Waldron on Law and Disagreement

Law and Philosophy -     

论法学研究方法的多元化趋向

法学研究方法是人类进行法律认识的一种立场和途径。近代以来 ,法学研究方法经历了科学主义、现代性和后现代的发展过程。法学研究的现代特征表明 ,建立多元、综合、整体化的研究方法是历史的趋势 ,也是法哲学和法学家们的主要任务     

关于法律多元论的反思

随着社会的不断发展 ,法律制度也需要不断更新 ,需要不断补充新的内容。法律借鉴、吸收不同种类的社会规则如习惯、教规、道德规范等是一件十分正常的事情。在调整对象、调整方法等方面 ,法律与上述规则存在着明显的不同 ,但这并不意味着双方的对立或冲突。多元的法律状况只是特定历史时期的产物。     

Contributions of the Law to Political Deliberation. Comments on Peter Fitzpatrick's "Consolations of the Law"

In this paper the author discusses Peter Fitzpatrick's conception of deliberative politics (Fitzpatrick 2001), defining him as both a moderate optimist and a sceptic. For Fitzpatrick the deliberation is a process intrinsically incomplete; the law shows and compensates for the limits of deliberative politics and gives the political decision its legitimate form. Starting from Fitzpatrick's position, the author dwells, in particular, upon the relationship between law and deliberative decision making in politics showing that the essential question is how to handle deliberative discussion and not what the limits that law posits to deliberation are. Therefore he stresses that the success of deliberation depends not only on sound procedure, but, rather on political convictions, the belief in practical reason and a sense of community and proportionality (in other words, the spirit of democratic government and a critical public opinion) which play a decisive role in deliberative processes.     

读《本体刑法学》

《本体刑法学》是陈兴良先生在商务印书馆出版的新著。著作具有四大特色 :一是保持批判者立场 ,继承并提升刑法理论品位 ;二是界定本体刑法学的基本范畴 ,构建刑法学的新体系 ;三是提倡问题意识 ,寻求刑法学的真问题及其解决 ;四是创立一种刑法学教科书写作的新范式 ,即体系性叙述、法理性叙述与私人性叙述相结合。尽管存在些许瑕疵 ,但本体刑法学的总体特色可以概括为 :理论的继承和创新并存 ;范式转换或体系完备并重。     

Beyond Consensus: Law, Disagreement and Democracy

Nowadays democratic liberal societies face a rising challenge in terms of fragmentation and erosion of shared values and ethical pluralism. Democracy is not anymore grounded in the possibility of a common understanding and interpretation of the same values. Neverthless, legal and political philosophy continue to focus on how to reach consensus, especially through monist, objectualist, contractualist, discursive and deliberative approaches, rather than openly affording the issue of disagreement. Far from being just a disruptive force, disagreement and conflict are matters of fact that no reflection on democracy can underevaluate. They are the major issues through which to look at the intersection of law, politics and morals. The inclusion of dissent is a powerful tool for moral recognition of different understandings of justice. That is where legal procedures become crucial. Law is a fundamental element in the building of a democracy. But it is also particularly exposed to disagreement. Language indeterminacy, dogmatic concepts and value pluralism constitute the main elements that lead to alternative and conflicting interpretations of law in a democratic framework. Major legal progress in the past has come from different understandings of the same legal materials. In this article I argue that respect for disagreement should be a moral principle in democracy and that the role of legal disagreement is essential to understand the evolution and the future directions of democracy as the government of a political community. To do so, a link between respect for disagreement and legal interpretation and argumentation must be established in order to make room for reason and avoid extreme skepticism on the contribution of law to the enforcement of democracy.     

Legal Validity, Acceptance of Law, Legitimacy. Some Critical Comments and Constructive Proposals

In this paper the author first presents a critical account of some basic views of Habermas' Discourse Philosophy. He points out some difficulties inherent in notions such as valid justification in argumentation theory, in the notion of ideal form of discourses, and in consensus theory of truth. Secondly, he focuses on Habermas' conceptions of validity, acceptance and legitimacy of law from the perspective of neo-institutionalism. In particular, (i) the author argues that Habermas' definition of legal validity is unclear and unrealistic; (ii) the author stresses the distinction between acceptance and acceptability; (iii) Habermas presupposes harmony between sovereignty and human rights postulates, but the present author takes into account the possibility of conflicts between autonomous popular decisions and human rights which must be resolved by methods of discursive democracy; (iv) criteria for acceptance of law cannot be fixed by a stipulative definition, but are in social discussion; (v) legitimacy is not an objective feature of valid law and presupposes an evaluation based on our political convictions.     

论准据法与"适当准据法"

本文阐述了准据法这一国际私法特有概念和专门用语的内涵,强调它是确定当事人权利义务的实体法规范所属国家的法律体系,是冲突规范所指定的、最终适用于涉外民商事法律关系的法律体系.本文还就现有的国际私法著述对英文the proper law的译法进行了评析,并指出:准据法这一国际私法术语本身就含有"适当的所适用的法律体系"的意义,故不宜夸大"适当准据法"的作用,也不宜照搬于中国国际私法.     

Some Comments on Toleration

My comments will focus basically on Leader's paper. First, I will make some semantic remarks about the uses of the word "toleration"; second, I will offer some criticisms of Leader's paper; and, finally, I will put forward the outline of a modest proposal.     

试论“超越法律”的企业社会责任

"超越法律"的企业社会责任,是企业负担的那些超出法律强制性义务规定且符合社会价值和期望的责任,确认这种责任的法律规范实为"软法",它主要通过责任目标内化于企业的商业行为和治理结构之中,以实现企业的"自我管制";通过保护利益相关者的实质性和程序性权利,提高利益相关者的谈判抗衡力量以实现市场的自发对抗;并以声誉机制和非政府组织的作用作为责任的实施机制的补充。     

Co-ordination and Co-operation in Respectful Disagreement: General Course on Private International Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

《道路交通安全法》第76条评析

<道路交通安全法>第76条规定了机动车侵权责任和强制保险两项基本制度.从立法思路来讲,在中国机动车事故受害人保护问题日益严峻、"撞了白撞"地方立法逐渐蔓延、机动车强制保险以强制保险之名行商业保险之实的现实情况下,为了保护机动车事故受害人,立法者顺应世界各国机动车侵权归责严格化和保险强制化的趋势,规定机动车与非机动车、行人相撞时机动车方的严格责任及保险公司向受害人提供直接、绝对赔偿责任的强制保险制度是不应受到质疑的.     

对《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）（草案）》的几点意见

《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》（草案）提出了一系列值得关注的理论和实务问题,本文针对草案提出了十三点建议,包括应当明示罪名;《刑法修正案》不宜自公布之日起生效;对老年人犯罪还可增加不适用无期徒刑的规定;对于增加危险驾驶、恶意欠薪等民生犯罪要慎重;＂死刑太重＂的说法是对的,所以应当削减死刑,但＂生刑太轻＂的提法需要警惕。     

论“大民事”

我国法院系统关于取消经济审判庭的“大民事”改革 ,实际上是向公、私法严格分野的“小民事”的倒退。司法真要改革 ,就要确立官民合作、“民行 (政 )”相容、实事求是、公平和诚信的理念。适应市场经济及其法治要求的理念确立了 ,相应的法和司法制度设计问题也就迎刃而解了。     

意大利行政程序法评述

意大利行政程序法于1990年获得通过后,已接受了37次部分性修改和解释,目前仍在发展、变化中。它的主要内容包括:原则、行政程序负责制、行政程序的参与、简易行政程序和行政知情权。这部法律既有运作良好的方面,也有实践效果较差的方面。意大利立法部门正在积极制定配套法律,以便能够与现有规定相协调,从而改变实施现状。     

“买断工龄”的法律规制探讨

"买断工龄"是因企业改制或企业资产发生重大变化而导致的劳动关系的解除。其有劳动法的依据,但其规定过于笼统,从而导致"买断工龄"侵犯职工合法权益,有必要进行立法。在立法方面,应当针对包括国有企业在内的企业改制或企业资产发生重大变化而导致的劳动关系的解除进行规制,保证程序公正,赋予职工集体谈判权,把"买断工龄"争议纳入劳动仲裁和诉讼解决的轨道,加强政府责任。     

对《专利法》第三次修改的几点评议

对<专利法>第三次修订中的几个问题进行了讨论,针对专利平行进口、专利行政执法,本次修订未涉及到的无效程序,专利侵权抗辩,以及专利法未明确的何为在中国完成的发明等问题,提出建议.     

法教义学基本问题初探

法教义学是个文化和地域色彩十分浓厚的用语.它在国内法学界的使用并不多见.从法教义学这一用语的语义和译名问题人手,进而考察法教义学知识在历史上的发展演变.在当今哲学社会思想背景下,人们对法教义学的理解已经发生了一些深刻的变化.法教义学因具有了开放性、实践性,并不断趋近于现实社会生活.法教义学在法学知识体系中居于比较独特的地位,需要协调好其与法理学、法哲学等法学的关系.     

Governing Economic Globalisation: Global Legal Pluralism and European Law

How is globalisation governed? The following article tries to answer this question. Focusing on economic globalisation, it presents the case of the international commodity chain in toys, identifies its various segments or boxes, and then gives examples to illustrate how the chain is governed. The article argues that economic globalisation is governed by the totality of strategically determined, situationally specific, and often episodic conjunctions of a multiplicity of sites throughout the world. These sites include, for example, EU law, United States law, Chinese law, multinational corporation and trade association codes of conduct, international customs conventions, and WTO law. Each of these sites has institutional, normative, and processual characteristics. Though the sites are not isolated from each other, each has its own history, internal dynamics, and distinctive features. Taken together, they represent a new form of global legal pluralism.