Innovative Governance in a Federal Europe: Implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

A recent development in European law, less heralded, but no less path‐breaking than the Treaty of Lisbon, was the ratification by the EU of its first human rights treaty—the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Concluded as a mixed agreement, the CRPD's pioneering monitoring mechanisms demand a high level of cooperation from both the Union and its Member States. It, thus, provides an opportunity for the Union to further develop a distinctly European notion of federalism by the use of new, innovative governance mechanisms. This article looks at the Union as a federalist project through the prism of the mixed agreement, and specifically the ways that federalism may be balanced within it, using the CRPD as an example. Although the Union has an existing Code of Conduct under the Convention, it lacks true engagement with these issues, and this article proposes changes to that end.     

Deliberation at the European Convention: The Final Verdict

Abstract:  Negotiations in Amsterdam 1996 and Nice 2000 resulted in deadlocks impossible to break. The failure of these Intergovernmental Conferences gave rise to demands for a new and improved process of treaty reform. The answer offered by the European Council in Laeken was to create a Convention with a mandate to prepare the next reform of the treaties. The broad composition of this Convention raised hopes for a process not exclusively defined by bargaining on behalf of national interests, but rather a more open process where actors would be prepared to listen to each other's arguments. Today, we find two divergent images of deliberation in this body. The first sees the Convention as a deliberative success story; the second argues bargaining dominated the proceedings. However, this far the empirical evidence in support of either claim has been inconclusive. On the basis of interviews with 28 conventioneers, this article ventures a 'final verdict' on the matter, arguing that deliberation was, indeed, a defining characteristic of the proceedings.     

The Incidence and Structure of Conflict on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

In 1982, Congress established the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court, with the objective of reducing judicial conflict and harmonizing circuit law in specific policy areas of special complexity. This article examines the incidence and determinants of judicial conflict on the U.S. courts of appeals, focusing specifically on the Federal Circuit. Using international trade and customs regulation cases decided during the 1982 to 1995 terms, the analysis reviews three possible explanations of judicial conflict: policy-oriented, sociolegal, and organizational. The analysis shows that conflict appears in 8.4 percent of the trade and customs regulation decisions rendered by the Federal Circuit during the period of study. The policy direction of Federal Circuit decisions and the court's hierarchical relationship with lower specialized courts provide the strongest explanation for the emergence of conflict on the court. Organizational factors such as panel composition evinced rather anemic explanatory capacity. The results raise an important functional similarity between the Federal Circuit and the generalist courts of appeals. Contrary to the laments of legal practitioners that conflict on the Federal Circuit is excessive relative to conflict on the generalist circuit courts, this analysis finds little support for that claim. Rather, the level of overt conflict on the court is actually low and corroborates conflict levels that have been reported for other U.S. courts of appeals.     

Dimensions of Legislative Conflict: Coalitions,Obstructionism, and Lawmaking in Multiparty Presidential Regimes

This article addresses central issues in multiparty presidential systems: the functioning of legislative coalitions and the dynamics of legislative conflict. Since electoral competition has elements of both positive‐sum (increase in common support) and zero‐sum (exact division of the support) qualities, lawmaking in coalitional systems presents unique challenges. Using legislative data from Brazil, we examine how coalition management and unity affect legislative delay and obstructionism. We find, among others, that: (1) coalition management is pivotal for both faster legislative approval and less obstructionism, but its effect depends on coalition size; and (2) cohesive opposition impedes the legislative process.     

论现阶段我国社会利益冲突的法律控制

转型时期的中国正面临更加复杂和多样的社会问题,核心问题是控制日益表面化的利益冲突。鉴于现阶段社会利益冲突的特殊性,用法律手段进行控制已是必然。实现法律对利益冲突的控制,应从立法和司法两个方面入手。一是用公平立法确立各利益主体的合法地位,建立合理的利益分配机制,引导社会利益的流向,在宏观上防范利益冲突的发生;二是用公正司法建立利益的救济机制和干预机制,抑制非法利益,平衡合法利益,在微观上解决具体的利益冲突。     

论俄罗斯联邦刑法人道原则

人道原则作为俄罗斯联邦刑法的基本原则之一,有着深厚的法理基础和坚实的法律渊源。要正确的理解俄罗斯联邦刑法的人道原则,就要深刻的理解这一原则在俄罗斯联邦刑法上的具体体现。     

解读我国《涉外民事关系法律适用法》

《涉外民事关系法律适用法》是我国历史上第一部系统调整冲突法问题的法律,它的实施将会对我国和同我国有着密切民事交往的外国产生深远的影响。通过对该法一般性的规定和几个特定领域的冲突规范的解读,可以看出许多当代国际私法的发展和成就已被其接纳,但一些实施细节有时还不得不求助于旧的规定或有待实践予以补充。总体上讲,它应当受到国内外的一致欢迎。     

海上救助公约的重大发展及其影响

传统的无效果无报酬原则已被各国普遍采用并成为国际海上救助法的基本原则。而1989年国际救助公约确立的无效果无报酬例外原则却引起了海运界和贸易界的极大关注,并对许多国家的海商法产生影响。本文试图就海上救助公约的重大发展、海上救助公约对中英海上救助法、共同海损制度等的重要影响分别予以分析论述,以便我们充分理解和正确适用国际救助公约和我国海上救助法。     

Switzerland and the Hague Convention

Any suggestion that 2006 has been a quiet year in the internationaltrust world is likely to be quickly denied. Of course, the worldof international trusts never stops changing. A popular conferencetopic is ‘Challenges of the trust today’ or a similartitle which calls upon the speaker to present his views on whatis happening preferably with some crystal ball gazing of impendinglegislation. The source of change offers ample opportunity for discourse.First, case law produces its finely ground decisions to resolveindividual disputes laying down jurisprudence for future settlorsand their advisers to follow. Sometimes it is favourable. Therecent re-adoption and expansion of the Hastings-Bass principle(Re Hastings-Bass (Dec’d), Hastings v IRC [1974] 2 AllER 193), whereby trustees may make good an oversight, has beenfavourable to trustees, provided (naturally) liberties werenot taken with the rules.     

论国际公约的司法适用--由一个案例引发的思考

本文从具体案例入手,笔者主张,我国司法适用国际民商事公约,应以涉外法律关系为必要,在国内法律关系中,一般应适用国内法,在国内法没有做出任何规定时,可以参照国际公约的规定判案,但是其性质不是适用国际公约,而是将国际公约作为国际通例填补国内法的漏洞.     

试论宪法惯例的效力

以法律效力的本原说为指导,在分析关于宪法惯例效力的几种观点的基础上,认为宪法惯例效力的本原是知识和经验,并从妥当性和实用性的角度,提出了法律效力的两层次论,认为宪法惯例的效力表现为政治确认和制裁效力以及准法律效力两个方面。     

National Constitutional Jurisprudence in a Post‐National Europe: The ESM Ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court and the Disavowal of Conflict

In its pending decision on the constitutionality of the European Stability Mechanism and Fiscal Compact, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has recently ruled on several applications for temporary injunctions against the transposition of these instruments. The problem of democratic self‐determination under the constraints of monetary integration has been a main concern in the ruling. Yet, the democracy‐safeguards the FCC has prescribed are parochial in not considering their impact on other EU Member States, and the Court's view of autonomy is skewed towards the issue of spending. Both concepts are at odds with the current level of transnational interdependence, which the FCC as relay to ‘integration by stealth’ has facilitated during two decades of EU‐jurisprudence. Constitutional jurisdiction should acknowledge its role in this state of affairs and fortify its effort in building judicial networks of deliberative exchange to overcome outworn parochialisms.     

“人本”语境下的规则冲突与冲突规则

"人本相同"是国际社会公认的普世价值,但事实上的"人本不同"造成了各国民商事法律规定的冲突。"人本"语境下的冲突法应尊重人的价值,维护人的权利,重视人的发展,以促进全球范围内民商事活动的顺利进行、物质资源的合理配置、人类社会的和谐共存。我国《涉外民事关系法律适用法》以"人本"思想为价值导向,多采双边冲突规则,坚持内外法律平行,注重冲突法的实质正义,平等保护内外国当事人的合法权益,体现了"以人为本"的科学发展观,为构建和谐国际民商事秩序保驾护航。     

当前法医学鉴定标准的冲突和规范

因为现行的各类人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准,对某些类型的损伤或伤残程度的规定不一致,所以在法医实际鉴定工作中,有关鉴定标准冲突的事时有发生.研究和制定人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准的冲突规范,对正确地选择适用鉴定标准和社会主义法制的统一是十分重要的.     

当前法医学鉴定标准的冲突和规范

因为现行的各类人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准,对某些类型的损伤或伤残程度的规定不一致,所以在法医实际鉴定工作中,有关鉴定标准冲突的事时有发生。研究和制定人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准的冲突规范,对正确地选择适用鉴定标准和社会主义法制的统一是十分重要的。一、人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准的冲突及原因1人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标准的冲突。是指法医在进行人体损伤或伤残程度鉴定时,同一或不同的鉴定标准对某一特定的损伤(包括与损伤直接联系的并发症和损伤引起的后遗症)或伤残的类型或程度规定不一致的情况。2人体损伤和伤残程度鉴定标…