论文化权利的宪法保护

公民的文化权利与公民所享有的政治、经济和社会权利一样,都是公民作为国家和社会主人翁所必须享有的法律利益。我国是社会主义国家,保护公民权利是社会主义事业一贯的宗旨。从宪法角度来保障公民的文化权利,最主要的是应当加强相关的制度建设。应当在宪法文本中明确文化权利的基本权利宪法地位,明确国家和政府在保障文化权利方面应当承担的职责或义务,加强对文化权利的平等性的保护以及应当制定文化基本法律,来保障文化权利的实现真正做到有法可依。     

Constitutional democracy and the legitimacy of judicial review

It has long been argued that the institution of judicial review is incompatible with democratic institutions. This criticism usually relies on a procedural conception of democracy, according to which democracy is essentially a form of government defined by equal political rights and majority rule. I argue that if we see democracy not just as a form of government, but more basically as a form of sovereignty, then there is a way to conceive of judicial review as a legitimate democratic institution. The conception of democracy that stems from the social contract tradition of Locke, Rousseau, Kant and Rawls, is based in an ideal of the equality, independence, and original political jurisdiction of all citizens. Certain equal basic rights, in addition to equal political rights, are a part of democratic sovereignty. In exercising their constituent power at the level of constitutional choice, free and equal persons could choose judicial review as one of the constitutional mechanisms for protecting their equal basic rights. As such, judicial review can be seen as a kind of shared precommitment by sovereign citizens to maintaining their equal status in the exercise of their political rights in ordinary legislative procedures. I discuss the conditions under which judicial review is appropriate in a constitutional democracy. This argument is contrasted with Hamilton's traditional argument for judicial review, based in separation of powers and the nature of judicial authority. I conclude with some remarks on the consequences for constitutional interpretation.I am indebted to John Rawls and Burton Dreben for their helpful advice and their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Ambivalent Legal Mobilization: Perceptions of Justice and the Use of the Tutela in Colombia

This article explores the relationship between legal consciousness and legal mobilization in the context of constitutional rights in Colombia. Citizens report extremely low confidence in the state and the judiciary, yet hundreds of thousands of Colombians make constitutional rights claims through the acción de tutela procedure each year. Why does profound skepticism of the ability of the judiciary to provide justice and fair treatment seem to coexist with high levels of use of the legal system? How do perspectives on rights and the legal system relate to observed mobilization of the law? Drawing on 74 interviews and an original 310‐person survey, this article develops legal consciousness theory, identifying the specific beliefs that encourage or discourage individuals to turn to the courts to make claims to their rights. In the Colombian case, understandings of law and the state encourage the use of the tutela procedure, not due to the realizable promise of the state to protect rights or the majestic power of the law, but because the tutela is understood to be the only mechanism through which citizens can access their rights. In other words, citizens turn to the courts because there is no other alternative.     

诉权入宪:构建和谐社会的宪政之道

诉权是公民的基本权利,是公民人权的重要内容,是公民获得司法救济、实现权利的前提和基础。基于诉权启动的司法审判程序是保障人权实现的最有效的机制。从宪政的角度把握诉权的宪法权利属性,站在构建和谐社会的高度认识诉权入宪作为宪政实现策略的实践意义,必须首先在宪法中明确规定诉权,提升诉权的保障水平,并通过诉讼法和实体法对诉权加以具体化和规范化,完善诉权的宪政保障体系。     

宪法的哲学之维

宪法是用以调整公民与国家之间冲突的法律规范。权力和权利的关系协调问题贯穿于宪法的始终,二者的有机协调是宪政秩序得以型构的前提基础。公民与国家的这样一种冲突关系,表现在宪法中,就是限权与保权的关系。它作为宪法的调整对象,表现出双重的属性:立足于已然之冲突,宪法应着重于矫正;立足于未然之冲突,宪法应着重于规制。矫正与规制的关系及其解决,成为宪法哲学的基本问题。宪法哲学的一切命题都由此展开,并为此服务。     

论法院对基本权利的保护

为公民基本权利提供保护,是现代国家合法性的重要来源。普通法院在基本权利保护中发挥着重要作用。德国虽然设立了宪法法院,但保护公民基本权利的职责仍主要由其他法院承担。在没有设立宪法法院的国家,通过普通法院更是为基本权利提供司法保护的唯一途径。我国法院应当通过三种方式为基本权利提供司法保护:如果法律有保护基本权利的具体规定,法院应当直接适用法律;如果法律对基本权利的保护只作了抽象规定,法院应当对有关抽象立法进行合宪解释之后予以适用;如果法律没有作出保护基本权利的任何规定,法院可以直接适用宪法的基本权利条款。     

论社会保障基本权

社会保障基本权是指公民所享有的依照宪法请求国家等公共主体提供援助以保障其基本生活或提高生活水平的基础性权利,它可被区分为缴纳性权利和非缴纳性权利、给付性权利和非给付性权利.由于社会保障基本权以维护人道主义价值为目标,并倚重于国家等公共机构,所以,它是一种社会基本权.不同社会保障基本权的实现对普通法的依赖程度有差别,但是,它们都具有对国家机关、社会组织及公民的直接效力.如果社会保障基本权未能被立法权、行政权具体化,或者具体化地不充分,或者具体化行为违宪,一旦该权利受到侵害,那么,就可通过宪法诉讼予以救济.     

比例原则的理论基础探析——以宪政哲学与公法精神为视角

比例原则不是凭空而来的,其产生、发展都离不开一定的文化传统背景。作为一个公法上的原则,由于其探讨的是国家权力与公民权利的关系,而国家权力与公民权利之间的关系是宪政哲学乃至公法哲学的基础,因此,比例原则是立基于宪政基础之上的。此外,在现代公法体系中,法治原则、宪政思想的确立及人性尊严、基本权利保护的确立,成为现代公法精神的载体,是公法追求的内在价值,这些也为比例原则提供了坚实的法精神基础。     

Disobedience and Criticism. The Ethos of Ombudsman's Institution and the "East-European Revolution of Human Rights"

The commissioners of human rights in the Parliament aim at ensuring the protection and formation as well as the development of the culture of human rights with their activities in Hungary and all over the world. What else could be done by the citizens practising their disobedience during the non-violent revolutions in 1989 after Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the American Henry David Thoreau? At a first glance, it perhaps seems to be strange to put the following question: what is the connecting link between the role of political law of a public state and the citizens breaking the rules in order to protect the constitutional rights? What will be the result of this comparison? I think, the result is that we can recognize the role of both functions more thoroughly in operating the constitutional state suitably in order to protect the culture of constitutional rights (reactive role) and to develop them (proactive role).     

论隐私权的宪法保护——以自媒体时代为分析背景

自媒体在彰显言论自由之对,也打开了一扇偷窥公民隐私之窗.在宪法视野下,隐私权已经超越部门法的疆域上升为一项基本人权.在自媒体时代,侵犯公民隐私权的特征表现为隐蔽性、侵财性、便捷性和严重性,隐私权的传统法律保护模式遭遇了新的挑战.宪法对公民隐私权加以保护有其合理性与必要性.隐私权的宪法保护路径在于明确隐私权是一项列举的人权,强化违宪审查制度的贯彻执行,并通过部门法落实和实施该项权利,建立一个由宪法统领的、由部门法具体实施的、多层级和全方位的立体保护架构.     

我国宪制发展中短期态势评估

我国宪法确立了国家的基础性制度架构,内容包括若干基本宪法原则、公民宪法权利的范围及其保护、国家权力的横向和纵向配置,以及宪法的保障实施。我国宪制发展面对的课题可概括为以下几种:使政治、法律体制改革跟上经济体制改革的步伐;有效保障宪法确认的公民基本权利;实现执政党与国家关系的法治化;形成独立的有权威的司法体系;建立行之有效的违宪审查制度。我国完全可以在今后5-10年内实现一些具体的宪制改革目标,其中包括:初步实现政党以及执政党与国家机关关系的法制化;省、自治区、直辖市人大代表乃至全国人大代表由选民直选产生;修改选举法,容许人大代表选举实行竞选;实现不同职业选民的平等选举权;使司法机关相对于本级地方党委和本级地方其他国家机关有较大独立性;采取立法措施弥补公民基本权利法律保障方面的缺失;消除地方因权力过度集中于执政党的领导机构而形成的党的书记破坏法制、搞个人专制的问题;在全国人大内部设立宪法监督委员会作为设立宪法法院前的过渡措施;逐步终止地方国家机关正职领导人员选举和补选环节普遍违反法律原则的做法。     

Student privacy rights involving strip searches

The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution provides protection of all citizens against unreasonable search and seizure. The US Supreme Court has affirmed that the basic purpose of the Fourth Amendment is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against unreasonable intrusive searches by governmental officials. Since students possess constitutional rights and public school officials are considered governmental officials for Fourth Amendment purposes, privacy protection is afforded students in public schools within reasonable limits. A reasonable search is one that clearly does not violate the constitutional rights of students. What is reasonable, however, depends on the context within which a search occurs. Strip searches involving students in public schools are the most intrusive form of all searches. Extreme caution should be exercised by school officials regarding these types of searches.     

有关公民知情权的法律制度保障

知情权是现代民主国家公民的一项基本人权。在我国有关保障公民知情权的法律制度已初步建立。但是公民知情权宪法地位尚未明确;知情权法律保障制度还不能形成一个系统而完善的体系,其法律保障效力难以发挥。确立公民宪法和法律上的知情权,制定政府信息公开法是完善公民知情权法律保障制度的重要内容。     

预防性行政诉讼

现行行政诉讼法规定的事后救济型行政诉讼,常常无法排除或修复行政活动对原告造成的严重损害后果,导致原告合法权益得不到有效保护,直接威胁到行政诉讼救济的有效性和社会稳定与和谐。应尽快弥补这个法律缺失,建立以事前和事中救济为特征,旨在对抗威胁性行政行为和事实行为的预防性行政诉讼制度,真正实现权利有效保障。     

A systematic justification for the EU's pouvoir constituant mixte: Principles of constitutional politics in supranational polities

This article presents a rational reconstruction of the practice of constitutional politics in supranational polities. In doing so, it seeks to refocus the ongoing debate about constituent power in the EU on the question of who, under what conditions, is entitled to decide on the EU constitutional order. The analysis leads to a number of principles of democratic legitimacy, which include the political autonomy of the members of the state demoi as well as the political autonomy of the members of a cross‐border demos. In explicating these parallel entitlements to political autonomy, I provide a systematic justification for the notion of a pouvoir constituant mixte, according to which the citizens should take control of EU constitutional politics in two roles: as European citizens and as Member State citizens.     

自由权的受益权功能之省思——以住宅自由的功能为例

住宅自由属于典型的自由权,虽然它也有些许受益权的功能,但并不能从中解读出国家帮助公民获得住宅的义务。自由权的受益权功能理论产生于德国基本法的特定背景之下,并不符合我国宪法的基本权利理论。它混淆了权利与权利的条件,也没有我国宪法文本上的依据。     

作为宪政实践机制的合宪性审查

合宪性审查作为一种宪政实践机制,蕴涵了宪法的“高级法”观念、自然正义、宪法保障、分权与权力理性、宪政民主、人权保障等思想基础,集中展示它的宪政性与现代意义。为此,应当认真对待宪政生活中的合宪性,当前我国的关键问题不在于应否创制,而在于如何创制合宪性审查机制。     

中国宪法权利“新”类型的划分、解释与应用

关于中国宪法权利的研究存在着诸多缺陷,而导致研究缺陷的一个重要原因就是对中国宪法权利的分类针对性与科学性不足。基于规范依据,可将中国宪法权利划分为单一宪法权利与复合宪法权利;基于权利内容,可将中国宪法权利划分为基本权利与非基本权利。运用"新"分类所蕴含的关系原理,既可对中国宪法权利本体问题及衍生的关系问题作出解释,也可对中国宪法权利的护卫机制进行设想与展望。     

Constitutional literacy in Africa: challenges and prospects

The issue of constitutional literacy has attracted very little attention in scholarship on constitutionalism in Africa. This is not surprising, because the early constitutions were virtually imposed by the departing colonial powers and perceived as alien, not only by the ordinary citizens but also the new leaders, who had little knowledge or experience of constitutional governance. Have the new generation of ‘made-in-Africa’ constitutions changed the state of constitutional literacy on the continent? In addressing this question, the paper examines the concept of constitutional literacy and, using the example of South Africa, considers ways in which it could be promoted. The paper also considers the challenges to promoting constitutional literacy. It concludes by underlining the fact that strengthening the democratic constitutional foundations laid in the 1990s, foundations increasingly under threat today, requires a comprehensive programme of constitutional education, with a focus on the poor and other marginalised groups in society. Without knowledge and awareness of constitutional rights, citizens will not be able to vindicate their rights or challenge any violation of them.     

权利空间的拓展——农民迁徙自由的宪法学分析

迁徙自由是人们追求幸福、实现人生价值和目标的“复合性”权利,它在整个宪法权利体系中具有基础性的意义。以限制迁徙自由为实际内容的户籍制度,造就了不公正的城乡二元社会结构,阻隔着人们以自由迁徙的方式完成“地缘的结合”和“从身份到契约”的转变,并直接形成了与宪政精神的抵牾。迁徙自由体现着对人的价值的宪政关怀,它为农民自身的全面自由发展及其权利的拓展提供了广阔的空间,为瓦解传统的城乡二元社会结构并祛除由此而生的城乡歧视、城乡差别提供着制度上的契机与可能。同时,以农民为主体的自由迁徙有助于形成政府间竞争博弈的宪政权力结构,有助于形成宪政所必需的公民意识和政治理性。只有当农民以具有完善人格和个人理念的“自由公民”形象出现并真正成为政治关系的完整主体时,才能为宪政和法治建设奠定坚实的社会基础。