制度、完善房地产税制以及促进增值税立法的重要举措.以我国房地产业现行税制为基础,借鉴国外对不动产开征增值税的科学、可操作的经验,解决好征税范围、纳税人、税率、计税方法等几个关键问题,科学设计房地产业增值税制度,促进现代增值税制度建设.     

The Accuracy of Auditors' and Layered Voice Analysis (LVA) Operators' Judgments of Truth and Deception During Police Questioning*

The purpose of this study was to determine if auditors could identify truthful and deceptive persons in a sample (n = 74) of audio recordings used to assess the effectiveness of layered voice analysis (LVA). The LVA employs an automated algorithm to detect deception, but it was not effective here. There were 31 truthful and 43 deceptive persons in the sample and two LVA operators averaged 48% correct decisions on truth‐tellers and 25% on deceivers. Subsequent to the LVA analysis the recordings were audited by three interviewers, each independently rendering a decision of truthful or deceptive and indicating their confidence. Auditors' judgments averaged 68% correct decisions on truth‐tellers and 71% on deceivers. Auditors' detection rates, generally, exceeded chance and there was significantly (p < 0.05) greater confidence on correct than incorrect judgments of deceivers but not on truth‐tellers. These results suggest that the success reported for LVA analysis may be due to operator's judgment.     

Business Responses to the Regulation of Health and Safety in England*

The material in this article is extracted from an empirical study of industrial and agricultural businesses' responses to regulation of health and safety in the workplace. The study critically assesses the philosophy of self-regulation which underpins the regulatory framework in England and within the context of the expectations of employers built into that philosophy, attempts to distinguish between different models of employers in relation to their levels of motivation toward health and safety issues; their knowledge and comprehension of the law; their general approach to compliance with regulations; and their response to inspectors' enforcement activities. The article concludes that self-regulation is only capable of operating under very narrow conditions. It is at its most successful within the largest and most hazardous companies, despite the fact that the inspectorates devote the greatest concentration of enforcement and advisory resources to these sites. Companies which do not have a natural interest in safety require considerable advice, encouragement and coercion. In some situations deterrent penalties may be required in order to achieve a sustained improvement in standards. The research suggests that greater attention should be paid to the variety of employers and their compliance strategies, and to the potential for better targeting of regulatory efforts.     

The Influence of Latinisms on the Quality of the Judgments of Polish Courts

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - This article addresses the issue of linguistic phenomena which, as a legacy of the centuries-old...     

The Small-Case Procedure of the United States Tax Court: A Small Claims Court That Works

Professor Whitford finds that the small-case procedure of the United States Tax Court, unlike most other small claims courts, provides a meaningful avenue of redress for taxpayers contesting small amounts and appearing pro se. The success of this procedure is attributed to the unique dispute'posture" of the Tax Court petitioner and to the extensive resources assigned to the small-case procedure by both the Tax Court and the chief counsel to the IRS. This special Tax Court invention is not likely to be replicated in courts of more general jurisdiction. Lack of political support will prevent allocation of resources sufficient to make pro se litigation work. The expenditure of such resources in the Tax Court apparently reflects a felt need to legitimate the tax system by providing fair disputing procedures.     

刑法明确性之判断

刑法规范应当是明确清晰而不能是含混模糊的,否则便可能为司法人员有差别地、随意地适用刑法预留广阔的空间,从而不利于保障民众的法自由与法安全.刑法的明确性包括构成要件的明确性和法定刑的明确性两个方面.在判断某一刑法规范是否具有明确性时,如果一般民众能够理解其意义和适用范围,并能据此预测某一行为的后果,那么,该规范就是明确的.所以,刑法明确性的判断基准是具有正常智识的一般民众而不是法律专业人士,判断的尺度包括理解可能性和预见可能性.     

行政判决中比例原则的适用

通过分析比例原则适用第一案后20年间的典型案例可以发现,比例原则在我国的适用已从行政处罚扩张到多种行政行为领域。比例原则已成为法院评判行政行为实质合法性的重要准则。法院可以根据滥用职权和明显不当标准,对行政行为进行合比例性审查。对于目的正当性和手段的适当性、必要性、均衡性的规范认识还存在一定的分歧,审查标准并不统一。在合比例性举证责任上,一些案件并没有完全遵循行政诉讼举证责任倒置规则。在合比例性审查强度上,似乎大多是宽松审查或低密度审查。对于行政行为是否符合比例原则,法官在个案中有着巨大的裁量空间,但大多数判决论证说理还较为简单。作为人权保障利剑的比例原则,势必在我国得到更加广泛地适用,合比例性分析方法与技术有待进一步提高,其未来适用应注意确定性与灵活性的平衡。