Images of welfare in law and society: the British welfare state in comparative perspective

Designed by Beveridge and built by Attlee's post-war Labour government, the welfare state was created during the 1940s. Britain has been seen – in domestic debates and internationally – as a world first: the place where both the idea and the practice of the welfare state were invented. I draw together comparative welfare state analysis with law and society scholarship (previously largely developed in isolation from one another) – as well as using British political cartoons as a source – to develop a revisionist historical critique of this conventional wisdom. First, the British welfare state has always been comparatively parsimonious. Second, the idea of the welfare state seems to have its origins outside the United Kingdom and this terminology was adopted relatively late and with some ambivalence in public debate and scholarly analysis. Third, a large body of socio-legal scholarship shows that robust ‘welfare rights’ were never embedded in the British ‘welfare state’.     

裁量基准的制度定位——以行政自制为视角

面对裁量基准在我国行政执法实践中的发展,亟待从制度层面对裁量基准的性质、功能和边界加以合理的定位。在行政自制的视角下,考察各地所推行的裁量基准实践,裁量基准在性质上应当被看作一种行政自制规范。它对裁量权正当行使的自我控制功能,主要是通过情节的细化和效果的格化技术,来达到对裁量权的限定、建构和制约。然而,裁量基准作为一种规则化的自制,亦有其难以克服的局限性,对此必须在制度设计上充分把握三个方面的平衡,即在羁束与裁量之间的平衡、规则与原则之间的平衡以及自制与他制之间的平衡。有必要倡导一种功能主义的行政自制观,以此推进中国行政法治的新发展。     

行政裁量收缩论的形成与展开——以危险防止型行政为中心

行政裁量收缩论是对行政裁量进行限制、对行政裁量(包括作为和不作为)合法性进行判断的一种理论。这一理论来自于20世纪初的德国行政法,主要适用于国家赔偿和科以义务诉讼领域,并为日本行政法所继受,在我国的司法实践中亦有所运用。它既承认行政裁量的价值,又在一定情况下将行政裁量压缩至零,将行政裁量权限义务化、羁束化。这种将行政便宜主义限制合理范围之内的理论也正是其合理性和生命力之所在。     

Relational legal consciousness in the punitive welfare state: How Dutch welfare officials shape clients' perceptions of law

With a growing number of strict obligations and harsh sanctions for welfare recipients, the Netherlands has increasingly become a punitive welfare state. This article looks at what this means for welfare clients and their commonsense understandings of the law. To analyze how welfare officials shape clients' legal consciousness, I draw on an online survey among Dutch welfare clients (N = 1305) and a correlation analysis. The findings show that there is a clear relationship between welfare clients' own legal consciousness and their assessment of welfare officials' beliefs about the law. However, not all elements of their legal consciousness are relationally influenced by the same factors. Also, clients' self-reported compliance behavior is less relationally influenced than other elements of their legal consciousness. This study adds to our understanding of the mechanisms that constitute the production of relational and second-order legal consciousness and it contributes to the development of new research methods to study people's perceptions of law.     

Diverting young offenders from crime in Ireland: the need for more checks and balances on the exercise of police discretion

The Irish police (the Garda Síochána) have been exercising their law enforcement discretion to pursue a diversionary strategy for young offenders since at least 1953. Working in a street environment of low visibility they have managed to expand their traditional law enforcement function into territory more appropriately reserved for courts, social workers and probation officers. This article charts the development of this expansion and examines its current manifestation in the juvenile diversion programme. It argues that the welfare benefits for the young offenders are being purchased at the cost of due process rights, and that there is a need for more custom built accountability checks and balances to strike a better balance in the programme.     

罪刑均衡的司法考察

司法中的罪刑均衡原则通过责任要素的介入将报应主义下的罪刑均衡与目的主义下的刑罚个别化原则结合起来 ,表现为责刑均衡 ,实现了量刑原则由一元向二元的转变。在罪刑均衡原则的实践过程中 ,定罪与量刑是两个密切相关的范畴。准确定罪始终是公正量刑的前提 ,但量刑对定罪亦有不可忽视的反作用。当前 ,我国司法实践中存在着量刑趋重与量刑偏差较大等问题 ,制约着罪刑均衡原则的充分实现。对量刑偏差问题 ,比较现实的解决方案是将各地量刑经验汇总至最高人民法院 ,在学者的参与下确立起个罪的量刑基准 ,并逐步建立起适度的遵循先例制度 ,以实现量刑的统一。至于量刑趋重问题 ,它是我国刑法文化形态的外在表现 ,难以在短期内得到改观 ,但司法依旧可以有所作为。     

American medical policy and the "crisis" of the welfare state: a comparative perspective

Health policy debates rarely include broad review of cross-national experiences with related social policies. This article addresses the connection between medical policy concerns and the development of welfare states in the advanced industrial democracies following the oil crisis of 1973-74. After examining the evidence about what actually occurred during the "crisis" years of the welfare state, the article relates the debates about the welfare state's crisis to American concerns about medical care in the 1980s. The distinctive American response to the fiscal strains of stagflation-more severe cuts in social spending than necessary based on the country's economic strength, threats of bankruptcy to produce small adjustments to large programs, and inability to address the problems of medical care as anything other than budgetary strain--is linked to American dissensus about the purposes of the welfare state.     

“皮筋”变“钢尺”：对规范行政处罚自由裁量权的思考

在行政执法中如何克服随意性,正确行使自由裁量权,增强行政处罚透明度,提高行政执法效能,是所有行政机关一直深入研讨的课题。现实的自由裁量权是＂皮筋＂,期望中的自由裁量权是＂钢尺＂,＂皮筋＂变为＂钢尺＂的过程,是漫长的,需要立法监督、司法监督、行政自身监督、舆论监督等的共同努力,从而最大限度地制约、压缩执法人员手中的＂弹性空间＂来实现的。     

Lost in space? the role of place in the delivery of social welfare law advice over the telephone and face-to-face

ABSTRACT

Advice that is provided exclusively over the telephone has been promoted by government as more convenient and accessible than face-to-face appointments. The resulting push towards telephone-only provision, as implemented by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, challenges the long history of association between social welfare law advice and local delivery within disadvantaged communities. This article reports on qualitative research comparing telephone and face-to-face advice which uncovers the continuing relevance of place in the dynamics and mechanics of social welfare law provision. Familiarity with the geographical location, knowledge of local policies and procedures, relationships with opponents and allies, and an understanding of the ‘local legal culture’ mean that face-to-face advisers are often able to conduct their legal casework more effectively. Conversely, local knowledge is unlikely to be available to Community Legal Advice telephone advisers. This research suggests that, in addition, telephone-only advisers may be developing a more narrow understanding of the essential qualities of casework. These findings are particularly significant in view of the likely future expansion of remote methods of delivery in legal aid work.     

行政许可自由裁量权的表现与防控

行政许可是行政机关管理社会公共事务的重要手段,行政许可自由裁量权是现代行政权的重要组成部分,在行政许可中普遍存在.从分析行政许可自由裁量权入手,有针对性地构建行政许可自由裁量权的防范与控制体系,可以有效规范行政许可行为,预防和根除腐败现象的发生.     

Charge reduction: An analysis of prosecutorial discretion in burglary and robbery cases

Although a substantial number of researchers have studied charge reductions taking place within the context of guilty plea negotiations, few have focused on estimating the determinants of charge reductions taking place at the initial screening decision. The prosecutor's decision to reduce original felony charges to a misdemeanor has serious social, legal, and economic consequences for the suspect. This paper presents a model of the variables affecting the likelihood of such a reduction in burglary and robbery offenses. Drawing from Littrell's principled charging perspective and earlier research on labeling, the analysis involves estimating logistic regression equations specifying both main and interaction effects of the suspect's gender and race and variables related to suspect character, case seriousness, and legal seriousness. Partial support is found for Littrell's perspective.     

行政裁量的本质论与运行论

行政裁量是现代行政任务和行政功能变化的产物,其目的在于追求个案的正当性,减少立法成本,促进行政效能。从本质上看,行政裁量是一种行政机关的单方意思表示,是行政机关对法律效果的自由选择行为,从而与作为判断权范畴的不确定性概念相区别。由于行政裁量所包含的“主观意志性”的非理性因素极容易导致行政裁量权被滥用,为此,现代国家设计了各种规则和制度将其纳入到一定的框架之中,以实现行政法治理性。     

关于依法治税与自由裁量的思考

依法治税是依法治国的一个具体体现。依法活税要求税收的征纳工作必须按照统一的税收法律法规进行, 但在幅员辽阔、人口众多的我国,面对为数众多的纳税人和灵活多变的应税经济现象,应给予税务机关和税务人员一 定的自由裁量权,要正确处理依治税与税收的自由裁量权的对立统一关系。     

高房价背景下住房权之保证

高房价已经成为困扰我国民生发展之大问题。从法理学的角度分析高房价发生的原因及其不合理性,指出高房价违背市场规律,违背社会上多数人的利益和期待,违背人们的社会正义感,并在此基础上从住房权的视角对此给予充分的反思,且在考察列国关于管制高房价的经验的基础之上,提出保障住房权的法律制度体系构想十分必要。