Writing Histories of Law and Emotion

In recent years the study of emotions in the past has received considerable attention. At the same time, many historians of law have shown reluctance to acknowledge and systematically explore emotions in legal sources and legal contexts. This issue of the Journal of Legal History addresses this imbalance and demonstrates how emotions have played important roles in legal reasoning, legal doctrine, the behaviour of legal actors, and the development of law over time. This article investigates recent developments in the study of the history of emotions and of emotions in contemporary law, before assessing the challenges of writing law and emotions histories. It argues for the importance of utilizing both legal and extra-legal source material to uncover the relationship between legal rationality and emotion; to gain insights into the emotional worlds of those participating in legal systems; and to provide a deeper understanding of the workings of the law.     

The Significance of Shame in the Lives of Women Who Experience Male Violence

Recently there has been recognition of the cultural politics of emotion, that is, the ways in which emotions impact upon individual life experiences. Significantly, it has been shown how emotions can produce effects of power on and through the bodies of individuals. Despite this knowledge, the law and legal responses tend to minimise, obscure and deny the ways in which emotions, and in particular shame, impacts upon individuals. This article therefore argues that the lives of women who experience male violence cannot be fully understood without reference to the ways in which shame affects those experiences. It explores how shame operates as a gendered set of self-regulatory practices, which are also practices of male power in individual womens’ lives. In order to do this findings from a small scale qualitative study which used semi-structured interviews with women who have experienced violence are utilised, together with a Foucauldian theoretical framework. The article contends that an awareness and understanding of how shame affects the lives of women experience male violence can improve law and social policy responses to male violence against women.     

Empathy and objectivity in the legal procedure: the case of Swedish prosecutors

The role of empathy, the capacity to read someone else’s emotions, in the legal context has previously been studied in relation to primarily judges’ decision-making, often with a concern for objectivity. Our purpose is to study professional emotion management in the legal process through an analysis of Swedish prosecutors’ use of empathy. An ethnographic data collection took place between 2012 and 2015, including shadowing, observations and interviews with 36 prosecutors from 3 prosecution offices. The analysis shows that during the investigation, empathy helps identify the prerequisites of a crime and deciding if and how to prosecute. When preparing for trial, empathy is used to anticipate the situation in court. During the trial, the empathic process includes management of the emotions of others in order to stage credible testimonies, convince the judge and calm victims. The empathic process is oriented and restricted by the emotive–cognitive judicial frame through which prosecutors are rewarded by emotions of comfort and pride in demonstrating expertise of legal coding. We conclude that empathy is integral to prosecutors’ professional performance, including the requirement to be objective. The study points to the problems with silencing emotions and maintaining a positivist notion of objectivity in the legal system.     

行政规范法律地位的制度论证

本文从制度上简要分析了围绕行政规范法律地位所展开的争论以及司法界的态度 ,区分了法源和“依据” ,论证了判断行为规范是否属于法源的标准 ,认为法定解释性行政规范是法的具体表现形式 ,其他行政规范并不具有法源地位 ,非法源性行政规范可以作为具体行政行为和司法裁判的依据但应接受司法审查和合法性检验 ,且这种审查可在民事、行政和刑事诉讼中而不限于行政诉讼中进行 ,目的在于摆脱行政规范在目前既不被当作依据又不能名正言顺地接受司法审查的困境     

Epistemic emotions in prosecutorial decision making

The article examines epistemic emotions as part of the emotive-cognitive processes of prosecutors’ knowledge seeking and decision making in preliminary investigation and court proceedings. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and shadowing of prosecutors in Sweden, we show how emotions motivate and orient prosecutors’ inquiries and the fundamental role of the ‘certainty–doubt spiral’ for ‘doing objectivity’. In conclusion, we discuss the centrality of emotions for conscientious and well-considered decisions in legal work. The study contributes to the field of law and emotion by exploring the epistemic quality of emotions, notably the certainty–doubt spiral, in legal work.     

Shame,Guilt, and Punishment

The emotions of shame and guilt have recently appeared in debates concerning legal punishment, in particular in the context of so called shaming and guilting penalties. The bulk of the discussion, however, has focussed on the justification of such penalties. The focus of this article is broader than that. My aim is to offer an analysis of the concept of legal punishment that sheds light on the possible connections between punishing practices such as shaming and guilting penalties, on the one hand, and emotions such as guilt, shame, and perhaps humiliation, on the other. I␣contend that this analysis enhances our understanding of the various theories of punishment that populate this part of criminal law theory and thereby sharpens the critical tools needed to assess them. My general conclusion is that, in different ways, all of the theories we encounter in this area can benefit from paying renewed attention to the nature of the connection between the state’s act of punishing and its expected or perceived emotional effect on the individual. OB, JD, KM, FT, CEB, KKJ, ASP, JS, AD, NE and the SNF x2.     

电子取证的法律规制

电子取证在世界范围内得到了日益广泛的运用,同时也引发了一系列的法律问题。本文从电子取证的基本含义切入,采取交叉研究的方法,指出我国的电子取证实务应当遵循一个抽象的司法程序模型。在此基础上,本文阐述了我国的电子取证在规制方式、规制原则与规制内容等方面遭遇的法律挑战,并逐一深入地论证了亟待采取的法律因应措施。     

论相邻环境关系之法律调整归属——以法律适用为视角

针对当前司法实践中相邻环境关系案件纠纷的法律适用乱象,通过传统民法理论的规范分析与现行立法的实证考察,依照民事法律调整相邻环境关系的整体框架和逻辑层次,以＂对象比较＂的方式展开论证,澄清了长期以来对民法相邻关系制度调整范围的认识误区,就相邻关系与侵权、环境侵权与一般侵权、生命健康权与一般人格权等若干法律制度调整相邻环境关系的具体范围予以相应界分,使不同类型的相邻环境关系实现恰当的法律调整归属。     

法经济学视野下的金融监管法正义性分析

正义历来是法律所追求的价值目标之一,但其从来都不是空洞和抽象的,需要用具体的方法和标准对其进行诠释和分析。在金融全球化趋势日益加深的今天,从法经济学的视角,对金融监管法的正义性价值目标进行分析和诠释,对于进一步完善我国金融监管法体系,维护我国金融安全与稳定意义深远。运用法经济学的分析方法,从立法、执法和司法三个方面对我国现行的金融监管法进行分析,以促进我国金融监管法正义价值目标的最终实现。     

试论加强我国宏观调控法制建设

我国国民经济的持续、稳定、协调增长 ,有赖于科学合理且完备的法律制度体系加以保障。考察我国的宏观调控法律制度 ,无论是理论上还是实践上都十分薄弱。因此 ,加强我国的宏观调控法制建设显得尤为迫切。本文从多角度分析了我国宏观调控法制建设的现状、成因 ,并进一步提出了对策。     

What is hate speech? Part 1: The Myth of Hate

The issue of hate speech has received significant attention from legal scholars and philosophers alike. But the vast majority of this attention has been focused on presenting and critically evaluating arguments for and against hate speech bans as opposed to the prior task of conceptually analysing the term ‘hate speech’ itself. This two-part article aims to put right that imbalance. It goes beyond legal texts and judgements and beyond the legal concept hate speech in an attempt to understand the general concept hate speech. And it does so using a range of well-known methods of conceptual analysis that are distinctive of analytic philosophy. One of its main aims is to explode the myth that emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred are part of the essential nature of hate speech. It also argues that hate speech is best conceived as a family resemblances concept. One important implication is that when looking at the full range of ways of combating hate speech, including but not limited to the use of criminal law, there is every reason to embrace an understanding of hate speech as a heterogeneous collection of expressive phenomena. Another is that it would be unsound to reject hate speech laws on the premise that they are effectively in the business of criminalising emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred.     

What is Hate Speech? Part 2: Family Resemblances

The issue of hate speech has received significant attention from legal scholars and philosophers alike. But the vast majority of this attention has been focused on presenting and critically evaluating arguments for and against hate speech bans as opposed to the prior task of conceptually analysing the term ‘hate speech’ itself. This two-part article aims to put right that imbalance. It goes beyond legal texts and judgements and beyond the legal concept hate speech in an attempt to understand the general concept hate speech. And it does so using a range of well-known methods of conceptual analysis that are distinctive of analytic philosophy. One of its main aims is to explode the myth that emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred are part of the essential nature of hate speech. It also argues that hate speech is best conceived as a family resemblances concept. One important implication is that when looking at the full range of ways of combating hate speech, including but not limited to the use of criminal law, there is every reason to embrace an understanding of hate speech as a heterogeneous collection of expressive phenomena. Another is that it would be unsound to reject hate speech laws on the premise that they are effectively in the business of criminalising emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred.     

Legal Regulation and Communicative Couplings

From 1989 to 1991 we studied the relationship between legal regulation and decisions about acceptable risk at off‐shore installations in the North Sea. The study focused on the interaction between authorities and private actors, when they develop subsidiary rules, discuss projects, and execute audits. This article discusses the case of regulation within the framework of communicative systems theory; the problem is how to couple differentiated, closed functional systems (e.g., law and economy). Applying empirical data we attempt to create a more complex understanding of the communicative processes, on the basis of which we can elaborate upon the coupling between systems, and the potential effects of law. The point of the article is that the coupling itself may develop into a new independent system (the discursive system). If this is correct and fairly generalizable, legal regulation contributes to the differentiation of society into closed systems. At the practical level the differentiation will have consequences for both regulation and democracy.     

The EU Directive on Electronic Signatures--A Worldwide Model or a Fruitless Attempt to Regulate the Future?

The Directive on a Community Framework for Electronic Signatures is an essential and important new legal standard for the regulation of electronic signatures. The following article describes this Directive and assesses whether this new legal framework will be an effective and successful worldwide model or whether it will be rather fruitless. While doing this, I will consider the implementation of the Directive into UK and German law. This will also reveal some possibilities of how the legal status of electronic signatures can or cannot and should or should not be regulated. Furthermore, I will refer to other acts, for example, the UCITA and UETA of the US and the Model Law on Electronic Commerce and Draft Uniform Rules on Electronic Signatures of the UNCITRAL. My result is that the EU Directive is to be approved in general. Only if one said that in an ever-changing world every law was premature or even that in an imperfect world every law was either insufficient or unnecessary, would it be consequent to decline regulation of electronic signatures completely. However, regarding the details, some provisions, for example, the possibility of introducing a voluntary accreditation scheme, are open to criticism.     

论法律援助法的总则构建

国家法律援助法律或者行政法规的制定已经提上日程,地方性法律援助法规和规章正在不断产生。在制定法律援助法律、法规和规章的过程中,有种种理念的、制度的和技术的问题需要研究和解决,其中一个十分突出的问题就是总则应当如何构建的问题。本文探讨了法律援助法的总则结构、立法宗旨、立法根据、适用范围、基本原则,以及法律援助的概念界定、积极因素、消极因素、重心、激励机制,为目前中央和地方的法律援助立法,提供理论与应用密切结合的研究成果和对策,以供各有关方面参酌。     

论婚姻家庭领域道德调整与法律调整的关系──兼谈对婚外恋的道德调整和法律调整

婚姻家庭关系的伦理性是道德调整和法律调整的客观基础。社会道德和法律共同规范着婚姻家庭关系。道德调整和法律调整的手段和领域不同。道德调整和法律调整在婚姻家庭关系中某些领域界限明确,可分别调整;但在另一些领域难以明确界定自己的调整范围,道德和法律可从不同层次加以规范。对婚外恋行为,道德和法律可分层调整,以实现道德调整和法律调整的效力。     

Law,culture and massively multiplayer online games

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are now a major international phenomena. Millions of people can play together online, readily navigating boundaries between nations, languages and legal jurisdictions. The communities around some of these games are huge, of a size equivalent to a large city or small nation. This article explores three themes, labelled for conceptual purposes ‘games as legal spaces’, ‘games need lawyers’, and ‘lawyers need games’. It argues that games are inherently legal spaces, infused with legal-ness in a variety of ways; that more direct engagement from the legal community would be of tremendous value in making these systems, and the entertainment spaces which they regulate, ‘better’; and that we have a great deal to learn about law and about the regulation of the online space from games. The article concludes with the proposition that there is an opportunity for impactful knowledge exchange between legal scholars, MMOG developers and publishers, and the gaming community.     

法学方法论的困境与出路——论最小损害原则

近几年以来,国内对法学方法论的研究呈现出一派繁荣之势。但其成效如何,却有待检验。文章结合中国司法实践中所出现的疑难案件来检验当下法学方法论研究的成果,指出语义分析、法律解释、法律论证与利益衡量等法学方法所面临的困境与原因。在此基础上,从现实的司法实践中总结、重构出最小损害原则,以法律教义学体系为最小损害的对象,以损害之命题所处的层级、损害之确定性程度、损害的原因以及损害的波及度作为比较损害大小的标准,以期为至少大部分疑难案件提供可能的解决思路。     

The Legal Education and Training Review: regulating socio-legal and liberal legal education?

The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) which reported in June 2013 conceded that undergraduate law degrees are generally outside the remit of the review other than when there is a direct impact on the provision of legal services. On first glance therefore the review has few implications for those of us interested in delivering a liberal legal education and developing socio-legal approaches to law and legal study. However, on closer reading, the report contains a number of suggestions which, if taken up by the regulators, have significant potential to change law degrees, even if regulation remains “light touch”. This article explores those issues with a particular focus on the implications for liberal law degrees and socio-legal approaches to law teaching. In particular the article will explore issues around possible changes to foundation subjects; the creation of a framework of learning outcomes; the possible strengthening of legal writing and research in the curriculum and the opportunities offered for the introduction of more socio-legal material; and the trickle-down effect likely to be felt by providers of undergraduate law degrees of changes in regulation of legal services and as a result of student, employer and other stakeholder expectations.     

Legal Judgment as Self-Mastery

Many legal theorists see legal judgment as a largely professional or technical task. This is not how law sees itself. When looked at from the perspective of the engaged judge, law requires from us that we arrive at a certain internal governance of our thoughts and emotions. Legal scholarship and legal procedure tell us that law creates true reasons that override other, personal, reasons, even those of the utmost importance to us. A philosophical understanding of law requires a distinct argument that explains how such overriding reasons can be associated with the law and how there can be a personal duty to adapt our reasoning when we make authoritative legal judgments in order to change the lives of others. The philosophy of law needs to explain how legal judgment can be a form of self-mastery.