WTO: US and Argentina settle dispute over patents and data protection

In May 2000, supplementing an earlier complaint filed in May 1999, the US filed a complaint against Argentina, alleging that its patent laws violate the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (the TRIPS Agreement). The gist of the US complaint was that Argentina's law failed to provide: (1) adequate protection against "unfair" commercial use of undisclosed test data submitted in order to get market approval of pharmaceutical products; (2) certain safeguards for compulsory licences on an invention granted on the basis of inadequate working by the patent holder; and (3) adequate measures to prevent infringements of patent rights. The US also alleged that Argentina denies certain exclusive rights of patent holders, such as the exclusive right to import the patented product into the country. At the end of May 2002, the US and Argentina notified the WTO that they had reached a "mutually agreed solution," without prejudice to their respective rights and obligations under WTO agreements, and the US has withdrawn its complaint.     

Victory for transgendered people in gaining protection against discrimination

On 7 June 2000, the BC Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Vancouver Rape Relief Society to prevent the provincial human rights commission from hearing a complaint that it had discriminated against a transgendered woman. Kimberly Nixon filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Commission in August 1995, alleging that the Vancouver Rape Relief Society had refused to allow her to work as a volunteer counselor because she had not been biologically female at birth.     

不当妊娠之诉损害赔偿问题探讨

不当妊娠之诉是医学的发展对法律提出的新挑战。以McFarlane案为视角，介绍了英美法系和大陆法系不当妊娠之诉中损害赔偿问题的不同规定，结合我国关于不当妊娠之诉的司法实践和域外法的启示，对于我国不当妊娠之诉损害赔偿请求权和损害赔偿范围进行了探讨。     

Professional disciplinary proceedings against expert medical witnesses

Witnesses in legal proceedings are protected from civil liability based on their evidence. This immunity is founded on public policy considerations, particularly the belief that witnesses would be less willing to provide full and frank evidence if they were at the risk of civil proceedings based on their evidence. But witness immunity now appears to be subject to an important qualification. The English Court of Appeal has confirmed that witness immunity does not prevent the commencement of professional disciplinary proceedings against an expert witness. In General Medical Council v Meadow [2006] EWCA 1390 the court upheld a disciplinary complaint made against an expert medical witness, even though the complaint was based on that doctor's witness evidence. The Court of Appeal reasoned that the underlying purpose of professional disciplinary proceedings, which is to protect the public, could sit comfortably with witness immunity. The result seems to be that people unhappy with witness evidence cannot sue the witness but can make a professional disciplinary complaint. This apparent gap in witness immunity is important to all professionals who might give evidence.     

Black and white complainants and the police: A comparison of individual and contextual characteristics

Citizens have always had an important role in the crime control process; they are most often responsible for the detection of crime. It is imperative, therefore, that citizens perceive police officers to be competent and just in the execution of their duties; in the absence of such confidence, the process suffers. Ironically, the groups which are most often the victims of crime hold the most negative attitudes toward the police. Minorities in urban communities, particularly blacks, fit this pattern. These attitudes appear to be linked to the perception of negative, differential experiences with the police, experiences which often lead to the filing of a formal complaint. Using a data set from the complaint files of a large American city, this article explores the relationship between the attitudes of blacks toward the police, experiences with the police, and complaints lodged against the police.     

关于基层政府做好信访工作的几点思考——以济南市历城区为例

信访工作在城市化日益加速的今天已呈现出新的特色,这种特色是与当前社会发展的大背景分不开的。基层政府是做好信访工作的关键部门,这就要求处于一线的基层工作人员既要提高自身素养以做好信访工作,又要引导好群众,使矛盾化解在源头,从而减少信访矛盾,努力构建和谐社会。     

功能、要素与内容:民事起诉状省思

民事起诉状的功能应当定位为起诉功能和准备功能,起诉功能是起诉状的本质功能。由此,起诉状要素应当分为必备记载事项和任意记载事项。起诉状对"当事人"的记载应当达到能够使得当事人特定的程度;对"诉讼请求"的记载应当做到原则性与灵活性相结合;起诉状对"事实与理由"的记载只要达到辨别本案的诉讼标的即可。     

公务员投诉规范的设立与完善——相对人发起追究公务员责任的路径探析

通过行为规范的形式优化公务员治理结构、增强公务员服务属性,是当前行政法治环境下改善公务员执法状况的重要环节,也是内部行政法的关键问题之一。在公务员行为规范体系中,投诉规范是指由相对人对公务员的违法或不当行为进行投诉,并由公务员所在机关进行处理的一种责任机制。投诉规范开启了由相对人发起追究公务员责任的民主路径,在公务员文明执法的树立、行政风气的改善以及违规责任的追究等方面具有重要意义。而在现行立法与实践状况的基础上,对投诉途径、程序和实效性等事项进行综合分析并提出相关建议,则能对其条款设置的进一步完善提供参考。     

广西壮族自治区检察机关轻缓刑事政策适用情况调查报告

当前在轻罪案件中不当逮捕现象严重,相对不起诉率偏低,抗诉只注重抗“轻”而忽视抗“重”。对不当立案的监督缺失以及对未成年人犯罪的特殊保护措施不力,是广西检察机关轻缓刑事政策适用中的突出问题。究其原因,主要有执法观念、工作制度、法律缺失等诸多因素。解决这些问题,必须通过加强教育引导、完善相关的工作制度和相关的法律规定等途径来共同进行。     

政府在信访工作中践行法治思维的探讨

信访工作中既要防止消极的拒民思维，又要防止过度的迁就思维，因为二者均为“人治”的思维方式。本文认为，信访工作中的法治思维是指：政府要从消极被动的守法者转变为积极主动的用法者；对于信访者的诉求要坚持法律的底线：政府要有作为诉讼主体进行依法维权的思维。政府在信访工作中践行法治思维的条件是：领导重视、经济发展、严格执行考核机制、信访干部职业化。此外。政府信访工作中践行法治思维还应处理好与治理思维的关系。     

Patients' rights to complain in Finnish psychiatric care: An overview

Cuts in resources for Finnish psychiatric care may jeopardize the realization of patients' rights in mental health settings. The right to complain is a basic right of all patients in Finland, and is especially important to patients treated involuntarily and also to those who have experienced coercive treatment methods during their hospitalizations. In Finland, a patient's right to complain is guaranteed by law, both in legislation and in national quality recommendations. The complaint process in Finland is very complex, and there are several ways to make a complaint that are not always familiar to patients with severe illnesses. Psychiatric patients may have cognitive impairments that make the formulation of a complaint difficult. Despite help from the patient ombudsman, unbalanced power structures in psychiatric hospitals, insufficient information and long evaluation of appeals makes the complaint process very demanding for psychiatric patients.     

The Residual Career Patterns of Police Misconduct

Purpose

To explore the extent to which patterns of police misconduct, particularly residual career length (RCL) and residual number of offenses (RNO), change over time in theoretically expected ways, and to determine whether such career features can adequately predict future misconduct when compared to traditional Early Intervention (EI) system criteria.

Methods

This study employs retrospective, longitudinal data gathered for a large cohort of police officers followed for a significant portion of their career and uses personnel complaints as the primary indicator of police misconduct.

Results

Distributions of RCL and RNO are presented according to 4 criteria: year of experience, complaint number, time since the last complaint, and onset of first complaint. There was a decline in RCL and RNO with experience and onset of first complaint. While RCL declined by complaint number, RNO remained steady. This is also true of time since last complaint. Risk scores derived from RCL and RNO were moderately predictive of future misconduct, but fared better than those derived from standard EI system criteria.

Conclusion

EI systems do not adequately predict future misconduct, but there appears to be value in taking a broader view of complaint patterns of officers as a way of increasing predicative validity.     

South Africa: TAC, COSATU and allies file complaint of excessive pricing

On 19 September 2002, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the Council of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWA), and eight individuals (health-care workers and people living with HIV/AIDS) launched a complaint with the country's Competition Commission against two major transnational pharmaceutical companies. TAC and its allies allege that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has engaged in excessive pricing for its antiretroviral drugs Retrovir (zidovudine or AZT), 3TC (lamivudine), and Combivir (AZT/lamivudine), and that Boeringer Ingelheim (BI) has engaged in excessive pricing of its antiretroviral drug Viramune (nevirapine).     

The Missing Witness? George V,Competence, Compellability and the Criminal Libel Trial of Edward Frederick Mylius

A criminal libel trial in 1911 set the monarch against one of his subjects. Edward Mylius repeated a rumour that accused King George V of marrying Queen Mary when – secretly – the King had previously married someone else and had three children. The criminal charge, the process used to bring the issue to court, the advice to the King of the relevant ministers (including Winston Churchill as Home Secretary) and the trial itself stretched the boundaries of fairness. The legacy of the trial created a lingering problem. Can the monarch ever be required to face the direct scrutiny of examination by being required to appear as a witness in his or her own court to support a personal complaint?     

涉法信访的价值、成因及改革设想

涉法信访的存在,表明司法的效益不高、权威不强,体现了法制现代化中司法对本土法律文化的背离。文章从实证、法理的双重视角出发,对涉法信访的现实成因及社会背景作了分析,认为涉法信访的消解应从现实出发,采取修改《信访条例》、改革再审制度、纠纷解决机制创新的办法。     

The German Federal Prosecutor's Decision not to Prosecute a Former Uzbek Minister: Missed Opportunity or Prosecutorial Wisdom?

At the end of 2005, reports indicated that the former Ministerof Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan was in Germany to receivemedical treatment. Victims of crimes allegedly committed bytroops under his control filed a complaint against him withthe competent German authorities. Meanwhile the suspect leftGermany. On grounds of his absence the Federal Prosecutor refusedto open official proceedings based on universal jurisdictionin absentia and dropped the case. While this decision mightbe considered prudent in that it foregoes ‘purely symbolicprosecution’, it is problematic in so far it leaves thepursuit of justice at the mercy of considerations of policyand expediency that run counter to the spirit of the GermanCode of Crimes Against International Law.     

The Theory of the Offender's Forfeited Right

In justifying punishment we sometimes appeal to the idea that the punished offender has, by his criminal action against others, forfeited his moral right (and therefore his legal right) against hard treatment by the state. The imposition of suffering, or deprivation of liberty, loses its prima facie morally objectionable character, and becomes morally permissible.

Philosophers interrogating the forfeited right theory generally focus on whether the forfeiting of the right constitutes a necessary or a sufficient condition for punishment to be permissible; rarely do they ask whether the idea of a right that can be forfeited is itself morally illuminating. The article examines and criticizes various versions of this theory. It concludes that the forfeited right arguments add little other than rhetorical dignity to the existing repertoire of justifications for punishment. They can be most usefully understood as communicating the thought that the offender cannot reasonably complain about the violation of rights he himself has violated. But the incapacitation of the offender's reasonable complaint does not entail that we are justified in punishing him.     

民事诉讼生成权利规制探析——以“人脸识别第一案”为切入点

2019年11月1日,媒体称之为"中国人脸识别第一案"的浙江杭州理工大学副教授郭兵起诉杭州野生动物世界案,正式在杭州市富阳区人民法院立案。近两年来新兴案件如"代孕子女监护权案""冷冻胚胎案"频发,社会对司法的期待很高,民事诉讼对于新兴权利的权利诉求要做出回应,而如何回应及回应的限度就涉及到对法官裁判的规制上面。从程序法角度理解的规制,是由程序启动时的起诉受理、经由程序续行的审理过程、至判决达成三维角度对通过诉讼生成权利进行的规制。     

和谐视野下的民行息诉机制研究

民事行政检察息诉工作是检察机关重要的工作内容。开展好民行息诉工作具有十分重大的意义。但我国现存在着重抗诉轻息诉,息诉工作机制单一僵化等系列问题,与构建和谐社会的要求及检察机关高效履职的需要不相适应,迫切需要重构民事行政检察息诉的机制。通过进一步整合办案力量、完善民行检察办案流程和工作机制、改革考核制度,加强与相关部门的配合等具体途径,提高息诉工作的质量效率,促进社会和谐。