Fundamental rights and private enforcement in the digital age

This article addresses the shift inthe paradigm of fundamental rights protection on the Internet. More and morethe enforcement of such rights is being delegated to private Internet operators, and the urgent question is how the task of balancing conflicting rights affects the status of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The article examines the increasing privatisation of fundamental rights enforcementon the Internet, highlighting the impact of this trend. Following the analysisof recent developments, it argues that the pillars governing ISP liability should not be altered. In particular, the early determination that ISPs should not be presumptively saddled with content monitoring tasks should not be called into question. Therefore, the regulatory pressure on ISPs shouldbe lowered, as the spectre of liability, combined with ISPs' increasing role indeciding the proper balance between conflicting rights, unduly burdens the activity of ISPs and generates incentives to delete even lawful content.     

New Privacy Concerns: ISPs,Crime Prevention and Consumers' Rights

In November 1998, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) authored a 'privacy letter' to be sent from a subscriber to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) addressing concerns over privacy of communications through a UK ISP. The letter was drafted from the consumers' perspective and raises important issues in relation to ISP privacy policies. The 'privacy letter' was partly developed as a response to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the ISPs and the Government Forum's initiatives in relation to developing 'good practice guidelines' between Law Enforcement Agencies and the Internet Service Providers' Industry. These guidelines describe what information can lawfully and reasonably be provided to Law Enforcement Agencies, under what circumstances such information can be provided, and the procedures to be followed in such cases. The process initiated by the ACPO Forum has so far excluded the views of concerned citizens and civil liberties organizations. This article will provide an insight into the activities of the ACPO/ISPs/Government Forum and will argue that procedures can only be properly designed within a legal context that takes due account of individual rights and liberties.     

Courtroom Access After 9/11: A Pathological Perspective

The dangers that times of national stress inevitably pose for First Amendment freedoms led legal scholar Vincent Blasi to formulate what he called the "pathological perspective." Blasi argued that, because the nation is more willing to give up fundamental liberties during these periods, it is incumbent upon the courts to anticipate such times and create legal rules that will withstand such pressures. This article examines the Supreme Court's courtroom access doctrine from a pathological perspective. It concludes that the confusing legacy of the Court's decisions in courtroom access cases has increased the danger to First Amendment rights during this critical time, and it proposes a more robust doctrine of courtroom access drawn from the pathological perspective.     

基本权利限制的合宪性基准

尽管美、德两国违宪审查基准因各自的法律价值取向、权利保护政策和法律传统不同而有所区别,表述方式也存在差异,但各国从形式和实质上的考量因素是基本一致的。这些因素包括确立基本权利限制之合宪性基准的本体论因素,如基本权利的类型、构成;关联论因素,如法治传统、司法政策;以及方法论因素,如基本权利限制的目的、手段和结果等。希望所整合出的基本权利限制之合宪性的基准体系,对我国的立法合宪性审查有所助益。     

调解权的价值、性质与实现

本文以纠纷当事人的调解权为核心和基础,以调解权与相关国家权力的关系为视角,分析了调解权的被动性、调解权的差异性以及调解权的受支配性等特征。认为当事人之间的调解权利意识,是社会公众所昭示的公共性政策在法律领域的延伸,强调在需求多样化与多元化的今天,调解权的实现有利于维护公民的利益。     

社会弱势群体法律保护问题论纲

保护与救济社会弱势群体是实现社会公正和法律实质正义的基本要求,是构建和谐社会的题中应有之义。虽然法律机制因其局限性而无法解决社会弱势群体利益需求的全部问题,但是法律机制在保护社会弱势群体方面不可或缺、不可替代。社会弱势群体法律保护的基本内容应该围绕权利宣言和权利保障展开,核心问题应该是在给人以机会、给人以能力、给人以物质帮助三个方面寻求制度努力。     

Independent Discretion or Democratic Legitimisation? The Relations between National Regulatory Authorities and National Parliaments under EU Regulatory Framework for Network‐Bound Sectors

The European legislator, being supported in that regard by the Court of Justice, confers upon national regulatory authorities (NRAs) the exercise of the most important tasks concerned with the regulation of the network‐bound sectors, while at the same time guarantees NRAs a far‐reaching independence in exercising of their discretionary powers and shielding NRAs against other public authorities, including national parliaments. This, in turn, raises many doubts from the perspective of some essential constitutional principles of the Member States, such as, among others, ‘the domain of the law,’ which reserves the regulation of issues sensitive to the citizens as an exclusive parliament's prerogative. It is submitted in this article that national parliaments should play a much more active role in regulating the network‐bound sectors. The main point is to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights of regulated parties and create the real democratic legitimisation of NRAs, while not undermining those regulatory objectives that are already accorded at the EU level.     

走私犯罪既未遂形态认定研究

分析229份涉走私未遂案件的裁判文书发现,走私犯罪既未遂的认定标准很不统一,判决难点问题集中,相互矛盾明显。犯罪的本质在于侵害法益,大多数故意犯罪都存在一定的行为过程,犯罪的本质也应贯彻于犯罪认定的整个过程之中。作为犯罪过程中的停止形态,既未遂的判断,也可通过法益侵害程度来考察。走私类犯罪侵犯的主要法益是国家外贸管制和海关监管制度,根据走私的形式不同,法益侵害程度的标准可以区分和细化,进而区别认定它们的既未遂形态。     

社会权的历史演变

社会权是与自由权同等重要的人权形式。作为应有人权和法定人权,社会权的产生和发展经历了从量变到质变三个不同的历史时期。前近代出现了社会权观念的萌芽;近代出现了社会权的理论和立法实践,社会权得以初步形成;现代出现了从国内到国际的社会权广泛立法活动,社会权获得全面发展。     

From porn to cybersecurity passing by copyright: How mass surveillance technologies are gaining legitimacy … The case of deep packet inspection technologies

Recent coverage in the press regarding large-scale passive pervasive network monitoring by various state and government agencies has increased interest in both the legal and technical issues surrounding such operations. The monitoring may take the form of which systems (and thus potentially which people) are communicating with which other systems, commonly referred to as the metadata for a communication, or it may go further and look into the content of the traffic being exchanged over the network. In particular the monitoring may rely upon the implementation of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technologies. These technologies are able to make anything that happens on a network visible and recordable. While in practice the sheer volume of traffic passing through a DPI system may make it impractical to record all network data, if the system systematically records certain types of traffic, or looks for specific patterns in all traffic, the privacy concerns are highly significant. The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to show that despite the increasing public awareness in relation to the capabilities of Internet service providers (ISPs), a cross-field and comparative examination shows that DPI technologies are in fact progressively gaining legal legitimacy; second to stress the need to rethink the relationship between data protection law and the right to private life, as enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on human rights and Article 7 of the European Charter of fundamental rights, in order to adequately confine DPI practices. As a result, it will also appear that the principle of technical neutrality underlying ISP's liability exemptions is misleading.     

国民待遇原则下农民合法权益保障问题研究--从一起地下水资源纠纷引发的命案说起

国民待遇原则作为不歧视原则的一个重要方面,在自由贸易条件下,国民内部一律平等,不能因差别有所歧视。基于国际待遇原则,为充分保障农民权益,以国际待遇为基础的WTO法律体系不仅要求政府职能彻底转变,而且农民的利益应加强保护。中国加入以国民待遇为基础原则的WTO或许是一次机会,在推动保障农民权益方面,给农民一次历史机遇。     

The failure of the Russian global license proposal and the future of alternative remuneration systems

As rights holders, courts, and policy makers worldwide struggle with the question of copyright infringement and the potential liability of internet service providers (ISPs) worldwide, Russia developed – and subsequently abandoned – a proposal for the creation of a global license to be imposed on ISPs which would allow for rights holders to be compensated for copyright-infringing activities carried out through those ISPs.Russia is not the first jurisdiction to look at a global license as solution to the wide spread of copyright infringements online. By analysing the Russian proposal for a global license, this article addresses the sustainability of such a model on a wider scale by analysing the legal implications this may cause. In this context, this article will address the Russian proposal's legislative history before moving into a substantive discussion about the synergies between legal justifications and merits of a global license.     

刑事证据制度:从逻辑规则向程序规则的演进——以非法证据排除制度为切入点的分析

本文以非法证据排除制度为样本,对2012年刑事诉讼法修改后证据制度的发展和变革作了梳理,讨论了为规范司法机关诉讼活动,保障公民基本权利,在充分考虑中外法律传统、诉讼模式等方面差异,充分考虑国情并借鉴外国先进经验的基础上确立非法证据排除制度时的考量因素.非法证据排除制度的建立,体现了我国刑事证据制度从以逻辑推演规则为基础...     

公民基本权利司法保障的宪法学分析

对公民基本权利受到第三人侵害时 ,如何寻求司法保障的问题 ,目前宪法学界有不同看法。笔者认为 ,要从理论上解决这一问题 ,首先应当弄清公民基本权利的内涵以及与此相关的宪法关系的特点。当公民基本权利受到第三者侵害时 ,要求国家予以保障 ,是公民基本权利的固有内涵 ;国家权力通过积极行为对公民基本权利进行保障 ,是宪法关系的应有之义。因此 ,从理论上和实践中确认普通法院对第三人侵犯公民基本权利行为的司法审查的合法性 ,通过对侵犯公民基本权利的审查 ,对违宪行为予以撤消 ,是公民基本权利司法保障的可行途径和手段。     

MEDICALLY ASSISTED HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (ART) AND HUMAN RIGHTS — THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

The present article examines how the progress of science, and in particular, medically assisted human reproductive technologies (ART) have provoked a revolution in the sphere of family relations, generating a series of ethical and legal conflicts. The article focuses on the European perspective, without ignoring the international sphere, given the globalization of the phenomenon. The emerging legal issues are analyzed through the filter of international human rights, not only an important aspect to take into consideration in the context of bioethics in general, but a “passage obligé” given that certain concepts find their explanation and coordinates in international human rights law. It is from this perspective that the relationship between ART and human rights is presented. The applicable international and European legal instruments and principles shall be mentioned, as well as a brief comparison of national legal frameworks in Europe. The emerging bioethical and legal issues are examined in correlation with the response of the European Court of Human Rights through its case law aimed at balancing conflicting rights when faced with issues pertaining to ART. Lastly, the article presents in more detail the particular legal issues under debate in France and Italy, two European countries with specific legislation in the field.     

An Improved Protection for the (Mentally Ill) Trans Parent: A Queer Reading of AP,Garçon and Nicot v France

The European Court of Human Rights has been deciding cases concerning LGBT rights since the early 1980s. Its case law on trans rights has changed drastically over time, imposing upon the states of the Council of Europe certain minimum standards regarding the legal recognition of gender identity. In its recent judgment of April 2017 the Court laid down a new rule to be adopted by domestic legislation; namely, that the legal recognition of gender transition cannot be made conditional upon pursuing medical or surgical procedures which have (or are likely to have) sterilising effects. This article analyses the judgment from a critical perspective grounded in queer theory, noting both the positive and the negative elements of the Court's decision.     

纳税人权利话语之法理形构

有关纳税人权利话语的实践性议论和法律议论唤起了法学方法论的觉醒,但关于纳税人的权益如何构成一项公法上主观权利或宪法权利的争辩并没有被认真对待。如果直接从公民基本权利的性质切入,再加以层级化的结果,可以将之分为:自然权、宪法基本权利和一般法律权利三个层次,税法上的纳税人权利的主观公权利性质似乎没有疑问,但是宪法层次的纳税人权利面临着法律实践和理论的困难,在宪法解释学意义上所谓“纳税人基本权利”也许可以解释为宪法基本权利和纳税义务之间的平衡。     

俄罗斯金融服务市场监管法律制度评介

俄罗斯金融服务市场监管法律制度承继了前苏联的部分理念和框架,随着自由化和私有化进程的加速,逐渐形成了自己的特色。监管主体以中央银行为核心,联邦金融市场管理局为辅助,同时推动行业自律和社会监督的发展。在法律体系方面以《银行法》、《保险法》和《证券市场法》作为主要规范金融服务市场的依据,其他单行法规和个别部门法中的特殊规定也发挥着调控作用。金融危机之后,俄罗斯金融服务市场的监管法律逐步完善,法律规定比较全面,更加重视消费者权益的保护,但还应继续转变立法理念,加强部门法的协调统一,平衡好国家利益和个人权利的关系。     

Online selling and contracting: An overview of EU rules

In the second of our series of articles considering the EU’s limited harmonisation of the laws regulating the activities of businesses using the Internet, we look at the rules governing contracting and selling online. We consider the circumstances in which three key EU directives apply, the rights, under these directives, of consumers who contract online and the effect of electronic signatures as used for online contracting.     

The impact of GDPR on European Name & Shame tax defaulter lists

This research analyses and compares tax defaulters’ lists in Europe from the legal perspective arising from the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation. We examined various regulatory systems which reflect a cross section of these ‘Name & Shame’ lists in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Our findings indicated some legal aspects that contravene the GDPR rules. As a solution we propose a minimum standard model that allows for the publication of tax defaulter information without impinging on citizens’ fundamental rights.